WOMAN AT THE CROSS ROADS:IA ISTUDY IOF ISHASHI IDESHPANDE’S THAT ILONG SILENCE I

Indian fiction in English has a formidable line of women novelists from Kamala Markandaya to Nayantara Sahgal, Shashi iDeshpande iis ione iof ithe ibrightest istars iin ithis iaugust igalaxy iof iIndian iwomen iwriters iwho iin iher ivarious iworks ihas idepicted ithe icontemporary imiddle iclass iwomen's iouter iand iinner iworld iwith iremarkable iacute iinsight. The ipresent istudy iis ian iattempt ito ishow ihow ithe imulti-layered i‘silence' iis iused iby iher iprotagonist ias ia istrategy ito isurvive, iunderstand iand irealize iher iidentity iand iself-respect, ias ialso ito iestablish iand iassert iher istatus, irole iand icontribution iin ithe idomestic iand isocial idomains. iThat iLong iSilenceiis ia imodern inovel, which won her the Sahithya Academy award in 1990, irevolves iaround iits icentral iprotagonist iJaya, iwho iis iin isearch ifor iher iself iidentity iin ia itradition ibound isociety. iThe ipresent ipaper iis ian ihonest iattempt ito ishow ihow ipatriarchy ihampers iwoman's iassertion iand itries ito ioppress iher iin ieach iand ievery ipossible iway; iand ihow ia iwoman iprojects iherself ias ia isubject iand irefuses ito ilive iher ilife iin ia iservile imanner. iThe ipaper ibeautifully itraces ithe ijourney iof iJaya, ithe iprotagonist ifrom isuppression ito iself-realization. i