The t0pic 0f the research paper is 0n KAMALA DAS as a C0nfessi0nal p0et with special reference t0 her P0em DANCE 0F THE EUNUCHS. Kamala Das is perhaps the m0st interesting and c0ntr0versial figure in p0st-c0l0nial Indian English p0etry. She writes with 0utsp0kenness and truthfulness unusual in Indian c0ntext. Her private experiences and 0bservati0ns are portrayed in her poems but those familiarities and interpretations appear t0 bec0me universal. Her v0ice als0 symb0lizes the m0dern w0men’s v0ice wh0 wants t0 free her fr0m the religi0us 0rth0d0xy (d0s and d0n’ts). Being a c0nfessi0nal p0et, Kamala Das takes the reader int0 the w0rld 0f her private life and unveils the delicate facts and even the bedr00m secrets. The 0bjective 0f the research …show more content…
The p0et vividly c0njures up the atm0sphere 0f a h0t, t0rtured, c0rrupt, sterile and barren w0rld thr0ugh vivid symb0ls and images. The dance 0f the eunuchs wh0se j0yless life reflects the p0et‘s fractured pers0nality is a n0ticeable piece 0f aut0bi0graphical p0etry. Kamala Das has vividly visualized the w0rld 0f ―vacant ecstasy‖ and sterility thr0ugh numer0us functi0nal images and symb0ls in her p0etry. In fact Eunuchs try t0 eke 0ut a livelih00d by dancing. Their dancing is power-driven and agonizing. The c0nditi0ns and the climate are f0rbidding. The spectat0rs are merciless. Even G0d seems t0 add their w0es. The eunuchs ‘v0ices are harsh and their s0ngs are full 0f melanch0ly. The themes 0f the s0ngs are th0se 0f l0vers dying and children left unb0rn. S0me beat their drums while 0thers beat their flat breasts and wept. The j0y 0n their faces is 0nly a mask as they writhe in pain and their faces are really vacant. The atm0sphere 0f heat and sterility is, first 0f all, expressed thr0ugh ―fiery gulm0hur and ―the jasmines in, their hair‖ c0uld n0t pr0vide them with a s00thing effect. The image 0f ―Their s0ur breasts‖ again suggests their sterility and barrenness because they bel0ng t0 neither sex. They are destined t0 remain
... examples, the author takes strong note of the age that boys begin to participate and why (Herdt 2006: 123). He utilized comparison to the culture of the United States, which promoted ease of readability. Some of the language Herdt utilized was particularly interesting. He chose to speak of the men’s secret society as a “cult” and “brainwashing” (Herdt 2006: 107). The views of the ritual change as progression continued for some, such as Moondi. The text was a great example of the influence of sexuality within a society. Herdt promoted some semblance of cross-cultural comparison within the text to show the differences while not detracting importance.
The main interest in this short story is further elucidated when delving into a more profound level of the woman regarding her potential in acquiring timeless beauty. This potential, which transcends the careful inspection of reigning beauties, is only determined with a simple glimpse of her barefoot as evidenced by her, “Exquisitely chiseled toes, nails like the iridescent shells along the sore at Enoshima…” (Tanizaki 100). Her foot, which represents nothing but a small portion of the body, overshadowed the complete existence of other beauties. Only a glimpse of the woman’s barefoot was required for the confirmation to be delivered; a confirmation which ascertain her potential in blooming to a divine entity capable of infinite destruction. This definition of infinite destruction refers to the potential of the woman in having absolute control over men. Progressively, the woman’s potential is eventually seen with greater clarity when the artist was “scrutinizing her intently” during their encounter, and consequently, it has escalated to the sky in the sense th...
The poets integrated ?metaphysical conceits? as focal parts of these poems. Along with these, they used effective language as a basis for their convincing arguments, they included subjects of periodical importance (e.g. ?courtship? and ?religion?), and use very clever structures that are manipulated in order to make the poem read in the desired way. The very clear indication of the theme in question was strongly aided by the way in which the personas portrayed the emotions they felt and the way they showed their attitudes towards the subject. Considering all these factors, the poets made critical arguments to the mistresses in order to alter their views, thus changing their minds, on denying the poets the sex that they desired so strongly.
In this chapter Mahasweta Devi’s anthology of short stories entitled Breast Stories to analyze representations of violence and oppression against women in name of gender. In her Breast Stories, Devi twice evokes female characters from ancient Hindu mythology, envisions them as subalterns in the imagined historical context and, creates a link with the female protagonists of her short stories. As the title suggests, Breast Stories is a trilogy of short stories; it has been translated and analyzed by Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak and, in Spivak’s view, the ‘breast’ of a woman in these stories becomes the instrument of a brutal condemnation of patriarchy. Indeed, breast can be construed as the motif for violence in the three short stories “Draupadi,” “Breast-Giver,” and “Behind the Bodice,”
The eunuch is an integral part of the 18th century play The Mogul Tale, by Elizabeth Inchbald. He serves a historical role by being the Mogul’s advisor, watchman, and, most importantly, harem guard. Eunuchs are generally defined as castrated males and are thus excellent choices to guard the Mogul’s women – no fear of the guard taking the ladies for himself. Inchbald reinforces these noble positions by showing the eunuch as the Mogul’s “right-hand man”. But with the passing of time these traditional roles have died along with the people who embraced them. Eunuchs now exist in an India that has all but forgotten their position as protectors. They are now part of a larger, marginalized group that exists on the fringe of Indian society - the hijras1.
