International Multidisciplinary e –Journal /Author : Priyanka Chanda (18-23)
Aspect of Valiance in the female characters of Kamala Markandaya
Priyanka Chanda
Sr.Asst.Prof & HOD Dept of English
JNU, Jodhpur
Paper Received on: 11 /3/2015
Paper Reviewed on: 12 /3/2015
Paper Accepted on: 18 /3/2015
Abstract:
The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few millennia. From
equal status with men in ancient times through the low points of the medieval period, to the promotion of
by many reformers, the history of women in India has been eventful. However, women in India continue
to face atrocities such as rape, acid throwing, and dowry killings while young girls are forced into
prostitution; as of late rape has seen a sharp increase following several high profile cases of young girls
brutally raped in public areas.
In India, after independence, a change felt by women was that many of the established norms of the
society were intended to check or clip their growth as person and not as possession . Many literary writers
raised their voices against this old tradition. In Indian English literature, Kamala Markandaya an
outstanding novelist on the contemporary commonwealth literary scene and ranks with Mulk Raj Anand,
R.K. Narayan and Raja Rao has initiated the lead of women s transformation from possession to person
through her writings. She has shown the new face of her women who seek self-fulfillment through selfexpression in a milieu where there is a mutuality, understanding and tenderness. Although her women do
not rebel, they make the society realize of their presence as persons and not mere possession. The new
woman, clinging to her basic values and changing herself according to the changing circumstances, goes
ahead on the way seeking for her own identity with new depth and getting recognition.
I have attempted to clarify that how the feministic voice can be heard in the novels of Kamala
Markandaya. The chief protagonists in most of her novels are female characters who are inconstant search
for a meaning and values of life. . Though her women protagonists are consistently pressured in clumsy,
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Vol-IV, Issue- III, Mar-2015.
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International Multidisciplinary e –Journal /Author : Priyanka Chanda (18-23)
knotty relationships, her women firmly refuse to become prisoners of orthodoxies, fossilized traditions;
and stereotypically idealized identities. Thereby she casts a very hard look at the structural dynamics of
the society functioning against the advantage of the female species. Her novels play out their lives „flux
and fragility, differences and clashes, sufferings and struggles, societal and interiorized levels of their
experience, as well as the extent of inter-subjectivity and self—reflexivity of these women and her own
self.
Aspect of Valiance in the female characters of Kamala Markandaya:
The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few millennia.
From equal status with men in ancient times through the low points of the medieval period, to the
promotion of by many reformers, the history of women in India has been eventful. However, women in
India continue to face atrocities such as rape, acid throwing, dowry killings while young girls are forced
into prostitution; as of late rape has seen a sharp increase following several high profile cases of young
girls brutally raped in public areas.
In India, after independence, a change felt by women was that many of the established norms of the
society were intended to check or clip their growth as person and not as possession . Many literary writers
raised their voices against this old tradition. In Indian English literature, Kamala Markandaya an
outstanding novelist on the contemporary commonwealth literary scene and ranks with Mulk Raj Anand,
R.K. Narayan and Raja Rao has initiated the lead of women s transformation from possession to person
through her writings. She has shown the new face of her women who seek self-fulfillment through selfexpression in a milieu where there is a mutuality, understanding and tenderness. Although her women do
not rebel, they make the society realize of their presence as persons and not mere possession . The new
woman, clinging to her basic values and changing herself according to the changing circumstances, goes
ahead on the way seeking for her own identity with new depth and getting recognition.
Kamala Markandaya has realistically presented emotional, moral and spiritual problems of new
woman. The new woman in her novels is not in proper but in making. Acquainting the readers with
Kamala Markandaya, the present book seeks to explore the unexplored aspects of her women, to present
the change in their identity, to highlight the new image through a probe into her novels, and finally to
show her feminist moral concern through an in depth investigation into sexual and familial relationship. It
is hoped that the book will prove useful to the students and teachers of Indian English Literature. Since it
focuses on images of women, even the general readers will find it interesting and feel encouraged to read
the masterpiece works of Kamala Markandaya.
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Vol-IV, Issue- III, Mar-2015.
Page 19
International Multidisciplinary e –Journal /Author : Priyanka Chanda (18-23)
Indian English Literature Has Established Its Credentials All Over The World. Still Litterateurs In This
Stream Have To Be Continuously Appraised And Evaluated And Key Issues Like The Impact Of
Multiculturalism And The Role Assigned To Women Have To Be Confronted And Analyzed Threadbare
Not Merely In Theory But Also Through The Elucidation Of Key Texts From This Perspective. The
Present Volume Scrutinizes Kamala Markandaya‘s Corpus As Part Of This General Critical Endeavour.
