WOMEN’S SELF-IDENTITY CONFLICT RESOLUTION: A STUDY OF ‘MY FEUDAL LORD’

Abstract

This research paper investigates the memoir ‘My Feudal Lord’ to explore identity crisis and confrontation present in the text. To highlight the identity crisis and causes of confrontation, the ideologies of feministic perspective of Simon de Beauvoir’s Second sex (1949) has been applied upon the text of the memoir. Moreover, this study also investigates the lecherous behavior and savagery against women in a medieval society in the book "My Feudal Lord" by "Tehmina Durrani"(1995). The researcher has tried to explain the problems faced by the females in the male-dominated society. Durrani (1995) highlights her personal experiences of being subjugated and subdued in the male-dominated society where she suffered and experienced setbacks, obstructions and disrespect. This research is qualitative in nature. Simon de Beauvoir’s Second Sex (1949) has been used as a theoretical framework for this research study. Beauvoir’s (1949) concept of gender inequality implies on the study and her view that women have to speak for themselves is the key of self-identity. Throughout the sections of memoir, one can map the progress of Tehmina from a weak homemaker to a brave social crusader fighting politically and later, socially for her own identity from the clutches of her husband and categorically from the constraints of society, traditions and norms. These rebellious stunts can be marked as a quest for her identities as well as reconstruction of her “self”, resulting in her self-actualization.