Redefining womanhood in shobha de’s novels

Shobha De is one of India’s top best-selling authors with fourteen novels to her credit. She is among the first to explore the world of urban woman in India. Her novels voice against the patriarchal culture which considers woman as an appendage or an auxiliary to man. She strives to undo this tilted and distorted image of woman who cries for freedom and equality which still goes unheard in the patriarchal world. Her novels are populated with women who are more powerful than men, striving for self-actualization and are essentially represented as sexually liberated, challenging the traditional set up of the society. This paper focuses on the portrayal of liberated women redefining womanhood in Shobha De’s two novels – Socialite Evenings and Second Thoughts which offer a slice of urban life exposing the hollowness of Indian marriage system. Shobha De as a fervent feminist voice supports equality between genders and protests against the exploitation, marginalisation and commoditization of women.