FEMALE INDIVIDUALITY AND STRUGGLE IN A PATRICENTRIC SOCIETY: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ANITA DESAI’S WHERE SHALL WE GO THIS SUMMER?

Abstract

Indian society has progressed rapidly in its many echelons. Nonetheless, women belonging to these echelons continue to lag behind. They are unable to come out of the conventional roles because of the orthodoxy of the patricentric society. Women are confined within the four walls of the house where they hardly get to share their inner feelings, emotions and pain. Although they get material comfort, pleasure and relaxation, their voice goes unheard in many cases. In patriarchal society, women are subjugated and not given their due rights in many spheres of life. Anita Desai’s Where Shall We Go This Summer? talks of women’s liberty and gives a conscious voice to their identities as genuine human beings of post-independence Indian society. Thus, this study sheds light on various inner problems like isolation, subjugation, marital discord and psychological distress encountered by women in Anita Desai’s Where Shall We Go This Summer? This paper also critically analyses female individuality and struggle in a patricentric society applying the various perspectives of feminist theory.