Kanthapura with feministic perspective assaignment paper No:4

Name: Malek Hinaben Ibrahimbhai

Roll No: 12

Batch: 2019-21

Email ID: hinamalek21@gmail.com

Unique ID: 2069 1084 2020 0026

Paper No: 4 India writing in English

Topic: Kanthapura with feministic perspective.

Submitted to: S. B. Gardi Department of English

(1) Write a brief note on Kanthapura with feministic perspective.

Introduction:

Kanthapura is written by Raja Rao which was a famous work with Gandhian and Indian thoughts.         

KANTHAPURA is a famous novel written by an Indian author Raja Rao. He was born in 1909 in the village Hussana in Mysore, he comes from Karnataka and his mother tongue is Kannada. He received his education in France, at Sorbonne, Paris. He becomes famous with his very first novel, published in 1939.

★WORKS OF RAJA RAO:

             Raja Rao has written many novels which were become very famous, shows the mirror of society. His famous novels:                              

★ COW AND THE BARRICADES                   

★ SERPENT AND THE ROPE

★ KANTHAPURA

★THE CAT AND SHAKESPEARE

★ THE POLICE AND HE ROSE

★ COMRADE KIRILLOW

★ ON THE GANGA GHAT

★AN INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE NOVEL KANTHAPURA:

     KANTHAPURA is a political novel describing the impact        of the ‘Gandhian Satyagraha’ movement on the life of simple, ignorant but well-behaved villagers of Kanthapura. The story has a little plot but proceed in a leisurely manner from incident to incident, describing the people and events in the form of a narrative told by an old woman to her listeners.

         Mr. Raja Rao has made his home in ‘Trivandrum’ at Kerala

South India. Kanthapura is looked upon as “most satisfying of modern Indian novels”. The novel is written in English though he has put the rhythm of the indian language and atmosphere was completely pastoral, without any mixture of the European influence.

AN OUTLINE OF THE STORY:    Kanthapura is a very small village with just 24 houses. It has only one main street which was divided into three parts: ‘Brahmin quarters’, ’artisan quarters’ and beyond these ‘the pariah quarters’, for the untouchable class. The people all are Hindus mostly the orthodox traditional and simple living.

  These peaceful and routine life was suddenly disturbed  when a young man who has gone out for higher education and returned bringing new ideas and problem.Who was the protagonist name ‘Murthy’. And all the villagers women all got to participation for the movement.

             And during this movement many people lost their lives. and the whole village become a battle field and accept women all the. All the characters were who are male characters died. Only female characters remain in the village.  After these incidents, the villagers who were migrated into the ‘Mysore’ state in ‘Kashipura’. And the novel ends.

 ABOUT FEMINISM:

             The dawn of the twentieth century has a lot of changes in every aspect of day to day lives of women. These changes began to occur first in the field of literature where writers created women characters who attempted to unite the traditionally imposed conventions. 

         During the 18th  century the women writers has written many novels. but society doesn't accept that women should take the education. And so women writers like Virginia Woolf, Currer Bell, George Eliot they all women writers has to take the support of the name of the man. because women writers were not accepted by society and has no right to take education.

★ Ibsen's A Doll's House’

★Virginia woolf’s ‘a room of one’s own’ In these novels we can found how male dominated society domination silenced the voice of the women.                          

★KANTHAPURA  WITH FEMINIST  PERSPECTIVE:

“How wretched is a women’s no happy changes her fortune knows subject to man in every state how can she then be free from woe? a lady in the 18th century.”

       When we use the word ‘feminist’ a horrible image were comes in  our mind about the harassment and frustration of the women. Because not only in the 18th century but today also women were not getting the respect from the male dominated society.In India women can't get a chance to become independent because of the restriction of the society, culture and religion.

         Which we found in the novel Kanthapura also that how the people are behaves with the women who had lost her husband. And women have to suffer a lot and she was treated like an animal. 

★REALITY OF WOMEN IN NOVEL ‘KANTHAPURA:

        The country India is known for it’s ‘Tradition’ and ‘culture by using these both words we will realised that people  still follow it. The male constructed culture and tradition of India has imposed a lot of rules and regulations on women. And it was difficult to break the chain of traditional imposed rules. Marriage is also one of the factors which was imposed inexorably locks a women into a social system which denies her autonomy. In our folklore and epic also women were portrayed how the women were in real life.

