Search for a Room of One’s Own: Presentation of Women Characters in Shashi Deshpande’s Ships that Pass

Abstract

Abstract

Shashi Deshpande is quite unique in her treatment of women characters in her novels. She constantly focuses on the emotional aspects of Indian woman’s life. Her women characters are perennially trapped between the beckoning of modernity and the burden of tradition. They are perpetually denied the space of their own. Her Ships that Pass brings into foreground the quest of Radhika, the protagonist and Tara, her elder sister, for their own ?room? in life, to be particular, in conjugal life. ?Room? here indicates a particular space in marriage. A space, which would enable a woman to nourish her own aspirations, is of paramount importance in any successful connubial life. In Indian context, marriage tends to stifle a woman’s own dreams and desires. She gradually succumbs to the insidious patriarchal domination. In Ships that Pass, Radhika and Tara resist such passive resignation. They realize the importance of having a ?room? of their own and persistently hanker after such a ?room?. While Tara fails miserably, Radhika comes out triumphant.