Glimpse of New Women in Manju Kapoor’s “Difficult Daughters”
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Abstract
The paper attempts to study and analyse main women characters in Manju Kapoor’s first novel, “Difficult Daughters”, which was published in 1998. It is located against the backdrop of India of 1940s and presents the problems of an upper middle class urban Arya Samaj Punjabi family in Amritsar. Kapoor speaks with great narrative eloquence on the idea of independence. She has realistically depicted women of three generations, but the main focus is on Virmati, the difficult daughter of the second generation. The novel deals with issues like women education and feminine freedom. The novelist probes into the psyche of Indian women living in joint families under male domination and writes about the multi layered Indian experience in colonial and post colonial times. Virmati, the main woman character, represents the spirit of “New Woman” of India with her assertion of individuality, and yearning for education. But due to circumstances, she fails to show her strength of mind in love. She is caught in whirlpool of misplaced passion towards the Oxford returned Professor who already had a wife. Ida is the daughter of Veermati and the Professor and the novel reflects Ida’s opinion about her mother.
She could not develop an understanding with her mother in her lifetime. Manju Kapoor,
in “Difficult Daughters”, has tried to portray a new woman of India, who is just at the
initial stage of her journey towards independence and freedom from patriarchal society.
She has to learn to keep equilibrium between her dreams and her responsibilities as a
woman.
She could not develop an understanding with her mother in her lifetime. Manju Kapoor,
in “Difficult Daughters”, has tried to portray a new woman of India, who is just at the
initial stage of her journey towards independence and freedom from patriarchal society.
She has to learn to keep equilibrium between her dreams and her responsibilities as a
woman.
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How to Cite
Shrivastava, N. (2015). Glimpse of New Women in Manju Kapoor’s “Difficult Daughters”. Mind and Society, 4(01), 38–42. Retrieved from https://mindandsociety.in/index.php/MAS/article/view/306
Section
Research Article