The Concept of New Woman in Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain and Manju Kapur’ Difficult Daughters

INTRODUCTION

The idea of New woman has developed after far venture into the investigation of her solid inclination to be recognized as an individual and individual self-sufficiency - autonomous womanhood with free personality and soul. At a similar time, she additionally battles to bring changes in the public eye through the annulment of misogynist dispositions and man centric mastery. Simone De Beauvoir states, ―one isn't born as a woman, rather become." (Beauvior 295). Therefore, feminists investigate the possibility of womanhood and the significance of them in the patriarchal society. Subsequently, this lady decides to dissent and battle against the deep rooted conventional convictions and acknowledged standards and flows of the society. She additionally gives more accentuation in investigating her actual potential to improve her secondary status in family and society also. In this way, K. Meera Bai expresses, "The word New Woman has come to mean the enlivening of ladies into another acknowledgment of her place what's more, position in family and society. Aware of her uniqueness, ―The new lady has been attempting to affirm her privileges as an individual and is resolved to battle for equivalent treatment with man." (Qtd in Srivastava 15-16) Besides this, Seshadri remarks "The new lady is decisive and, obstinate looking to find genuine self." (Qtd in Sandhu and Maan 351) She doesn't especially looked for or raises voice of correspondence and privileges of a lady alone in any case, follows progressively about her space, acknowledgment, regard, and comprehension from her male partner. She too challenges the advanced man that she is no progressively latent and compliant yet a sort of la who can possibly change the conventional whimsical contemplations and emotions. Other than this, the new woman‘s enthusiasm for instruction and occupation is for the most part to remain as a monetarily free figure, to improve womanhood and to pick an actual existence in a manner she needs to satisfy her inclinations and needs. Neeru Tondon states: The ‗new woman‘ today challenges the traditional notions of ‗Angel in the house‘ and ‗sexually voracious‘ image. The new woman is essentially a woman of awareness and consciousness of her low position in the family and society and tries to improve it. (Tondon 26) century. This woman questions the conventional sexual orientation standards and battled for correspondence in different circles of life like monetary, political, social, instructive, sexual rights furthermore, obligations in man centric social orders. Nonetheless, the rise of newwoman is indistinguishable with the feminists‘ perfect. She challenges the establishment of marriage and urges woman to liberate herself from male control and to carry on with her own life with independent personalities and uniqueness. Mary Wollstonecraft who is moreover considered as the ―mother of feminism‖ raises voice for women‘s training and foundation of marriage. In the late nineteenth century, the idea of New Woman is advanced by Henry James and spoken to the pictures of new lady through the female characters Isabel Archer in The Portrait of a Lady and Daisy Miller in Daisy Miller. Once more, in distinctive artistic writings this New Woman has been reflected and makes an appearance in Maria Edge Worth‘s Belinda, (1801) Elizabeth Barrett‘s Aurora Light (1856), Ibsen‘s A Doll's House (1879), Henry Arthur Jones‘ The Case of Defiant Susan (1894), Shaw‘s Mrs. Warren's Profession (1893) and Candida (1898). In Indian literature, Anita Desai and Manju Kapur are the two contemporary writers who spoke for it and has represented the contemporary female characters who fought for their individualities and existence . Sarah Grand, George Eliot what's more, Thomas Hardy are the journalists who continued anticipating the pictures of ―New Woman‖. Other than this, Charlotte Perkins Gilman alludes lady to follow the current way loosened up by callings what's more, desire to leave the control of home makers. In this manner, Mukherjee declares. The new woman has become more vulnerable and her problems have increased. No longer can she retreat to the seclusion of her kitchen and at the time the male domination has tried to overpower her. But she has fought on to seek an identity. (Mukherjee 245) Throughout the years, the deep rooted picture of woman is by all accounts bit by bit concealing off into the picture of new woman with the spread of instruction in the public eye. The idea of new lady and its acknowledgment in India is said to be the western import in any case, it isn't the visually impaired impersonation or transplant. Truth be told it is because of the progressions going on all over the place. The Indian women authors have given another measurement in depicting the picture of new women. Their books investigate female subjectivity and battle for a character in the man centric society. Consequently, writers like Kamala Markandeya, Nayantara Sahgal, Shashi Deshpande, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Shobha De and Manju Kapur have given the picture of new women through their works. Nayantara Sahgal‘s books present the rise of new woman who is no longer considered woman as a sex representation of mature age. Her life is an existence of depression and separation. She wouldn't like to include herself in any duty any longer, for all she needed was to be separated from everyone else. She gets a kick out of the chance to be liberated from every single aggravating association and pulls back into Carignano, her slope home Kasauli. Right now would like to carry on with a solitary life. In her misery she says: "Have I not done what's necessary and had enough ? I need no more. I need nothing" (Anita, Desai. Fire on the Mountain) (p-37) Difficult Daughters depicts the women who need to state their right and build up their own character in male centric culture. The novel describes India's freedom parcel time as well as freedom of women from customary and male centric servitudes. Sunita Sinha properly states: ―Kapur speaks of the idea of independence – independence aspired to and obtained by a nation and also independence yearned after by a woman.‖ (Sinha, 161) Difficult Daughters presents the topic of child birth as an propensity plot all through. As per the back front of the novel, it is set around the hour of segment and composed with incomprehensible knowledge and compassion. Manju Kapur has secured a long range of time when the British were the rulers and India was seeing a stunning time of upset and bloodbath. The occurrences in the novel are woven superbly with the subject of segment. In this manner, Woods declares, "The New Woman (anecdotal or genuine) tested winning Victorian frames of mind, for example, Ware‘s and set an option to the acknowledged and worthy "Genuine or Ideal Woman" (Woods 6) The novel Fire on the Mountain delineates the bind of women in a society that neglects to fulfill their longing and satisfy their expectation. The tale portrays a world, which isn't made safe for women. Along these lines there is requirement for women to see one another. The novel plainly shows the problem of women in a society that has become a fit spot, not for living however for passing on. That is the reason when Raka comes to Nanda Kaul to educate the concerning fire, She saw Nanda Kaul on the stool with her head hanging, the dark phone hanging, the long wire dangling. Nanda Kaul is no more. With this novel Anita Desai underscores on female opportunity as a fantasy. She likes to propose that the fantasy of manly predominance is safeguarded in

