Feminism in Indian Literature

Abstract

Women have been a baggage of our culture, they are half the human race yet they have been treated as secondary or subordinate or “other” to men. Their voice is suppressed by the dominant patriarchal voice, but literature provides them a medium to express and articulate their sufferings. Feminism and its various branches explore the numerous factors affecting and evoking a feminine psyche. Literature is known to be the mirror of the society and the contemporary issues could not have been left, so is the women’s condition. The theme of women’s predicament figures prominently in the contemporary Indian English novels. The present paper endeavors at screening different feminist ideologies which are considered as a powerful medium of modernism and feminist statements. A woman’s role is not limited to the household boundaries, they have paved their ways through ancient times to the modern. The Indian society is deeply rooted in patriarchy and hypocrite and still has miles to go. The portrayal of women in Valmiki’s Mahabharta to Anita Desai’s Voices in the City, these writers have chosen issues faced by women in the male dominated world. Therefore, considering the essential role of women in our society there is still a need to look and improve their status. These ideologies explain feminine subjectivity and what actually feminism is. Feminism in Indian literature has somehow proved successful in putting restriction to the suppression of women in silence, helped breaking that silence and making that silence their weapon and silence ultimate becoming their voice. It is in this sense of the concern and its faithful reflection through literature that has given voice to the silenced and suppressed women. The paper discusses the term feminism in the contemporary Indian context and its role in Indian literature.