Marginalized Women in David Davidar’s The House of Blue Mangoes

Abstract

The South Indian women in 19^th and 20^th centuries had to go through the bitter experiences of discrimination and marginalization. This marginalization was the outcome of various factors like political, socio-economic, ideological, etc. The gender division of labour led to the confinement of women’s position as house wife only. It was of course unpaid labour and of lower social status and it led women to dependency on men. Traditional ideological concept of purity and impurity also led to woman marginalization. For example, women were considered as impure during menstruation and child birth. Moreover, political factors also were there to marginalize women. Denial of political values like liberty, equality and justice resulted in the marginalization of women. David Davidar’s novel The House of Blue Mangoes gives a vivid picture of the situation. The semi-historical novel is a mirror held against the social scenario of the Indian society’s second half of the 19^th century and the first half of the 20^th century. This article enquires into the various areas of marginalization of women based on the novel. Caste system and religious taboos have never allowed women to come out of their inferior position. Those women who raised their voice for their dignity and identity are brutally isolated and suppressed by men and also by the orthodox women around them.