               In Mr. Raja Rao’s novel ‘Kanthapura’ with a view to find out how women were oppressed by men and how British rules helps ‘women’ and ‘female’ to get freedom from the age old conventions. so let’s take a look at how Raja Rao has portrayed female character in the novel. And we will find the novel with feminist perspective.

★REFLECTION OF SUPERSTITION IN WOMEN BY THE NOVEL ‘KANTHAPURA’

In the novel we will find lots of superstitions related to women.  “Kenchamma, Kenchamma, Goddess benign and bounteous,

 Mother of Earth, blood of life Harvest queen, rain-crowned, Kenchamma,Kenchamma, Goddess benign and bounteous.”

          Superstitions type of myth which depends on men’s        beliefs or disbeliefs. For example sometimes people started to believe that some people who have done some miracle they are all call god or goddesses.The same thing we found here in the character of ‘Kenchamma’. Who is known as the goddess of village.

              The novel’s characters means the villagers are religious minded and they says that ‘Kenchamma’ is a very kind goddess, who complete all the expectation of the people.And behind this belief we can find so much humor because of the fake beliefs about ‘Kenchamma’.

                Villagers believes that ‘Kenchamma’ has killed a ‘giant’ who wanted to kill the children and to eat them and also wanted to marry with each young women of the village . And so the ‘rishi’ name ‘tripura’ who has call Kenchamma from the heaven.And she had killed that ‘giant’ and so the earth become in red colour,by the blood of the ‘giant’. Here we find how the villagers are narrow minded. On the other. on the other side, we can find the black mud. So how can we believe this type of myth.

            

          One day the villagers were involved in big problem because of the drought at that time they were started to suffering starvation and became helpless.At that time they started to pray goddess ‘Kenchamma’ and they worshipped her and bow down on her leg. And  when Kenchamma become happy with their prayer she opens her eyes and when she opens her eyes we found a lot of humor. Because you will find that the door were started to sitting on their way, and lump were gets off and slowly the rain drops. Here we found that how the people of the village are narrow minded who has misbeliefs on God or Goddesses. People also sometimes believe that and they say to themselves,

              “the goddess of the river plays through the night with the goddess of the hill”

   These lines describes that the simple legends and the beliefs of the villagers of Kanthapura. Near the village flows the river called “Hemavathy”. Usually, the river flows with considerable noise, but sometimes there is a sudden quiet at night.Ten people says that the goddess of the river is having a talk with her mother,the goddess of hill Kenchamma ,the ruling goddess of hill and kanthapura was the mother of the river Hemavathi.

      And so we can say that Raja Rao has projected the complexity of life in Indian by presenting the folklore goddess ‘Kenchamma’, who is the symbol of mainstream. Here we  find that only weak and oppressed people are believes in the folklore. and the novel the village people derives strength from the novel’s point of view about the goddess ‘Kenchamma’. But here we also find Rangamma, who refuses to believe in stories like ‘Epic' and she gives examples from her practical life to her father and Murthy. In Hindu mythology, especially in ‘Puranas’,’Vedas’ we find female idol symbolising the mother, but mythology and Epic dominated by male gods, and so it is a question of women's social awareness of self in relation to social and political set up in society.

               And Kenchamma folklore who save the young ones by killing the demon shoes the inspiration from the great goddess showing tremendous courage when they come in contact with British soldiers.

     In the present we can find that people are worshipping goddess but they can’t give respect to women. We also noticed that when a person stands on confusion about what to do or what not he obviously started believing in superstitions. And hear we found the superstition not only women but men also.

“why, why, my eye winks, we shall have a grand harvest”

                These words were spoken by a farmer named Santana. In the morning on the day of yoking the bulls to the plough he observed that the eyelid of the right eye was moving and fluttering. The people in the villages believe that this is the sign that something good is going to happen in the future. so Satanna declared that there would be good crops during that season.  So here we find that not only women but men also believes in superstitions. And we can also noticed that the people who are innocent they have strong faith over folklore superstitions etc.

                      By taking the example of Kenchamma and Santana’s example we can find that when people involved in problem they were started to believe in superstition. And for women it was become very notable thing also. Where in Ramayana and mahabharata the women were described as holy idol but in real life everything becomes only a faith because of the women were treated in such a way.

