SENSE OF ALIENATION AND EMOTIONAL ESTRANGEMENT –A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ANITA DESAI AND MARGARET ATWOOD’S HEROINE

The quest for identity and the struggle to identify oneself with the surroundings resulting in a sense of alienation and estrangement is experienced by the protagonists of the women’s writing. This paper attempts to focus on the common features of the characters in the novels of the two women authors Anita Desai and Margaret Atwood. Most of the protagonists of Desai can be classified under two categories, one with disturbed, obsessed, oversensitive, aesthetic sensibility while the others are a little tough, stubborn, sarcastic, and cynical about the situations and the people around. Whether it is Maya, Monisha, Sita and Tara who belong to the first category or Nirode, Amla, Nanda and Sophie who belong to the second category, it all begins with the feeling of that estrangement which leads to the zenith though they chose different endings. Margaret Atwood opines that the central reality of Canada or Canadian literature depends wholly on the concept of survival and existence. Similar to those of Desai, Atwood’s heroines attempt to discover their inner self as they feel that they are like emotional refugees seeking shelter in a terrain that they cannot identify themselves with. Most of her characters, especially women feel emotionally maimed and undergo a constant turmoil to connect with the now and present.