Volume III Issue I January-March 2023

Name of Author : A Rashitha Banu, A K Kulsumbi

Title of the paper : Self-Identity of Women in the Novel Difficult Daughter By Manju Kapur

Abstract: Identity is an inescapable necessity for human beings. Every person spends his whole life searching for an identity or creating his own identity according to his desire. Every individual has two types of identities one is personal identity personal traits and the other is social identity social role. When an individuals personal identity conflicts with social identity, it results in an identity crisis. Compared to men, women are more on the receiving end of an identity crisis. Manju Kapur, one of the leading figures in contemporary Indian English fiction, has dedicated all her novels to discussing the suffering and struggle of women due to the clash between their personal identity and the identity assigned by society. Indian novelists portray women in various guises. But recently, during the post-colonial period, great Indian women writers like Kamala Markandaya, Nayanthara Sehgal, Anitha Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Bharathi Mukherjee, Manju Kapur, Githa Hariharan and so on have brought about a remarkable and tremendous change. They portrayed the female characters as individuals who fight against the suppression and oppression of women by the patriarchal society. They depict women as rebels against the traditional role, breaking the shackles of exploitation and oppression, awakening to the search for identity to assert their individuality. Manju Kapur is one of the prominent new voices making her presence felt. Her novels are about female frustration, rejection, retribution and breaking conventional expectations. She raises her voice against male chauvinism to claim the rights of economic independence for women. This work explores the ultimate excitement and torment of the protagonist Virmati of Troubled Daughters in her search for self-identity and emancipation and protest against the blind dogmas of socio-cultural and patriarchal joints masquerading as traditional customs.

Keywords : Self-Identity, Oppression, Emancipation, Exploitation, Feminism, Struggle of suffering Indian women.

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Page No. : 42-44