Passive Resistance in Jane Smiley's Ordinary Love

Abstract

Jane Smiley's Ordinary Love highlights women’s resistance to oppressive patriarchal ideology through the major character, Rachel who attempts to break age-old patriarchal barrier by abandoning her demanding and uncompromising husband. As she becomes conscious of her inferior position and unequal status with her husband, she refuses to live with her husband by disclosing her relationship with another man because she wants to pursue her own independent course of her life. So, she leaves her house and children. Her abandonment is not an escapement; rather it is her passive resistance. So, as she experiences many hardships and discrimination in the male and white dominated society, Rachel becomes a rebel. Hence, this move of hers is a passive resistance to seek her self identity and freedom.