An Interplay of Gender and Ageing in R.K. Narayan

The core area of critical concern in this research is the study of gender and ageing in the novels of R.K. Narayan. The two issues of gender and ageing intersect and overlap as both form part of the oppressive and seemingly inescapable phallocentric discourse. An oppressive apparatus produces the urge to resist. The primary objective of this research, therefore, is to examine how effectively R.K.Narayan, in his novels, has dealt with the problems of Indian women and also their resistance and opposition to patriarchal dominance. The study attempts at studying the position of women in the pre and post-independence Malgudi, which serves as the milieu, the miniature India, in Narayan's novels. The study takes a look at different strategies of resistance employed by Narayan's women-be they housewives, middle-aged mothers, grandmothers or widows-to express dissent and assert their individuality.