Authors : S. G. Kannake
Page Nos : 123-127
Description :
The woman in late 19th century started revolt against the old stereotype male dominance, traditional setup, submissiveness of woman, woman empowerment, gender disparity and mean mentality. These women believe in self-dependence and liberalism over stereotypically feminine ideas of traditional woman. They are depicted as a ‘New Woman’. The term New Woman was originally coined by the writer Charles Reade in his novel, ‘Woman Hater’ which was published in 1877, in Blackwood’s Magazine. Henry James a British-American writer popularized this term by portraying his heroines as an educated and independent woman in his novels.
In 21st century Indian woman are still dominated by the patriarchal traditional setup. Therefore Indian woman novelist of present scenario raises the issues of new woman in their fiction. Writers like Manju Kapur, Anita Desai, Nayantara Sahgal, Amulya Malladi, Preeti Shenoy and Sudha Murty emphasis on the issues of woman in their writings. Sudha Murty is an iconic figure in India; she is an Indian businesswoman, the chairperson of the Infosys foundation, author, educator and philanthropist. In the literary arena she contributed in English and Kannada language. The present study proposes to explore ‘Indian New Woman’ presented in the novel ‘Gently Falls The Bakula’. The protagonist Shrimati is a meritorious student but for her love she scarified her dream. She is tortured by her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and neglected by her husband. She realize that she lost her love, identity, freedom and value so she revolt against traditional setup of marriage life and find out the meaning to her life.
