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

Modern woman is a woman, who has individuality, claims her rights, and gets herself educated against all odds of societal norms. During the process of attaining her rights, the society tries to portray her as a rebel against familial and social values. There are a number of Indian novelists who deal with the woman’s problems and Manju Kapur is one amongst them. She believes in presenting life as it is, not as it should be. This paper explores the female characters of Manju Kapur’s novel Home (2006). These female characters occupy pivotal position in the novel. She presented the live characters from day-to-day life whose evolution is transformed from tradition to modernity. In Home, the idea of “New Woman” surfaces as a critique and opposition to conventional gender roles and expectations within Indian society. The phrase ‘New Woman” in literature is credited to Sarah Grand, a British feminist author, who brought it to prominence in 1894 in an essay called “The New Aspect of the Women Question.” The expression swiftly became linked to the evolving roles and ambitions of women during the late 19^th and 20^th centuries. The ‘New Woman’ symbolizes a challenge to conventional gender roles, promoting women’s autonomy, education, and involvement in public life. The “New Woman” in Kapur’s story represents the changing identity of women who seek independence, individuality and autonomy within a patriarchal structure. It is through Nisha, the protagonist of the novel, Manju Kapur weaves the concept of New Woman by narrating her journey from an insecure girl child to self-dependent young woman.