Lipika Chandra

Anita Desai's Female and Psychoanalysis Lipika Chandra

This book broadly deals with Anita Desai?s conscious approach to the plight of women in her novels. It focuses on the raw and sincere methods that she, as an author, employs to dissect her lead female characters, all with utmost taste and integrity. Anita Desai is not a feminist by definition but an exhaustive analysis of her literary works might turn to prove otherwise. The present work aims to include her stand as a woman writer in modern Indian society and she has adopted fiction as a tool to a population of people, more receptive to women?s rights. The unique inner approach of Desai to women psyche shows her deep understanding of women?s problem in India. This study concentrates on the pivotal role of female characters in her novels and their status in the intricate realm of her fiction writing. Her reputation has risen since the publication of her first novel, Cry, the Peacock (1963). She weaves themes such as the agony of existence, the metaphysical void, the fears and inner turmoil of her protagonists whose values, beliefs and structures are jeopardized. Though the process has been slow yet the women's liberation has strengthened the status of women in the society.