Relinquishing the Halo Portrayal of Mother in Indian Writing in English

in Indian Writing in English Sangeeta Dutta This article analyses a select group of novels written by Indian authors in English which deal primarily with the woman's role as mother, the operating ideology of motherhood, its absorption into public and private life and the resistance offered to such compensatory glorification. Extending over a period of more than fifty years (1935-1988) these novels reveal the material powerlessness of the mother while she is eulogised as life-giver and nurtures as individual, as country, as goddess. They expose the tremendous ideological burden which the individual woman has to bear and act out and also capture the stirrings of female discontent against stich role-constructs.