An analysis of female characters in R.K. Narayan's The dark room, Waiting for the Mahatma and The painter of signs

Abstract

The dissertation is an endeavour to provide a study of the Indian woman's evolution in a patriarchal society. I will analyse three novels of the great Indian writer R.K. Narayan who differs extensively from various other post colonial writers, in that, he provides us with politically unbiased novels. R.K. Narayan' s novels have earned my interest due to the fact that I have not experienced any manipulative narrative voice hence I was not led to take false positions due to any political bias. The greatness of this writer lies, amongst other things, in the fact that he does not manipulate the reader with his prejudice but leaves the reader to enjoy his freedom of opinion. The novels analysed are The Dark Room, Waiting for the Mahatma and The Painter of Signs. These novels span from the period of pre Independence to post Independence. The dissertation will first introduce R.K. Narayan, following the introduction will be an analysis of the female characters in each of the novels mentioned above. The aim of this dissertation is to first present the Indian woman in the traditional Indian milieu and then show how she breaks free from tradition, hence witnessing the Indian woman's emancipation.