Dilemmas of Women in Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to present the problems faced by women in India, especially their position in family and society through the work of Shashi Deshpandes That Long Silence'. According to Indian tradition, wives are always subservient to their husbands and family. And is seen that a women's life is completely controlled either by her family or her husband. Women sacrifice their dreams and desires for the sake of their families. They are not allowed to share their thoughts or opinions on anything, all they can do is accept the decision taken by a man with great silence.  Jaya the protagonist of 'That Long Silence' represents the 90's women in our society. The title of the novel itself refers to the conditions of women in a patriarchal setup. Deshpande’s novel directly deals with the dilemmas of housewives. The novel itself can be said to be an autobiographical novel of Deshpande. Deshpande has mainly focused on the life of middle-class educated women in the late 90s Indian society.