ASSERTION OF LIBERATING SELF IN SHASHI DESHPANDE’S THE DARK HOLDS NO TERRORS RESEARCH ARTICLE

Abstract

This paper offered a close textual study ofself of Shashi Deshpande’s The Dark Holds No Terrors and a fact emerges that she forms her fictional world equatingtraditional values and voices with that of new beliefs and oldcustoms. She strongly speaks and opposes the notionwhich declares gender consciousness in respect of women of theso-called notion of feminism against men and take feminism as anidea, supportive to their literary creation and self-revelation. In The Dark Hold No Terrors, Shashi Deshpande seeks to discuss the male ego which refuses to accept a secondary position in marriage. The novel narrates the harrowing experience of Saru, who enjoys a greater. economic and social status than her husband Manohar. Deshpande makes the readers aware of society’s reaction to the superior status of the wife in a marriage, which leads the husband to develop an inferiority complex. Denied parental love and victim of gender bias, Saru, liberates herself ultimately from guilt and humiliation to gain full control over her life. This study aims to emphasize that it is important for women to seek self-respect, honour and dignity in society and at home. It also aims to highlight the fact that the real emancipation of women is yet to come. Men and women are not separate identities, they depend on each other for emotional and moral strength.