Vol. 7, Issue 2, Part A (2025)

In the novel ‘Clear Light of Day’, written by Anita Desai, the author explores the lives of females in a male-hegemonic society, depicting them as marginalized characters whose personal challenges reflect the larger concerns in Indian society, mainly post-colonial India. The novel’s main female protagonists—Bim, Tara, their mother, and Aunt Mira—are represented as living under the oppressive pressure of male hegemony, their personal agency and identities are often ignored or undervalued. This paper examines how these women, despite the burdens they face, carry on their oppressed lives and assert their existence in a world pre dominantly controlled by men. The women characters that are depicted in the novel “Clear Light of Day” are bound by the inflexible restrictions of their cultural and roles as well as responsibilities of their families, yet they seek agency in various ways. One fundamental approach through which they negotiate their marginalization is by adjusting to the dominant male culture and language, constructively entering a space traditionally retained for men. However, this adaptability does not always empower them to alter their social standing; instead, it showcases the friction between their identities and the expectations of the society inflicted upon them. As a result, when they are not able to directly challenge the male hegemonic structures, these women constantly struggle with their sense of self, often employing the tools of the oppressor to navigate their finite options. This paper will focus on the intricate interplay between oppression and survival, highlighting how these female characters in this novel tries to assert their identities, even within the enclose of a male-hegemonic society, points out to the strength and struggles of females in India, and in all the patriarchal societies on the whole. Through the tales of these females, Anita Desai reinforces the extensive theme of women's empowerment in world that is honestly unjust in nature.