Indian Women’s Inner -World and Female Protest in Githa Hariharan’s Novel ‘The Thousand Faces of Night’

Gender statuses are inherently unequal; it is difficult to establish equality between men and women in the light of traditional inequalities across the world. This research focuses on the similarities and differences among women from different generations, different kinds of educational backgrounds and highlights the conflict experiences of the characters in Githa Hariharan’s novel “The Thousand Faces of Night”. The purpose is to show how women are suffering and are being humiliated in a male-dominated society. The paper depicts how women in India grapple from male domination aggressiveness as well as the cultural, social and religious controlling in the society they live in. The paper also seeks to explore the importance of knowledge as a powerful component which produces positive effects at the level of desire. The paper is based on the theories of Simone Beauvoir, Pierre Bourdieu, Edward Said, Rene Descartes and Amy Bhatt. Finally, the research emphasizes survival against hegemonic regimes and hope of Indian women for better life.


Authors:



References:
[1] Darbha, Bhagavathi. A Study of Vedic Women With Reference to the Characters from Githa Hariharan’s “The Thousand Faces of Night”, Palarch’s Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology 17(7). ISSN 1567-214x, 2020.Print.
[2] Beauvoir, Simone. “The Second Sex”. Jonathan Cape Thirty Bedford Square London, 1953.Sharma, Bhasha. Identity, Culture, and Sexuality in Githa Hariharan’s “The Thousand Faces of Night”. International Journal of English and Literature, India, 2013.
[3] Chalmers, David J. ‘Philosophy of Mind’: Classical and Contemporary Readings. New York, Oxford University Press, 2002.
[4] Said, Edward. “Orientalism”, Random House Inc., New York, 1979 (First Vintage BooksEdition[http://monoskop.org/images/4/4e/Said_Edward_Orientalism_1979.pdf]
[5] Bourdieu, Pierre, “Culture and Power. The Sociology of Pierre Bourdieu”. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1997.
[6] Hariharan, Githa. “The Thousand Faces of Night”, New Delhi: Penguin, (1992). Print.
[7] Bhatt, Amy. Madhavi Murty, and Priti Ramamurthy, “Hegemonic developments: The New Indian Middle Class, Gendered Subalterns, and Diaspora Returnees in the Event of Neoliberalism,” Signs: Journal of Woman in Culture and Society 36, no. 1 (2010): 131.
[8] Sasikala. Feminist Interpretation of Githa Hariharan in “The Thousand faces of Night”. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts, India, 2018.
[9] Bhardwaj, Neelam. Githa Hariharan’s: “The Thousand Faces of Night” A Reworking of Myth and Folklore on Contemporary Lines. India, 2019.