The Perspectives of Indian Woman's Plight in Deshpande's That Long Silence

Abstract

To relocate the position of women in the patriarchal order has been a persistent effort of the writers and thinkers in post-colonial India. To make a representation of their subjugated position, feminist writers tried to collaborate with the ideals of humanism enunciated by post colonial critics. Women are left to survive in the confined spaces of domesticity, kept in dark to bear the burden of patriarchy in silence and sobbing. They were treated as the second sex and were not permitted to participate in the activities of business world. Their identity is defined only in context of the identity of their male counterparts. In Indian society where religious values dominated women’s position, and gave the status of ‘goddess’ to her, surviving with the ideals of sacrifice, love, sensibility, patience and resistance did not permit her freedom and independent identity.
This paper attempts to show a woman’s predicament in Indian society. Shashi Deshpande has raised a voice against the woman’s suppressed agony by her novel, That Long Silence.
Hope the paper will be helpful to those who are pursuing their research in post-colonial female writers.