Anita Desai and Manju Kapur are the Indian women writers who speak to the agony and struggle of the advanced instructed women that battle among convention and man controlled society from one perspective and singularity and autonomous on the other hand. The female characters in their books know about the quandary, and so they decide to battle and challenge the customary and socially acknowledged standards furthermore, flows. They likewise face the duties and attempt to fit themselves in the socio social methods of the changed society. In their books, they speak to the new woman who battle between custom and innovation so as to set up their personality and to live a monetarily autonomous existence without contingent upon their male partners - be on the father, spouse, sibling or child. Anita Desai and Manju Kapur in their books portray the image of insubordinate women who look for of self-revelation, self respect, self-rule and self administer as they are gotten between medieval qualities and the quick moving toward new life. They are battling to find some kind of harmony between society and self. In this way Anita Myles declares that, the women in Desai‘s books don't surrender the hardship so effectively. They indulge in self-analysis, self discovery and ultimately compromise with the situation to live life stoically becoming assets to the family by developing the power of sustenance. True enough some women characters prefer to remain in the world of illusion while many others endeavour to find a way out. (Myles 37) At the same time, the women characters in Manju Kapur‘s novels are trying to maintain the balance between family and society. Her women characters are the personification of new women who struggle between tradition and modernity. Gupta asserts, It is their individual struggle with family and society through which they plunge into a dedicate effort to carve an identity for themselves as qualified women with faultless backgrounds. (Gupta 3) Difficult Daughters depicts three ages of women. The first is related to the common welfare of the family, child bearing, raising and joined with conventional and traditionalist viewpoint towards life. The subsequent age is freed, instructed, beginning to look all starry eyed at and present day in viewpoint and thinking. The third age is fruitless - without kid and separated. The three ages are spoken to by Kasturi, Virmati and Ida. The story is described through Ida, girl of Virmati, who is never told about the past of her mom. Her family members give one perspective on her mom yet she needs to know another. Virmati is a difficult little girl of Kasturi while Ida is a difficult little girl of Virmati. The ―The one thing I had wanted was not to be like my mother. Now she was gone and I stared at the fire that rose from her shriveled body, dry-eyed, leaden, half dead myself, while my relatives clustered around the pyre and wept.‖(Difficult Daughters, 1)

Anyway the books of Anita Desai and Manju Kapur depict the understood inclinations of ladies to re-characterize their self with respect and not in miserable lack of involvement. Through their female heroes, the writers attest that ladies are not only sex objects or giving up individuals in the family however they are ladies of substance just as quintessence. They attempt to attest with their voice that they are recognized as human being just not only prevalent or substandard to menfolk. In Fire on the Mountain, Anita Desaifeatures the picture of new woman through the character Nanda Kaul who performs masculine obligations and conveys the weights of family obligation. In this way, Nanda Kaul is a huge Indian new woman who breaks the conventional standards and flows and radical against the general outlook of the male centric culture. Then again, Manju Kapur‘s epic Difficult Daughters makes consciousness of women‘s freedom and balance alongside men, not completely blossomed however at any rate up to check. Her female heroes like Virmati, Kasturi, Indumati, Gunvati, Hemavati, Ida and Vidyavati are instructed, striking and vivacious new woman with certainty, and freedom. Through these characters Manju Kapur uncovers that lady needs to have total freedom in socio-social India. Along these lines, both the writers feature that ladies have gotten the epitomes of revolt, not for balance however for the privilege to be recognized as individual with confidence in training, money related freedom and self satisfaction in the public eye. Laxmi Sharma attests in her article Emergence of New Woman in Books of Manju Kapur. The development of new ladies in the domain of social, monetary, social and racial viewpoints will likewise be examined… The idea of new lady in Indian culture shifts from the one in the west…. (Gunjan 114)

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Head, Department of English & American Studies, K. K. P. G College, Etawah (UP) ravdee@gmail.com