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Volume 1 Issue 9 |
February 2015 |
| Crossing the Laxman Rekha: A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s Women in The Binding Vine and Small Remedies | |
| Ms. Meha Sanghvi, Researcher, Department of English, K.S.K.V. Kachchh University, Bhuj, Gujarat, India |
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| Abstract | |
| The aim of this research paper is to illustrate how Shashi Deshpande’s women dare to step across the Laxman Rekha (norms) of patriarchy and re-invent themselves though not always completely successful or without pain. Sita in the Ramayana was held responsible for not obeying her brother-in-law and crossing the Laxman Rekha (a magical circle of protection), the consequences of which was her abduction by Ravana and then the war that had to be waged by Ram to rescue her. Sita was ultimately banished from her marital home due to suspicions voiced about her character by one of Ram’s subjects. She went away to a forest. Similarly when a woman, after marriage leaves her mother’s house, she is expected not to return to her maternal home though she is humiliated in her marital home. Why are Indian women even today expected be a Sita? Why does society compare common women to mythical characters and myths and ancient role models? This paper focuses on how women in Shashi Deshpande’s novels The Binding Vine and Small Remedies attempt to reinvent themselves and cross the patriarchal Laxman Rekha. | |
| Keywords | |
| Shashi Deshpande; The Binding Vine; Small Remedies; Patriarchy; Gender Boundaries. | |
| Article | |
 Creative Commons |
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