Vol. 1, Issue 1, Part A (2019)

Mahasweta, who considers herself to be more of a humanist than a feminist, maintains that a woman should be evaluated only on the basis of her humanity, and not in relation to her gender, ethnicity, caste, or social status. In contrast to Draupadi, who used her completeness of mind and body to combat her excluded status, Devi exemplifies the authentic representation of female assertion. The tales written by Mahasweta Devi reveal the unspoken reality of women's suffering as well as their capacity for surviving and resisting oppression. The voices of the characters are provided by Mahasweta. She reveals the 'unspeakable' reality about these personalities to the audience. In this paper, I'm going to talk about a few of her short stories, specifically Breast-Giver, Draupadi, The Hunt, and Behind the Bodice, in order to demonstrate that the women in her works are powerful, that they have a tremendous sense of self-respect, and that they are willing to fight all of their battles until the very end, even if that means death.