The Volume Comprises Scholarly Studies Of Nectar In A Sieve, Possession, A Handful Of Rice, A
Silence Of Desire And Pleasure City, Besides Examining In Depth Kamala Markandaya‘s Rural
Sensibility, The Silent Saga Of Suffering Chronicled In Her Novels, Her Philosophic Vision Of Life, Her
Portrayal Of Social Tensions And Her Feminist Poetics, Taking A Holistic View Of Her Writings. An
Indispensable Source Of Fresh And Innovative Insight Into The Making Of Markandaya‘s Craft Of
Fiction. A Useful Supplement To The Existing Studies Of Her Novels. An Original Perspective On Life,
Society, Values, Gender-Issues And Related Areas For Students, Teachers, Researchers Working In The
Fields Of Literary Theory, Fiction Studies, Aesthetics, Culture, Philosophy And The Sociology Of
Literature.
Women are the ultimate sufferers in this male dominated society. Infact, society also characterizes
them as ideally warm, gentle, dependent and submissive. Family life and the work patterns convey the
idea that woman should be subordinate to and dependent on man. In a country where social evils like
stove deaths, rape, child marriages, female infanticide, witch hunting, dowry killings, honor killings,
marital rape and much more loom large, crime against women is rising like never before. The voices of the
helpless victims are subdued, and justice is delayed and denied in most cases. Many women, little girls go
through the trauma of abuse and violence ( physical, mental and emotional), quietly resign to the fate and
keep their mouths shut in fear of male dominated and directed social norms. In this kind of country when a
woman rises above all this and shows her courage and determination, it is a proud moment for us. Being
female, women writers have a different vision to analyze their position as they can see and understand
them accordingly. Their own experience about women can be beautifully highlighted on paper. In the
present paper the pathetic condition of women , the taboos laid on them by the society and their unending
struggle for their identity is presented through the rural and middle–class female protagonist of
Markandaya‘s Nectar in a Sieve and Deshpande‘s That Long Silence‘
Kamala Markandaya has an impressive list of women characters----Rukmani, Mira, Roshan, Sarojini,
Nalini, Lalitha, Saroja, Caroline, who present various images and classes of women. She has portrayed
them memorably and
“Here is a feminine contemporary sensibility.”
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International Multidisciplinary e –Journal /Author : Priyanka Chanda (18-23)
Markandaya‘s women characters approximate to conventional models of Indian womanhood. They
show extraordinary endurance and strength of character and rise above passivity of mere acceptance of
their lot to become individuals involved in the struggle of life. There is a clash of conformity along with a
desire for autonomy. She portrays her priorities and the determining factors. Her women are tragic figures
that transcend the barrier of life and still fulfill social obligations, facing both social constraints and loss of
separation from the loved ones. They still remain the upholders of life and rise above all petty human
trivialities. Their qualities arouse compassion as so much human potential lies wasted. Her novels are
reflective of the awakened feminine sensibility. Her concerns are not caste class problems but socioeconomic problems.
―Markandaya's strength as a novelist comes from her sensitive creation of individual characters and
situations which are simultaneously representative of a larger collective; her prose style is mellifluous
and controlled.‖
All of Markandaya‘s novels reveal her deep preoccupation with the changing Indian social and political
scene, her careful, conscious craftsmanship and her skilful use of the English language for creative
purposes. She excels in recording the inner workings of the minds of her characters, their personal
perplexities and social confrontations. She endeavoured to portray them as individuals growing into
themselves, unfolding the delicate processes of their being and becoming. In their encounter with a alien
political power, the anticolonial or anti-imperialist attitudes are powerfully expressed and Markandaya‘s
major characters project these viewpoints. Her ‗Nectar in a Sieve,‘ said to be reminiscent of Thomas
Hardy‘s novels, was published in 1954 and made her widely known. It is a restrained as well as a touching
account of the life of an Indian peasant woman, Rukmani, and her struggle for survival and her abiding
love for her husband, Nathan.
She draws serious attention of her readers, to the dilemmas of women and the choices they make when
they find themselves in the whirlpool of complex man—woman relationships. Though her women
protagonists are consistently pressured in clumsy, knotty relationships, her women firmly refuse to
become prisoners of orthodoxies, fossilized traditions; and stereotypically idealized identities. Thereby she
casts a very hard look at the structural dynamics of the society functioning against the advantage of the
female species. Her novels play out their lives „flux and fragility, differences and clashes, sufferings and
struggles, societal and interiorized levels of their experience, as well as the extent of inter-subjectivity and
self—reflexivity of these women and her own self.
Some Inner Fury (1955) is a semi-autobiographical novel and a story of a young woman in love with
an Englishman in the tumultuous 1940s. It was a period, when India was fighting for independence. In the
novel, Kamala Markandaya gives a very vivid and graphic account of the east-west cultural clash in the
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International Multidisciplinary e –Journal /Author : Priyanka Chanda (18-23)
backdrop of national struggle, by projecting three wonderful female figures-Mirabai, Roshan and Premela
who exhibits rare and unique virtues of love and loyalty, friendship and understanding. Here, all the
females being educated they assert theirselves and individualities. For example, Mira loves Richard, an
Englishman against Govind‘s and her parent‘s wishes. And also Premela adopts a child against Kit‘s wish.
In Some Inner Fury, Markandaya projects a national image and patriotic consciousness in myriad forms by
presenting the peculiar sensibility of the modern educated and progressive Indian woman.
