The 19th and 20th centuries were pivotal periods in India's history, marked by social, political, and cultural transformations. Indian literature during this time witnessed an emergence of voices advocating for gender equality and women's rights. Feminist perspectives began to challenge patriarchal norms and address issues of gender discrimination. This literature review explores the diverse range of works that contributed to shaping the feminist discourse within Indian literature during this time.

Even though the word ‘feminism’ is a word that stands for the advocation of equality between genders, in India the principles of this movement were always anchored towards equity. For centuries, Indian women have struggled to find equality in social, political, educational, economic and religious context. They have always been treated as an inferior who have to follow the orders of the superior gender. They have always kept their voice inside themselves as the society never allows them to have their own thoughts and wills. For instance, in regard to the status of women, Sanskrit Hindu textbook, Manusmriti portrayed, “ The father looks after her during childhood, the husband protects her during youth, and the son takes care of her when she becomes old. Women are never fit for independence.” If you analyze the sentence thoroughly, does it only imply the protection and care of their mother, or daughter or wife. It portrays more about a psychological cage that a female has to be in throughout her life. Instances like this can be found in feminist literature which provides a large rigid insight of the situation they were forced to live with.

Literary Feminism in India

Literature has always been considered as a powerful mode of communication since ages. You can share your views, sentiments, emotions and arguments on that piece of paper with a pen more accurately than explaining them directly through a conversation. Therefore, in every moment, with the activist, writers also play a major role.

Indians got acquainted with English education during the nineteenth century. Since then, philosophically it has been the back of all the changes and control taken place. Indian English Literature didn’t start in a day. It took years of continuous adaptations and accommodations to bring us the current spot we have in the world. After the introduction of literacy in India, it took some time but women started acknowledging the power of the pen. Yet, it took more than enough time to recognise Indian women writers as they have to take an extremely troublesome path to get through the long road of male predominance, convictions, conviction, and restrictions created on the name of traditions, ‘sanskar’ by the society. It was believed that feminist writers were mostly smothered and oppressed women. But to be true, it was more than that. They were the writers who wanted to make a change in the society, who wanted to be the change. They fought with patriarchy and ill thinking to make the society a safe place for women.

During the mid-1930’s Indian writing was acknowledged when the trio, RK Narayan, Mulk Raj Ananad, Raja Rao appeared. The work created awareness for Indian society and paved a path for Indo-English writers. They weren’t exactly feminist but their novels had some strong female protagonists which showed that India is on the verge of accepting the changes. R K Narayan’s protagonist Rosie in Guide and Bhabani Bhattacharya’s protagonist Kajoli in So Many Hungers are some examples of women in a modern society. R K Narayan had mainly two kinds of women in his novels - one group possesses a traditional mindset and the other who seeks freedom from the constricting norms of society. The traditional group of women were mostly devoted mothers, aunts, grandmothers and wives from the novels like The Financial Expert, Mr. Sampath and Natraj. Though the women characters had a strong personality yet they weren’t treated equally. On the other hand, to Bhattacharya, women were a source of strength and their contributions are significant not only for their families but also for their nation. Kajoli in So Many Hungers, Meera in A Goddess named Gold, Sumita in Ladakh were quite optimistic. Raja Rao and Mulk Raj Anand’s novels were mostly about the socio-economic issues which focused on the harsh facts and realities of their life. So, feminist issues were only a part of their overriding concerns. However, Mulk Raj Anand’s novel The Old man and the Cow’s protagonist Gauri was a fine example of his idea of women who were free of traditions and social restraints.

Due to the influence of Western culture and education in the nineteenth century, even though Indian women were motivated to study, their hands and legs were tied with imaginary shackles of responsibilities such as household, children, society, and family management. In this regard, Malashri Lal observed that, “Romantic attachments that she read in Charlotte Bronte or George Elliot were immensely alluring to the intellect but totally false to her own position as an object to an arranged marriage” If the women doesn’t even right to do as per her basic will, a will to marry someone and falling in love with someone other than her chosen husband was out of question If they even speak a word without permission, they were labeled as shameless by the society.

In literature during the 1960s, women in Indian fiction were portrayed as ideal people having various excellences yet with no understanding of revolt. Women were instructed and made conscious about their rights and advantages demanding their legitimate spot in the public eye. Over the years the impact of western feminist authors and books like Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1952), Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) and Kate Millet’s Sexual Politics (1970) can be seen. Under these impacts, Indian women feminist writers like Kamala Markandaya, Anita Desai, Shashi Despande, Shobha de, Bharati Mukherjee, and others effectively made an endeavor to break the stereotype thinking of the society through their novels.

