Female Resistance to Patriarchy:A Character Study of Astha in Manju Kapur's A Married Woman

Abstract

This dissertation explores the protagonist; Astha is suffered and victimized by the typical Indian society under Hinduism in Manju Kapur’s A Married Woman. The Patriarchal rules and regulations maintained by the society are gendered biased, which leads to the suppression and objectification of women. In A Married Woman, Astha is objectified as socially excluded like other women in society despite her innocent behavior. Females are treated by the society nothing more than the child producing machines, which benefits male to fulfill their interests, but the females are in opposition to it which later on, is proved by the character Astha that marriage is a kind of suppression and subjugation against woman.