FEMALE PHASE IN BHARATI MUKHERJEE’S FICTION

From the inception, the major premise of the feminist movement was to protest against the patriarchal hegemonic paradigm and to emancipate woman by demanding equal rights of woman in the society. This movement gained impetus through three waves of feminism with the aim of not only gaining the equal status of a woman but also to prepare the ground for female subjectivity and self-assertion. Bharati Mukherjee, one of the most prominent novelists of the 21st century with her diasporic experience, delineated women characters who were victims of immigration and patriarchy. Her female protagonists rebelled against tradition, social customs and culture, embarked perilous journey in search of independence and self-identity. Thus Bharati Mukherjee's female protagonists were bold, assertive, ambitious, adventurous and modern but each protagonist was sharply different from the other through the merit of her individual traits.