During pre-independence, feminism and patriotism was difficult to go hand in hand but, some of the talented writers made it possible. Feminist writers wanted to create an awareness as well as trying to redefine the role of women in the modern complex world. Famous feminist authors like Anita Desai and Sashi Despande, wrote significant novels in this field.

Anita Desai

Anita Desai’s novel Fire on the Mountain has received the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1978. The main protagonist of her novels were women and the themes she focuses on were gnarly inner struggle of women, man-woman relationships, marital discords, lack of communication and isolation, She has portrayed women suffering from violence, torture, tyrannies faced by women. Her characters were mostly depressed, they lacked the optimistic view towards life and who failed to overcome traumas and apprehensions. Maya in Cry, the Peacock was unstable and she wasn’t able to understand her husband who had a practical approach to life. In Fire on the Mountain, The brutality of Raka’s father towards her mother had destroyed her innocence and humanity. She rejoiced at her act of setting a mountain on fire and didn’t even have a bit of guilt. Sita in Where Shall we Go this Summer lived a life of comfort with her husband, who was quite understanding. At the gestation period, during her fifth pregnancy, she went through a psychological imbalance which changed her life. To escape the reality, she went to Manori Island which was known for performing miracles among locals, to seek the blessing of her deceased father. This action of hers created a huge hindrance in her marital life and later on, pushed her children into the darkness of that island. In Voices in the city, Monisha commits suicide because she wasn’t able to away from her life of monotony. Anita Desai has also projected the pathetic condition of a widow in Indian society in her novel Clear Light of the Day, through the protagonist Mira Mavshi. Her novels often portrayed the disturbed psychology and pitiful condition of women who have to survive in a stifling atmosphere.

Ruth Pravlver Jhabvala

On the contrary, Indo-English authors like Ruth Pralver Jhabvala portrayed characters of strong women in her contemporary novels. She projected the Indian society post-independence which consisted both Indians as well as Britishers. Although her novels lacked the Indian warmth and touch, she had portrayed beautiful pictures of a vivid British society quite well. In fiction written by Jhabvala, she projected the temperament and attitude of typical Indian men who hold themselves as masters and women as slaves.

Though there was a cultural difference, the issue was the same. Judy in A Backward Place, who has a British upbringing was unable to cope up with her Indian husband, similarly Gulab in Esmond in India was about a woman who endured callousness from her British husband. She believed that the feminine traits of women inculcated in them forces them unquestionably and unknowingly to their male counterparts which needed to be changed. Her writings didn’t become a part of feminist literature as the protagonist didn’t want to ameliorate from their pathetic state.

Kamala Markandaya

Kamala Markandaya was one of the contemporary writers who raised the issue of female’s financial independence. She portrayed female characters who were in poverty in her novels like Rukmani in Nectar in a Sieve, Nalini in A Handful of Rice. Her women protagonists projected the idea that economic independence of women can solve most of their problems. Her novels addressed some of the important feminist issues and provided a new, independent and strengthened image of women.

Sobha De

Shobha De’s novel was quite ahead of its time. Her novels were about female characters who valued money, status and physical gratification rather than having psychological and emotional attachment or dependency on someone. The novels were mostly about the lives of women living in urban areas like Socialite Evenings, Starry Night, Spouse - The Truth about Marriage, etc. They were mostly metropolitan elites who battered the moral and ethical values for superficial lusts like money, success, ambitions and physical gratification. Her themes projected the dilution of family ties by women in accommodation to get themselves in a better social position.

Sashi Deshpande

Whereas, Sashi Deshpande’s novels themes possessed universality. They did not refer to women from a particular section of society or state, her characters were the representative of entire Indian womanhood. Her literature is bound in women characters, attempting to characterize their personalities in man centric society. She portrayed women as the original protagonist - they are the focus of the story which builds around their psyche and happenings in their immediate surroundings.

Her female protagonist portrayed women who wanted liberation and self exploration. They wanted to discover and explore their individuality. This is best captured by the protagonist of The Dark Holds no Terror (1980) where she remarks, “ All right so I am alone. But so’s everyone else. We have to go on trying. If we can’t believe in ourselves, we are sunk.”

As a novelist she mirrored the new socio-cultural context of the process of change. Novels like That long silence, Dark holds No Terror, The binding vine, Roots and shadows suggested women to cognize their weakness, overcome them, implement their potential and assert their individuality.