The psychological suppression that Aruna goes through in the novel lead to immense confusion and unidentifiable emotions which ultimately result in resistance and later on in accosted with the voice and breaking of barriers. Resistance of Aruna in the novel presents the simplified desire of a woman to be ‘herself’. She wants to survive in the society by being recognized as a human who has her dignity. The narration of the novel confuses the reader but in the ideological terms the author has put up some very poignant issues. Volga has illustrated that how and why it is important to discover the spaces that women have created for themselves so as to resist the dominance that is asserted on them in order to diminish their sense of individuality. In The Law of the Threshold, Malashri Lal points out that the writings of Indian women have a propensity to be “non aggressive” (Lal, 28) but A Quest for Freedom can be considered aggressive to a large extent as the protagonist refusal to accept the norms is taken a little too far.
According to Jonathan Culler, “the fundamental identity of characters emerges as the result of actions, of struggles with the world, but then this identity is posited as the basis, even the cause of those actions” (111). The same cause is mirrored in the works of Meena Kandasamy (b. 1984) who belongs to that category which has the past tendency to get subjugated and suppressed the most – Dalit and Female. Kandasamy regards her writing as a process of coming to terms with her identity: her “womanness, Tamilness and low/outcasteness” that she wears with pride (Sarangi, par. 1). Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak suggests, “I construct my definition as a woman not in terms of a woman’s putative essence but in terms of words currently in use. ‘Man’ is such a word in common usage. Not a word, but the word” (Lodge and Wood 495). And one can note surprisingly that Meena Kandasamy changed her given, official and a very poetic Tamil name, Ilavenil to her pet name Meena. The titles of her both volumes imply perception of social deprivation that accumulates in history as cycles of violence and coils of collective guilt.
Ramamoorthy, P. “My Life is My Own: A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s Women” Feminism and Recent Fiction in English Ed. Sushila Singh. New Delhi: Prestige, 1991.
The play ‘Sakharam Binder’ by the noted Marathi dramatist Vijay Tendulkar is a study of complex human relationships and the factors controlling those relationships.Set in a naturalistic background of lower middle class Indian society,the protagonist Sakharam binder who is a brahmin by birth,declares himself a mahar,a foulmouthed,heartless man.The play becomes a journey from the conscious mind of the protagonist,a self declared unconventional man to his inner self where he is a helpless human self craving for love,care,stability and symmetry.the dramatist presents his themes of triangular love relationships,power politics in man woman relationships,life style of economically backward people,and the myriad shades in womam-woman relationships.But above all,it is Sakharam’sjourney and the contribution of two women,one Laxmi and another Champa in unfolding his true self.
The primary question that comes up while we look at a certain text is the way in which the author has exercised the choice in terms of narrative modes, and the ways in which the imaginative world is communicated to the reader. In case of writers who are women, these questions demand a more rigorous reading of the text in terms of the dominant ideological frame against which the test is displayed. Speaking about the complex relationship between women’s writing and the social matrix, Tharu and Lalitha point out that, in the post independence era Indian women engaged with “the profound rearticulation of the political world and of imaginative life that took place in the 1940s and 1950s with the birth of the Indian nation” 1. The term “rearticulation” implies the presence of a system of articulation, a matrix of meta-narratives not concerned only with women as objects of gaze but also with women as agents of articulating their subjectivity, with women as writers. In problematising the position of the narrator one may hope to detect the negotiations, debates, protests and above all, the choices available to and exercised by a female writer.
Karuthamma is a young girl that is always concentrated in “the God of Big Things” rather than in the “Small God.” Karuthamma and Pareekutty love relationship is part of the forbidden love laws that are stated. Begum Jaan and Rabbu are two women that face gender issues. Rabbu and Begum Jaan are homosexual women, that decide to keep it a secret. They were both brave enough in terms of their relationship because their society do not allow the relationship they have. The short story “Draupadi” is a story that shows how she is abuse and brutalize only because she is a woman. The story is a good example of the patriarchy system that they live
Desai has added a new dimension to Indian fiction in English. Desai is known for shifting the emphasis from the external to the internal world in her wittings. A...
Indian women writers have given a new dimension to the Indian literature. Indian English Literature has developed over a period of time and writing in English did not start in a day. It took many years to bring the present status. We can find Indian literature as novels and also in the forms of poe...
The theme of modern woman’s existential struggle to establish her own identity in order her individuality surfaces quite often in the novels of Indian women novelists of post-independence age as can be seen in the works of kamala Markandaya, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Anita Desai and Nayantara Sehgal. The women writers of India have given a new dimension to the Indian literature. Indian English literature has developed over a period of time and writing in English did not start in a day. It took many years and several distinguished personalities to bring the present status and distinction to Indian English literature. Indian literature is not only about novels, it is also about poetries and short stories. Before the rise of novels, several women writers composed songs, short stories and small plays. It is still believed that women are the upholders of the rich Indian tradition of fables, storytelling and more. In the mid-nineteenth century, more women started to write in the English language. With the passage of time,
Feminism in Indian English literature is a by –product of the western feminist movement but it acquired sustenance from the freedom struggle. The availability of western feminist theory should not lead us to its