Subversion of Gender Roles in Doris Lessing’s The Cleft
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Department of English
Abstract
Doris Lessing’s The Cleft,tries to turn upside down, the notion that maleness is the
origin of the human society and female were made out of the body of male to
accompany them. Lessing, challenging the history of Christian Mythology, posits her
hypothetical idea that, the origin of the human society is not male but female. The
novel has raised voices against the otherness and secondary position of female. The
novel can be seen as the speculative study on the initiative of women, in the formation
of modern society. Though most of the narratives are based on the myths and oral
records, it provides an acknowledgement that, the females were first teacher, caretaker
and the savoir of male.