چکیده (انگلیسی):

For centuries, women in the traditional social order and system have always been
considered subservient to men. In patriarchal Bourgeois society, the matriarchal
community has been "humiliated", "afflicted", "silenced" and "tortured" socially and
economically. With the post-modernizing age, women began to see the universe
with their own eyes and not through the male gaze. In India, with the matriarchal
struggle against patriarchy another inner revolution started manifesting itself in
literature, especially women's writings. The voicesof women began to vie with those
of men. The purpose of my paper is to focus on the feminist message as articulated
in Anita Desai’s well reputed novels, Cry, the Peacock and Where Shall We Go This
Summer? My intent is to examine critically how in the post- modern era Indian
women writers in English have highlighted women's questions. They have raised a
fiery voice or initiated an inner revolution against the traditional customs and gender
discrimination with a view to equalizing human rights. Considering the femme fatale
characters of Anita Desai, one of the most renowned Indian writers writing in
English, especially the powerful and domineering female protagonists, Sita and Maya
of Cry, the Peacockand Where Shall We Go This Summer?This paper proposes to draw
attention to Desai’s works as exemplary instances of postmodern feminism.