PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN THE NOVELS OF SHASHI DESHPANDE AND ANURADHA RAMANAN (Pages 17-24) by Ms. P. Pandia Rajammal in THE ENGLISH RESEARCH EXPRESS / ISSN:2321-1164 (Online); 2347-2642 (Print)

Indian women writers have given a new dimension to the Indian literature. Several women writers composed songs and short stories. In the 20th century, women’s writing was considered as a powerful medium of modernism and feminist statements. Women have written novels of Magic realism, social realism and regional fiction. Their novels depict the psychological suffering of the frustrated housewife and oppressed lives of women of the lower classes. Indian women writers explore the feminine subjectivity and apply the theme that ranges from childhood to womanhood. Shashi Deshpande is a prominent Indian English writer. She has explored new sexual more, human relations, marriage and motherhood. She has portrayed the predicament, exploitation and disillusionment of Indian women. The protagonists of all her novels are modern, career – oriented and middle-class educated women. Anuradha Ramanan is a prolific writer in Tamil. Her writings are popular for her refreshingly new feministic approach. Her novels are primarily concerned with women who are victimized in socio-political structure of patriarchy. Thus Shashi Deshpande and Anuradha Ramanan have many similarities and dissimilarities in the portrayal of woman characters though they belong to the same time and pace. Both the writers explore the psychic, moral dilemmas and repercussion of the situation in their women characters. This present paper discusses about the woman who plays different roles in life like a daughter, wife, motherhood and professional in the novels of Shashi Deshpande and Anuradha Ramanan. Key Words: Magic realism, exploitation, disillusionment, patriarchy and repercussion.