Gender Inequality and Domestic
Environment in That Long Silence by Shashi Deshpande
C. Manickaraj¹*, Dr. G. Vishnupriya²
ABSTRACT
This study analyzes the
depiction of gender inequality in residential settings in That Long
Silence by Shashi Deshpande. That Long Silence is a profound
examination of the internal experiences of an Indian middle-class
woman contending with the limitations imposed by patriarchy. The
novel focuses on Jaya, a wife and mother compelled to engage in
introspection amid a marital crisis. Deshpande’s narrative reveals
that household environment, typically viewed as secure and loving,
frequently transform into arenas of oppression, silence, and gender
inequity. The novel attacks entrenched patriarchal ideas that
restrict women to the domestic sphere, depriving them of autonomy
and agency. The analysis examines the novel’s critique of
patriarchal systems ingrained in middle-class Indian households,
highlighting domesticity as a locus of both subjugation and possible
defiance. The novel illustrates the suppression of women and their
quest for identity through the psychological journey of the
protagonist, Jaya. This paper employs feminist literary theory to
assert that Deshpande reconceptualizes the domestic sphere as a
disputed domain where gender roles are negotiated and contested.
Keywords: Gender Inequality, Domestic Environment, Feminism, That
Long Silence, Shashi Deshpande.
