Are Daughters difficult? tracing virmati's confusion and helplessness in Manju Kapur's difficult Daughters Mahajan Nishtha Assistant Professor, English (On leave), Baba Farid College, Mukatsar Road, Bathinda Online published on 21 November, 2013. Abstract In a country such as India, thousands of girls spend their lives shrouded in countless insecurities as they wonder why they do not have the right to choose their own lives? Why they cannot decide for themselves whether they want to be housemakers or more. Why is marriage still the only reason of their birth? Manju Kapur belongs to the tradition of those Indian women writers who are keen to explore the perplexity in the mind of young girls caught in the opposing forces of tradition and modernity. Kapur's Difficult Daughters puts forward that part of feminine experience that is out of reach of male psyche and therefore is an authentic and sensitive portrayal of the conflicts, traumas, nuances, ambiguities and contradictions of the female psyche. The novel depicts the dreams and desires of a girl on the one hand and their denial, deprivation and disappointment on the other. It is a tale of how ‘individual will’ has to slurp the potion of a hydra-headed society. This paper is an attempt to explore the opposition (overt and covert) at home, the suspicion and scorn of the society and the moral predicament in the mind of Virmati (the protagonist of Difficult Daughters). Kapur skillfully hints at the male hegemony in the society, where Virmati continues her quest amidst psychological uncertainties and insecurities. Top Keywords Female psyche, feminine, feminism, female centered criticism, male hegemony, insecurities, psychological uncertainties, women writers. Top |