Ordeals of Women in The Binding Vine

Name of Author : K.M. Madhumathi Sri, Dr. M R Chandran

Abstract: Womens issues and the sufferings of women have been a topic of discussion from time immemorial. Yet women are subjugated in different ways on one hand, even when liberated women are flourishing on the other hand. The novel selected for the study is The Binding Vine written by the eminent novelist Sashi Deshpande, who is well known for her subjects of feminist concerns with a compelling narrative. This particular novel talks about the story of three different women, who are separated by time and class, but are entwined with a rare sense of sisterhood, who help one another to bring out their silenced sufferings to light and in turn to put an end to it. This paper focuses on how the women characters in the novel, The Binding Vine, are silenced and subjugated by patriarchy in various ways. The paper further explores how the suffering women characters come together by the tender strands of love, empathy and concern for the collective sisterhood. It also throws light on how the protagonist Urmi puts an end to her own suffering by helping other women come out of their sufferings with determination.

Keywords : Feminism, Marital Rape, Empathy, Sisterhood, Patriarchy

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