★JEALOUSNESS OF THE WOMEN IN KANTHAPURA:

                     “No wonder that waterfall venkamma roared day and night against Rangamma”

                        The lines describes that there were we found small jealous of the women in the village Kanthapura. The word ‘AMM’ is used for the lady (mother)and in the Kannada language it was applied behind the name of the lady. a childless widow Rangamma lived in big houses and was well-to-do and more educated than the other women in the village.Her sister-in-law Venkamma Always jealous of Rangamma and always abused her. He has two sons and five daughters. Rangamma was childless and so she wears good dresses which was not like to Venkamma. She has also big house. But Venkamma was jealousy women and so she used to talk loudly and constantly, about various women.so she given the name waterfall Venkamma. That she was roaring loudly night and day.

        Thus, hear we found jealous with one woman to another. And a woman becomes an enemy of the other women.  

        And in present time also we can find that when a woman went to her husband’s house after a marriage she was treated badly with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Which shows the reality that  a women also become the enemy of the other women. Which shows the narrow mentality of a women's society. And because of it she won't be able to take progress in society because house was found so many restrictions in her life.Which was fully described in the novel by a boasting jealous women Venkamma.

★RANGAMMA AS THE SYMBOL OF COURAGE

                 Angamma a childless widow the daughter of a learned father Ramakrishnayya of the brahmin community. She becomes the source of inspiration for the women and for men also who call her aunt Rangamma. Here women were depicted as weak, helpless and dependent on man. It is said that the innocent women of Kanthapura who strongly believe that their freedom lies in the hands of men like Murthy. While the man folkl draw parallel from puranas to promote nationalism. Rangamma gives instance from history to prove the optimum participation of women.

 Rangamma also believes in Gandhian Idea and she says that “the fault of others ,Rangamma, is the fault of one’s disharmony’’

                     These words express Gandhian idea and philosophy of nonviolence and purification.And gandhiji removes the problems by undertook fast to purify himself. And so violence was the mark of impurity.

★ATTITUDE OF MEN TOWARDS THE WOMEN VOLUNTEERS.

                               In the novel Murthy gives examples of queen Lakshmibai who has lost her husband therefore she has a lot of courage and she has done war alone like a macho man. And so by taking that inspiration the women were started to participate in the movement,and they made women volunteers. But the men has objection towards those women volunteers. They must have felt rather ashamed and irritated to find that the women becoming bolder than and then they were carrying their exercises in public. So, they began to grumble. Many were so old fashioned and so they looked upon women as only fit for house work. So anything becomes wrong in house the men started to blame women volunteers. One or two were beat their woman for it. But Kanchamma has made them silent and told them that women should be careful in their work. After that they become silent towards the women  volunteers.

             Thus, it is said that the women were always lives in the restriction of the men, society and responsibility. And by that they can’t get a chance to  be independent. Even if they can’t get the freedom in to the marriage also.One day Venkamma has arranged her daughter’s marriage with Seenappa. But he was so much older than her daughter. But Seenappa has lots of money and he was a rich and so nobody has done any care about his age and they arranged her marriage with Seenappa. Here we can see that women  can’t have freedom in to their marriage also. Even today we can see that for the sake of money the woman gets married with old man also.So here we can find the reality of the women. That how they were treated by the society. And this novel is the mirror of the ‘Feminism’.

★CONCLUSION:

        Raja Rao has not only focuses on women in their forties and fifties but also envisages the emancipated role of modern Indian women. He seems to advocate women’s movement that favour harmonious coexistence. unlike the fore runners of the Western Feminist movement. who had to assert their identity considered men who suppressed them as the others.                                                         It is the power position that she enjoys enables her to uplift the women folk. Rangamma, by her selfless service and her capacity to withstand patriarchal pressure despite her widowhood, commands the respect of the villegemen which give her the opportunity to be on par with men. Thus It is how women enjoyed certain privileges because of the british rule which now it is impossible. the novelist has used the goddess Kanchamma is referred in the whole narration of the story. And she depicted as the goddess of lower caste people. on the contrary, Rama, Ravana, Brahma, Krishna etc are depicted as upper class people. And so it is said that not only women but gods and goddesses also divided in the novel. "Women wanted to make changes in the society they live in, they must seek and achieve power positions. But men certainly can not be relied upon to imitate or carry through the necessary changes.”

      Thus it is said that in the novel we can find a lot of  struggles in the life of the women through the male dominated society. And we found courage also in some of the women's lives. And so it is said that the novel is the combination of woman's right, suppressions, struggles, and repentance. And in that way we  has found the Kanthapura with feminist perspective.


Thank you......🙏