Gender, Resistance, and Compromise, a Critical Study of Anita Nair's Mistress

predicament of contemporary women, who has an identity tag of the educated, productive class; yet rejected by the male dominated society unwilling to accommodate the woman into the mainstream. The novel is also interplay of two parallel stories where one is about the conveniences of man and the other is about the inconveniences of woman in a patriarchal society. The novel mocks at the institution of marriage imposed by the patriarchal society to regulate the sexual desires of human.Marriage turns out to be the destiny for both man and woman by the patriarchal society to hold it from disintegration. The novel celebrates the idea of live-in relationships where the question of commitment and fidelity is irrelevant, rather it ensures liberty for the individual. Even today there is a stark contrast in being a woman against being a man. The society has accepted the capability of productivity of woman along with her capacity of reproduction but has not ceased the exploitation on the basis of gender at multiple levels. The idea of home as a safer place for womanis challenged from centuries till date; she is tortured and harassed inside, at the same time, the patriarchal conventions eloquently cautions on the dangers waiting outside to reinforce the confinement. Woman is treated as yet another mythical piece of precious property owning which a man could be proud of his possession. Many a time the interpretation of her freedom and independence is disgusting; in fact it is another form of subjugation in disguise

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