A Critical Study of Women Subjugation and Resistance in Sashi Deshpande’s Small Remedies

Sashi Deshpande's novels are woman-centric. Her protagonists refuse to live on the margins of a male dominated society, but see themselves as women in their own rights who are ready to draw new boundaries for themselves. Small Remedies (2000) is also a woman-centric novel. It depicts the life of two women who lived almost fifty years ago in a male dominated society. In such a milieu, two young women, Savitribai Indorekar and Leela, find courage to defy all mores, break from their families and pursue their passions. Madhu, the narrator of the novel who is closely connected with both of these women, has her own life to live. The novel moves backward and forward in time to depict the life of these three women. Be it olden times or recent ones, all the three women have one feature in common – they are confident persons who know what they want and how to get it. They are dependent upon men for a harmonious and balanced life but at the same time they live life on their own terms. The present paper explores women subjugation and resistance in Deshpande's Small Remedies.