Representation of Women in Literature

The fact that there is no concrete law that forbids women to write doesn’t mean thatwomen are completely free to write. It has remained virtually unchanged since time immemorial that, the writings of women are ‘mere crap.’ This kind of criticism have never stopped women from taking up writing as a passion and profession. Although the women writers are comparatively less acknowledged than the men, they continue to produce various genres of literature. They do it despite a number of hurdles that hinder women. The two major impediments that women face are the financial support and the lack of leisure. The gender roles confined women at home, since they have to take care of the household chores, while men were expected to work and earn the bread. The reversal of gender roles was strictly prohibited and any women who dared to step out of the home became the victim of abuse and criticism. She even became an example of a “Bad Woman.” Despite all these social, and economical limitations women continue to write. The main objective of this paper is to scrutinize the women characters created by women in literature. The two main characters chosen for study are: Chandi from a short story title Bayen by Mahasweta Devi and Chetna from the novel Hangwoman by K.R. Meera. These two characters are the victims of double marginalization because they belong to the marginalized gender and community. These two characters represent the women in India who are the victims of marginalization and exploitation. This paper also touches upon the representation and misrepresentation of women by male authors. The paper also focuses on defending the point that, there is an immediate need for the right kind of representation of women in literature and words indeed hold the power to sustainable development