G.S Amur, a writer and a critic who had received the prestigious Central Sahitya Akademi Award commented, “Woman’s battle, with regards to contemporary Indian culture, to discover and protect her way of life as spouse, mother and generally significant of all, as human being is Sashi Despande’s significant worry as an imaginative writer, and this shows up in the entirety of her significant stories”.

Activist and Poet - Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu, who was a poetess as well as a female activist and the first female governor of India. She was well known as ‘The Nightingale of India’ and founded the Women’s India Association in 1917. She has tried to educate people of India about the topics that were controversial at that time such as establishing women’s homes, educational facilities for women as well as widows and removing the obstacles in the remarriage of widows. Her poems showcase a fierce fight for freedom and the struggle women have to do for equality.

She once said “As long as I have life, as long as blood flows through this arm of mine, I shall not leave the cause of freedom.. I am only a woman ,a poet. But as a woman, I give to you the weapons of faith and courage and the shield of fortitude.And as a poet, I fling out the banner of song and sound, the bugle call to battle. How shall I kindle the flame which shall waken you men from slavery…”.

She was the female activist whose contribution made a lot of difference for women in a country where they were simply “caretakers” and “nurturers”. Some of her notable works which were acknowledged as one of finest at that time were Lady of the lake, Maher Muneer, The golden threshold, The Bird of Time, The Broken Wings etc. She has also written many essays and articles about political views and women’s rights and issues. In 1961, with the help of her daughter Padmaja, her poem collection “The Feather of the Dawn” was published. During 1918, British and Indian feminists including Naidu published a magazine “Stri Dharma’ to showcase international news from a feminist's perspective.

During 1915-1918, she traveled to different regions of India to provide and educate them about women’s social welfare, women’s rights and nationalism.

Contemporary poet Bappaditya Bandopadhyay once quoted,” Sarojini Naidu inspired the Indian Renaissance Movement and had a mission to improve the life of Indian women.”

The post-partition history of India is marked by suffering and pain of millions. It was especially a gruesome period for women as they were stripped out of their honor (izzat) by means of abuse, usually sexual in nature. They had to shoulder the protection of themselves as well as their family's honor. They used to be tortured and treated as a means of revenge, just a body to which they can use as a tool to impart their hateness. And if they were abused and still somehow, they lived, their family and society didn’t accept them as if it was their fault. Due to this type of thinking, new feminist writers emerged, who were brave and passionate to address these issues such as Amrita Pritam and Ismat Chugtai.

Amrita Pritam

Punjabi poetess Amrita Pritam in her poem Akhan Waris Shah Nu (1947) brought attention to a female character who calls upon the medieval poet Waris Shah to witness, lament and summarize her grief. In The Helpless (1951), lament the status of countless women, who were abused, raped, displaced and abandoned by their family during partition.

Ismat Chughtai

Due to her way of writing and the content she focused on, in some instances she was compared to Virginia Woolf. Even if the settings of both were different and context differ due to their country and culture, their feminist nature writing remains similar and quite comparable. She was well known for the controversial portrayal of female sexuality in The Quilt (1942). She bravely wrote about the truth of marriage in Indian society in her book The Dress of the Fourth Day (1946). She criticized the belief of Indian society’s social beliefs regarding marriage. The belief that a woman's beauty and skin tone define her worth and marriage is the only safe haven or to be married is the foremost goal of a woman. A woman has to endure and adjust the abuse of her in-laws and husband as that's what they are supposed to do. She can never consider her birthplace as her home and once she marries, her husband’s home is supposed to be everything for her. Even Anita Desai’s works such as Cry, the Peacock (1963), Bye-Bye Blackbird (1971) portrays similar kinds of work which shows the sensitive complexities of marriage. Ismat Chugtai had explored many feminist themes such as female sexuality and femininity and social issues such as middle-class gentility and class-conflict.

Around the same time, Writers like Kamala Das and Gauri Deshpande focused on the theme of freedom to their individuality in women. They paid attention to the sufferings of women due to hindu ethos and customs.

Kamala Das

In The Stone Age (1973), she exclaims,

“You turn me into a bird of stone
A granite dove
You build round me a shabby drawing room
And strike my face absentmindedly while you read.”

It showcase the violent male present in this patriarchal society and what kind of filthy their mindset and tendency they have to torture their wife as if they are not an individual made of flesh and bones, just their propert to exploit. She also portrays the status women have by exploring and analyzing the various roles women have to play such as wife, mother, daughter, sister, lover in her life.

