Search for female self: A comparative study of jasmine and that long silence

Abstract

Bharati Mukherjee and Shashi Deshpande are two prominent Indian writers who portray the plight of Indian women - their hopes, joys, aspirations as well as frustrations and fears. Shashi Deshpande is an Indian writer living in India. Bharati Mukherjee is an Indian writer, but settled in a foreign country. In this study, comparative analysis of the writings of these two writers has been done so as to analyse the struggle of women towards their emancipation. The writings of these women are woman-centred and their characters belong to the urban, middle-class, traditional families. Both the texts Jasmine and That Long Silence under study portray that the historical as well as cultural locations of the writers as well as the protagonists change their attitude towards life. Both the writers have common cultural background as they belong to the same country but their locations bring about changes in their attitude towards life.