Major Works of Anita Desai, the Indian Novelist - 2230 Words

Major Works of Anita Desai, the Indian Novelist Most of Desais works engage the complexities of modern Indian culture from a feminine perspective while highlighting the female Indian predicament of maintaining self-identity as an individual woman. Cry, the Peacock, Desais first novel, chronicles the morbid dread, descent into madness, and suicide of Maya, a young Delhi housewife who is trapped in a loveless, arranged marriage to the much older Gautama, a misogynistic lawyer. The novel foreshadows several of the major recurring themes in Desais works—the problems of independence and communication, the influence of the West, and the tensions between religious and domestic interaction. Set in the late 1950s, Voices in the City depicts†¦show more content†¦A novella for young people, The Village by the Sea tells the story of a family beset by misfortune in the traditional fishing village of Thul, on the west coast of India near Bombay. With the mother ill and bedridden and the father an unemployed, abusive alcoholic, t he brunt of the family responsibilities devolve upon the elder children, the adolescents Lila and Hari, both of whom have stopped attending school in order to fulfill these duties and care for their two younger siblings. Since the mid-1980s, Desai has shown a definite shift in her narrative voice, favoring dialogue over interior monologue and focusing on underprivileged characters rather than her usually bourgeois protagonists. In Custody revolves around Deven Sharma, a middle-aged man who once dreamt of becoming a poet but who was forced to take a job teaching Hindi in order to support his wife and child. A sharply incisive social comedy, In Custody dramatizes the tensions between worldly and spiritual concerns through Devens almost-obsessive attempts to interview Nur, the greatest living Urdu poet. Based on Desais own Eurasian heritage but narrated from a male perspective, Baumgartners Bombay (1988) concerns themes of alterity and hybridity. The novel—Desais first to feature a non-Indian protagonist—recounts the tragic life and violent death of Hugo Baumgartner, a Jew who has emigrated toShow MoreRelatedAnita Desai s Desai 1035 Words   |  5 Pagesin her husband s house. Anita Desa i s language is marked by three characteristics of sensuous richness, high sensitiveness and love for the sound words. She is chiefly interested in the emotional world of woman, and her fiction reflects a rare imaginative awareness of the various forces in operation and a genuine understanding of feminine sensibility as well as psychology. Her central characters are sensitive and respond faithfully to the needs of the self. Anita Desai uses words for their ownRead MoreThe Great Deal Of Poetry1790 Words   |  8 PagesEzekiel, P. Lal, Kamala Das, A.K. Ramanujan and others. Have done, and are doing commendable work. Giving an estimate of contemporary Indo-Anglian Poetry Amalendu Bose writes. As a historical phenomenon, it is interesting that since 1947 a great deal of poetry has been written by Indians in English; that in both quality and quantity, this poetry compares very well with the English poetry that Indians wrote from the days of Derozio and Kashi prasad Ghosh till 1947; that in both quality and quantityRead MoreLiterature : A New Realm Of Understanding Of Human Nature And Behavior1761 Words   |  8 Pagescontemporary definitions include texts that are spoken or sung. Literature can be classified according to whether it is fiction or non-fiction and whether it is poetry or prose. It can be further distinguished according to major forms such as the novel, short story or drama, and works are often categorized according to historical periods or their adherence to certain aesthetic features or expectations. 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She informs the readers that Raka is to come to CarignanoRead MoreEssay about Emergence of Feminism in Indian Literature: An Overview2062 Words   |  9 PagesEmergence of Feminism In Indian Literature: An Overview Introduction Feminism basically means guarding equal rights for women as enjoyed by men. Feminism does not talk only about the social rights but also about the political as well as economic rights of a woman. Feminism is a search for the identity of the most marginalized creature on earth, that is, woman. In India, women have always been considered weak or inferior by the dominating patriarchal society from ages. They are considered merelyRead MoreAnita Desai, A Modern Indo English Writer Essay3158 Words   |  13 PagesINTRODUCTION Anita Desai, a noteworthy woman novelist, is a modern Indo-English writer, widely acclaimed not only in India but also in the world of fiction writing. She emerged after independence, deliberating on the highly debatable contemporary issues. Anita Desai is a keen observer of the society and the position of the women in the contemporary society draws her special attention. The novels of Anita Desai are noted for the profound probing into the inner life and feelings of the women, boundedRead MoreIndian English Novel17483 Words   |  70 PagesThe Indian English novel evolved as a subaltern consciousness; as a reaction to break away from the colonial literature. Hence the post colonial literature in India witnessed a revolution against the idiom which the colonial writers followed. Gradually the Indian English authors began employing the techniques of hybrid language, magic realism peppered with native themes. Thus from a post colonial era Indian literature ushered into the modern and then the post-modern era. The saga of the Indian English