Fasting, Feasting: From a Feminist Perspective

ABSTRACT

Western feminism is encapsulated in literature and corresponds in written form, which is contradictory to the East, especially in countries like India. Because of its oral tradition and greater illiteracy, the effect of this discourse was limited to the urban community. But the recent scenario is different as rural people are much better informed with the advent of the electronic media. Indian women writers in English have been raring to try their hands at writing over the past few decades and perpetually making efforts to accomplish their mission successfully. They no longer fall behind their male counterparts no matter what the genre is. Their artistic creations are axiomatic and have bagged a prominent place in the spectrum of world literature. Women novelists are now globally recognized for their contribution to the amplification of Indian Writings in English, especially in the genre of fiction which causes the acclivity of feminist literature. The most prominent among them are Shobha Dey, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Kamala Markandeya, Ruth Prawar Jhabvala, Shakuntala Shrinagesh, Bharathi Mukherjee, and Kiran Desai, who defy the deep-seated patriarchy. Among these writers, Anita Desai denies a narrow feminist approach and portrays females' desire for liberty from social and traditional bondages in patriarchy. The present paper explores the despicable status of women in the Indian patriarchy and expounds on the depiction of the psychological plight of her female characters and gender oppression in her novel Fasting, Feasting. As a prominent Indian writer, Desai proposes her outlook and stance on the issues of femininity and elucidates that Indian feminism contradicts the Western one.