ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE NOVELS OF SHASHI DESHPANDE

Among Indian women writers writing in English, Shashi Deshpande occupies a prominent place in Indian English writings. She happens to be one of those Indian women writers who make their women protagonists question the authority of men. Her women characters don’t accept life as it is, but display a remarkable capacity to establish their own identities. Gone are the days when women like Sita and Gandhari submitted to their husbands and obeyed their commands without raising their voice of protest. Man’s relationship with woman is like that of a master and a slave. The bond between man and woman was one of submission and mute acceptance. In the past woman was regarded as a showpiece having no identity of her own. This kind of treatment of women by men is changing and to a great extent has changed considerably. Women no longer look upon their husbands as role models.