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Congugal Cacaphony in Anita Desai's Novels

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CONGUGAL CACAPHONY IN ANITA DESAI’S NOVELS

Suneeta Upadhyay, Research Scholar
M.M.H. college, Ghaziabad, C.C.S. University, Meerut
Indian novelist and short story writer, Anita Desai is specially noted for her insightful depiction of the inner life of the female characters in her writings. In most of her novels Anita Desai dwells on the themes incongruity, incertitude and hazards of human relationship particularly the man-woman relationship. D.H. Lawrence points out:

The great relationship for humanity will always be the relationship between man and woman. The relation between man and man, woman and woman, parent and child will always be subsidiary.

Desai in her portrayal of man-women relationship mostly broods over the …show more content…

Against all sane advices she goes to the magical world so that she could prevent the biological process of delivery.

Nand kaul in Fire on the Mountain, a great grandmother, totally disillusioned with all marital bonds. Her husband was the Vice-Chancellor of Punjab University but treated her simply as some useful object in house. He carried on a life long affair with another woman. He is such a coward that he could not marry a Christian lady because he could not dare break social conventions. Nanda could not belong to the family and her position is no better than a house keeper. Outwardly, the Kaul’s are an ideal couple for university community but from inside their relationship is all-barren.

After Maya, Monisha and Nanda Kaul there comes a change in the concept of matrimony for Desai’s heroine. Sarah, Bim, Sarla, Leila, Lotte, Aruna and Uma. They face their problem unflinchingly. They too have their poignant predicament, mental and spiritual incongruity, supremacy of male community, suffering at the hand of their in-laws, conjugal cacophony etc. still they struggle and compromise in their wedded life and survive. They believe there is no other way out and inspite of adverse conditions, life is worth to be lived.

In Clear Light of Day rather we get a fresh addition in the treatment of man-woman relationship at the hand of novelist. Desai does not write about the strain and incoherence between husband and wife but brother and sister. The chief protagonist

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