Narrating the Female Psyche: Silence to Self-Articulation

Siva Naga Sundari L.

V. O. Chidambaram College, Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. snsundari19@gmail.com

Abstract

This paper represents the narrative of the female psyche through silence to self-articulation in That Long Silence by Shashi Deshpande, published in 1988. Shashi Deshpande is a well-known Indian novelist and short story writer. In this novelShashi explores the internal conflict of the protagonist Jaya which is caused due to the internalised oppression, social expectations, and gender role conditions within her married life. Her husband’s expectations and control over her creates a barrier to her dreams and self-hood which later makes her choose silence that ultimately reflects her psychological fragmentation. Femalepsyche is explained through a first-person and non-linear narrative that reveals how repression and identity crisis cause memoriesto shift in the narrative. Simultaneously, this paper draws upon psychoanalytic concepts from Sigmund Freud and insights from the works of Simone de Beauvoir, Toni Morrison, and Charlotte Bronte. It also explores how silence represents resistance andrepression, and how it then changes to the reclamation of the female voice.

Keywords: Female psyche, Fragmented narrative, Internal conflict, Gender role, Repression.