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Abstract
ynocentrism or in other words, women-centeredness, is a theory expounded by Simone de Beauvoir. It is a branch of feminist theory concerning exclusively with women. Fire on the Mountain (1977) deals with the alienated life of an aged widow of a Vice-Chancellor called Nanda Kaul. The Stone Angel (1964) spins around the pride of the ninety-year-old woman, Hagar Shipley. The crux of this study shows how Anita Desai and Margaret Laurence through their lead women characters in Fire on the Mountain and The Stone Angel present a paradigm shift in their attitude and behavior on the wake of self-realization. They reveal a staunch self-assertion dissimulating their feminine consciousness and emerge as dignified women from the curbing phallocentric clutches. The contemporary feminist movements have influenced Anita Desai and Margaret Laurence. Women should no longer allow such a system of male domination. They must struggle against those institutions, social relations and ideas that keep them powerless, and subservient to men. They can indulge in collective action, and through interpersonal relationship realize their self-worth and emerge as liberated women. This indeed is the message of Anita Desai’s Fire on the Mountain and Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel.
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