Image of a Suffering Women: Breaking Traditional Boundaries for a Fuller Life in the Context of Manju Kapur’s A Married Women

Pages:138-141
Ajay Kumar (Department of English, Govt. College, Barwala, Hisar, Haryana)

When we go through the novel, A Married Woman, we find that it traces the life of a married women Astha from her early adulthood through her middle years. It is the story of her life as she marries, explores the nuances of marital bliss, and plateaus in her relationship with her husband. She goes on to become a painter than a social activist. After that comes a turning point where she is attracted to a woman. Astha’s life goes through such interesting stages, none of which however, evoke any interest in the heroine of the piece. It is strange that issues that evoke feelings are not good enough for the reader to get carried away and identify with Astha. There seems to be a total lack of impact. Is this a book about two women? About a relationship between two women? We wonder. we are led to think so. But no. This is not about that. The novel is about much more than this relationship. Astha’s life is about events and traumas far more important that this novel relationship.