Even though Kamala Das was a little shy in nature, her work Summer in Calcutta (1965), portrayed a different kind of refreshing content where the female protagonist dares to explore her sexuality and desire.

Gauri Deshpande

In Beyond the Slaughter House (1972), Gauri Deshpande showed how the beliefs and traditions of Hindu ethos have been a barrier towards women’s freedom to choose a way of life for themselves. In this work, she portrayed a female is considered as a species which is only fit for childbirth and this role of mother confines them from the freedom they deserve.

There were other well known works such as Purdah (1989) by Imtiaz Dhaker which grabbed attention towards the complexities of gender and religion. The protagonist, the mysterious ‘she’ is told by the society ‘them’ that she is old enough to learn about shame and ‘purdah’ is for their own safety. She showcased the nature of men in society who restrict the freedom and voice of women by giving reasons like ‘this is how society works or this is what it should be’.

Raji Narasimhan’s works like A toast to herself (1986), Forever Free (1979) portrayed brave female protagonists who didn’t let the norms and beliefs of society shake their dreams. They are the testaments of freedom, independence and defiance where a female refuses to ‘settle down’ and finds her own way.

Some of the prominent male writers who weren’t exactly feminist but they did focus on the feminist issues were Rabindranath Tagore, Munshi Premchand.

Munshi Premchand’s boldest work Bazaar-e-Husn ‘Seva Sadan’ (1918) is about a young woman who tries to find an independent, meaningful and respectful existence in prostitution. It provided a commentary on female sexuality and morality. In The Second wife (1927), portrays the sufferings of the young female protagonist who had to marry an older man as her previous bequeathment failed due to dowry. In this work she has exposed the customs and beliefs of India which treats a girl as a mere financial and physical incumbent.

In Katha, “The Notebook” (1991) by Rabindranath Tagore, the protagonist Uma was married to a much older teenage boy. Through this short story he has showcased the problematic practices of child marriage and inequality of sexes. Uma's situation didn;t change a bit even after marriage rather than more of her liberties being taken away from her, she wasn’t even allowed to show a simplest means of expression - writing in her notebook.

The twentieth feminist writings were mainly based on the portrayals of the women as the original protagonist of their story. The stories were based on the immediate surroundings they were living in. It showed the life of the protagonist living in the surroundings who believed in social norms, ancient traditions.

These representations of the living of women inspired many notable writers of the twenty-first century like Arundhati Roy, Jhumpa Lehri, Urvashi Butalia, Ritu Menon, Kamla Bashin, Chitra Banerjee and many more. Literature has always played a major role in creating awareness and this can be seen in the mentioned author’s works. As Munshi Premchand said, “ Literature is the mirror of its time, the expression and ideas that energized the hearts of people also cast its shadow on literature.”

Feminist Poets of Indian Literature

Many Indian poets in English emerged during the 1960s. Some of the notable poets of that time were Kamala Das, Monika Verma, Margaret Chatterjee, Ira De, Roshan Alkazi, Sujatha Modayil, Mamta Kalia, Gauri Deshpande, Sunita Jain, Lila Ray, Suniti Namjoshi, Mary Gupta, Indira Dhanrajgir, Shri Devi Singh, Lalita Venkatawaran, Gauri Pant, Tillotama Rajan, Chitra Prashad, Nasima Aziz, Vimla Rao, Malathi Rao, Dorothy Sinha and many more. They used to write with creativity, confessional and about their personal experiences, displaying feminine sensibility. They portrayed the theme of a man-woman relationship.

Remarkably, they depict the frustrations of women living in a male-dominated society and they deal with themselves like love, lust, sorrow, grief, etc. They are the pioneers to explore some exclusive female areas of sensuality and sexuality. They didn’t hesitate to express their feelings and bitter experiences in their poems. Here it is apt to quote Sunanda Chavan, who says, “An Indian woman poet in English evolved her full identity as a modern woman only in the post-independence period. The variety of new tensions encountered by contemporary women stimulate Indian feminine progress from tradition to modernity”

The Progressive Writers Association was created between 1932-1936 in London and India functioned as an umbrella under which progressive writers of all languages found shelter through. It was an ‘united front’ of writers who wanted to raise their voice against imperialism and give a voice to the social reactionary.

The literature reveals the emergence of feminist voices in various literary genres and the impact of literature on social attitudes towards gender equality in India. Further research and analysis are necessary to deepen our understanding of feminism in Indian literature and its lasting influence on societal norms and women's emancipation.

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