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www.the-criterion.com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN 0976-8165 matter biology and politics etc. He should know about the reality of life. The poet who are not very good or if they are mediocre, they will mirror the surface of reality. The great poet will discover the interior or spiritual life. Robert Frost again and again emphasizes on the contact with reality in poetry. In real life also there is a mingling of the good and evil, joy and sorrow, tears and smile. So his poetry is a mixture of these emotions which deal with real life. Tragic- comedy is nearer to life and so it combines within itself the pleasure as well as the instruction of both. Poetry does not merely give us knowledge of virtue. It also motivates for virtual action. This is so because its truth is conveyed in a delightful manner. The purpose of poetry is primarily to delight. It gives the readers aesthetic pleasure and instruction is only a secondary function. These qualities of Robert Frost give him a touch of reality in his poetry. Work s cited: Lawrence Thompson, ‘Selected Letters of Robert Frost’ New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1964 Jay Parini, ‘Robert Frost, a life’ Henry Holt & Company, 1999 Philip L Gerber, ‘Robert Frost’ Twayne Publisher Boston, 1966 Robert Frost, ‘ Education by Poetry’ Selected Prose of Robert Frost ed. Hyde Cox and Lathem, New York, 1966 Robert Frost, ‘Home Burial’ ed. Edward C Lathem, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969. 4 Vol. II. Issue. III 154 September 2011
www.the-criterion.com The Criterion: An International Journal in English ISSN 0976-8165 Delineation of inner turmoil in Female Protagonists of Margaret Atwood and Shashi Deshpande (A special reference to The Handmaid's Tale and That Long Silence) Dr. Nishi Bala Chauhan The comparative method of studying a piece of work invites a host of associations involving a great scope. A comparative study of literary works casts a qualitative impression on the readers and touches the fringe of their hearts. The variety of literatures reflects a regionally diverse and multicultural society. Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence are the two novels taken for comparative study. Both novels are an effort of these two writers to break the long silence that has surrounded women, their experiences and their world. The present study traces the female protagonist’s passage through a plethora of self doubts , fears, guilt, smothered anger and oppression of individuality and silence towards affirmation and individuality. The intention of this study is to examine the silent female protagonists’ need for voice and words for their subdued silence. Key Words: Voice and words, Protest, Reclaiming Self through communication, Silence. Margaret Atwood is a Canadian novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most eminent authors of fiction in recent history. She is a winner of the Arthur C. Clarke and Prince Of Asturias award for Literature. Shashi Deshpande is one of the most accomplished and versatile contemporary Indian women writers in English. Her novels and short stories explore the psyche of the educated middle class Indian woman. With rare sensitivity and depth, she portrays the dilemma of the Indian woman trapped between her own aspirations as an individual and the forces of patriarchy which confine her. Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence published in 1983. It received the Sahitya Akadami Award in 1991. In That Long Silence Shashi Deshpande delineates the joy and despair of the narrator/protagonist Jaya “ caught in an emotional eddy, endeavors to come to terms with her protean roles, while trying , albeit in vain, to rediscover her true self, which is but an ephemera …..an unfulfilled wife, a disappointed mother and a failed writer” (Times Of India 2) Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale narrates the tale of Offred (Handmaid) in Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian and theocratic state that has replaced the United States of America. Because of dangerously low reproduction rates, Handmaids are assigned to bear children for elite couples that have trouble in conceiving. Offred serves the Commander and his wife. Offred is not the narrator’s real name. Handmaid names consist of the word “of” followed by the name of the Handmaid’s Commander. Atwood recognizes the subjugation and marginalization of women in patriarchal society. The powerful people cannot tolerate woman’s consciousness to communicate. Atwood gives a voice to the suppressed thoughts of her female character Offred and suggests to express anger and find a way for change. Offred and Jaya both are meek, submissive and denied to communicate and express. They are deprived of even their original names that are a token of identity. They are put in the different slots of a mother, a wife, a friend, and a mistress. In an anxiety to fulfill multiple functions and in performing different roles Jaya and Offred both are in crisis on all fronts. Gilead is a society founded on a “return to traditional values” and gender roles, and on the subjugation of women by men. Women in Gilead are not only forbidden to vote, they are forbidden to read or write. Similarly Jaya too loses her identity and has to forge a new identity Vol. II. Issue. III 155 September 2011
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