The Female Spirit By Amartya Kumar Sen - 1398 Words

Amartya Kumar Sen seeks to subvert this, arguing that since independence, there has been liberation of socioeconomic change and a distinct method of exercising the `real freedoms that women enjoy, focusing on the growth of the individual woman in comparison to placing her in a ‘repressive state.’ However, whilst Sen argues with an optimistic tone, it is important to note that the position of the woman in independent India was still a problematic topic. The portrayal of women in the Indian milieu can be thought of as rather extreme. On one hand she is admired as a `Devi’ (Hindu goddess) on the other, she is a commodity of suffering and humiliation. This can be recognised in A Married Woman whereby Astha’s sexual identity is the object†¦show more content†¦On one hand Astha’s mother represents the old ways, whereby the women’s place is to satisfy her husband `every morning she prayed for a good husband for her daughter’ . On t he other, her father believed in the new where Astha’s future `lay in her own hands,’ thus rejecting idealised norms for the Indian woman. Here, Astha’s life is momentarily refrained from being placed in positions of helplessness or weakness. It acts as a vehicle to uphold modern changes of the Indian milieu which are `important to the changing positionality of Asian women.’ However, despite India’s separation from British imperialism and gaining national independence, she failed to separate from the outdated customs of Hindu society. These customs subjected women as naturally inferior, limited to `producing offspring and the performance of household duties.’ This ultimately rejects Astha’s desire to show an individual identity through independence and places her back in the seat of a subordinate woman. Astha’s mother claims that it is her duty is to uphold family honour by securing a marriage with a respectable suitor –Hemant. Within married life, Astha enjoys her opulent surroundings and awakens her previously latent sexuality `she felt a woman of the world, the world that was covered with the film of her desire, and the fluids of their sex.’ Yet through this, feelings of repression and suffering are noticeable `Hemant wasn’t really listening