Her most achieved and characteristic novel, ―A Silence of Desire‖ (1960) Kamala Markandaya
portrays the assault of the views of western skepticism on the oriental faith of Sarojini, the female
protagonist. The novel mainly stresses the internal conflicts of Sarojini. Kamala Markandaya focuses on
the psychological torments of Sarojini, the heroine who is a God-fearing and religious. Her next novel
Possession (1963) also reflects novelist‘s preoccupation with female strength and vitality. Anasurya, the
narrator is a typical Indian girl, loving and self-sacrificing who possesses all the feminine virtues. Like her
creator, she is a kind of liberated woman of modern India and like Kamala Markandaya, she writes novels.
In fact, she has presented a variety of female figures in Possession. A young divorcee Caroline Bell
constitutes the central figure of the novel. The search for sensuous pleasures brings her to India where she
comes across a young fourteen-year rustic poor boy Valmiki, a talented painter who requires patronage.
She escorts him to London where his talents are flourished. However, she exploits him physically. She
also brings about a separation between Valmiki and Ellie, his housekeeper. But it is Anashuya, the
enlightened Indian women who saves him from crisis by arranging his return journey to India. Anashuya
stands poles apart from other female figures of Kamala Markandaya. Kamala Markandaya‘s fifth novel,
A Handful of Rice (1966) concerns with a woman‘s struggle for existence in modern society. ‗A Handful
of Rice‘ is a story of the Ravi who initially loves Nalini. Here, Nalini is presented as an ideal female
character. In her sixth novel, The Coffer Dams (1969) Kamala Markandaya highlights the character of a
women Helen, the young wife of Harward Clinton, the British engineer working on a dam constructing
site in India. He has a passion for his work, the dam and neglects his wife the ‗unpredictable‘ Helen! He is
a jealous and possessive by nature. It her next novel, The Nowhere Man (1972) Kamala Markandaya
delineates the problem of identity of elderly Indian immigrant women Vasantha, she with her husband
Srinivas find it not only difficult but impossible tocreate their own identity in England, the land of their
adoption. Vasantha embodies the Indian traditional values and virtues of patience, tolerance, love and
fellow feeling, but she dies in the end because of despair and frustration in this atmosphere of racial
antagonism, leaving her husband in a state of shock. Kamala Markandaya repeats the female voice in her
eighth novel, Two Virgins (1977) and The Golden Honeycomb (1977).
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I have attempted to clarify that how the feministic voice can be heard in the novels of Kamala
Markandaya. The chief protagonists in most of her novels are female characters who are inconstant search
for a meaning and values of life. Her stays in South Indian village before her marriage and her settlement
in England after her marriage enabled Kamala Markandaya to draw a realistic picture of women of East
and West. Kamala Markandaya has depicted racial conflicts, cultural differences, women hardships,
temperamental disparities, and sexual perversion. In some of her novels, she presents an existential
struggle of a woman who denies to flow along the current and refuses to submit her individual self. The
woman emerging out of such situations a detached individual sometimes undergoing much pain and
suffering. Such characters exhibit a sense of insecurity due to their traumatic psychic experience and
destruction of enduring values. Kamala Markandaya in her fiction traces a woman‘s journey from selfsacrifice to self-realization, from self-denial to self-assertion and from self-negation to self-affirmation.
Thus, we can say that the feminist voice is heard in all her novels.
Conclusion:
The paper tries to portray the essence of womanhood. Basically women are considered the weaker sex.
But our writer kamala Markandaya‘s stories present us women from all stature showing bravery and
courage that stands out in all spheres. After nature, only a woman has the boon to bring a creation on to
the earth. And a woman can face any obstacle and to any extent, when it comes to protecting her self being
or her family as a whole.
References:
[1] Markandaya, Kamala.Nectar in a Sieve. New York: Signet Books, 1954.
Some Inner Fury.London: Putnam & Co, 1955. A Silence of Desire. London: Putnam &Co, 1960.
[2] Possession. London: Putnam & Co, 1963.
[3] A Handful of Rice. New Delhi: Orient Paperbacks, 1966.
[4] The Golden Honeycomb. New Delhi: B.I. Publication, 1977.
[5] Appaswamy, S.P. "The Golden Honeycomb: A Saga of Princely India by Kamala Markandaya.
[6] The Journal of Indian Writing in English. Vol. 6, No.2. July 1978
[7] Bhatnagar, M.K. Kamala Markandaya: A Critical Spectrum. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and
Distributors,1999.
[8] Chandrasekharan, KR. "East and West in the Novels of Kamala Markandaya" Critical Essays on Indian writing
in English. M.K. Naik, et. al. (Dharwar) University of Dharwar in Collaboration with Macmillan Co. of India,
1968.
[9] Chauhan, P.S. "Kamala Markandaya: Sense and Sensibility". The LiteraryCriterion.
[10] Iyengar K.R.S. ―The Women Novelists‖ Indian Writing in English. 2nd.Ed. New Delhi. Asia Publishing
House.1973
[11] Markandaya Kamala. Nectar in a Sieve. New York: Signet Books, 1955. p.g.54
[12] Murphy Gardner, ―Personality‖, Harper, NewYork, 1947, Page no.536
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