Volume-II, Issue-II, November 2025
Novel Insights A Peer-Reviewed Quarterly Multidisciplinary Research Journal |
Volume-II, Issue-II, November 2025 |
The Female Bildungsroman in Indian Literature: A Study Through Clear Light of Day, Nectar in A Sieve, And the Dark Holds No Terrors Md Mizanur Rahaman Sardar, Assistant Professor of English, Polba Mahavidyalaya, Polba, Hooghly, West Bengal, India Email: mizanursardar@gmail.com |
Received: 18.11.2025 | Accepted: 27.11.2025 | Published Online: 30.11.2025 |
Page No: 117-122 | DOI: 10.69655/novelinsights.vol.2.issue.02W.046 | |
Abstract | ||
This paper examines the evolution of the female Bildungsroman in Indian English literature through a detailed exploration of Anita Desai’s Clear Light of Day, Kamala Markandaya’s Nectar in a Sieve, and Shashi Deshpande’s The Dark Holds No Terrors. The novels have female protagonists Bim, Rukmani, and Saru, who are faced with patriarchal pressures, household duties, financial problems, and inner feelings of guilt, and they are slowly piecing together a very different picture of growth. One that is all about looking inward, being tough, and re-evaluating the relationships that have controlled them. Feminist and postcolonial criticism helps us see that these novels completely change what we know about the coming-of-age story by making female experiences front and centre, and showing how these experiences are more about negotiation than breaking free from society. Together, these three novels show us that women in Indian literature are able to create their own identities within the limits they face, and redefining what we mean by maturity, as clear emotional understanding, unshakeable resilience, and the ability to speak out about pain within suffocating social systems. Keywords: Female Bildungsroman; Indian English fiction; Feminist literary criticism; Emotional resilience; Patriarchy; Identity formation. | ||