Shaping Femininity: Decoding Henrik Ibsen’s Nora in Sudha Murty’s Shrimati

Abstract

Man-Woman relationships revolving around the themes of romance and friendship, possessiveness and jealousy, understandings and misunderstandings have fascinated writers across the globe from time immemorial. The notions of patriarchy have profoundly influenced the writers in the portrayal of their characters. Nevertheless, there are writers who preferred to choose the paths untrodden. Henrik Johan Ibsen, the Norwegian playwright of the late nineteenth century, could successfully create a powerful character in Nora Helmer, the female protagonist in his play, “A Doll’s House”. Nora is a woman who is denied of any self-fulfilment in a male-dominated marriage. The play created great sensation due to its unconventional ending. Transcending across the borders and boundaries of age and of nation, the storyline remains unchanging even in the present century. Sudha Murty, the new millennium writer in India presents an equally strong character, Shrimati Deshpande in her novel “Gently Falls the Bakula”. Shrimati becomes disillusioned and dissatisfied with her supercilious husband and hence emerges out to arrive at an appropriate decision. Both Nora and Shrimati shatter the patriarchal hegemony and raise a voice of protest against male dominance.