Emancipation of Women and Ancient Promises by Jaishree Misra

 

Emancipation of Women and Ancient Promises by Jaishree Misra

Abstract

Feminism and Women Empowerment are relevant topics that are discussed throughout the world regarding the growth of women. But for both feminism and women empowerment to be born in the first place, there is a requirement for the emancipation of women. In this paper, the term women's emancipation is outlined through Janaki (the protagonist of the novel Ancient Promises written by Jaishree Misra). Taking examples from this novel, the paper gives light on how women’s emancipation act as the first step toward feminism and aids in the further escalation of women in all aspects.

Keywords: emancipation, feminism, empowerment, patriarchy.

Feminism emphasizes the need for women to realize their identity and assert their place in society. Women's empowerment can be defined in many ways including accepting or seeking to seek women's perspectives and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, and training. The terms feminism and women empowerment are familiar in this 21^st century especially due to their significance in the enhancement of the roles of women in the social, cultural, household, work, globalization, etc., it is clear that feminine development is necessary to adapt to situations and overcome conflicts that she is subjected to face. Both feminism and women’s empowerment discusses women’s emancipation as a method of recovery for women from social issue.  But the first step toward feminism is the emancipation of women. There have been situations in India and later in Kerala where the women’s liberation movement was born. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni on feminism in India observes that “Indian style: Independence with social acceptance, success, and autonomy that set its boundaries but not require a complete break from the traditional, extended, semi-feudal family structure" (32). This is what Indian women are expected to have. Even though they become successful, have social acceptance, recognition, etc. She is not expected to be free of all the duties of being a wife (if married), mother, sister, etc., and she is subjected to balance all of these and also to be involved in a very morally modulated life. But men are not subjected to such strict norms of the Indian society and these etiquettes are only painted for the women of the Indian society to keep them in a frame of patriarchy.

In modern women’s emancipation, women should gain power by recognizing the areas of experience that are unique to women. "Progress for women lies in becoming more assertive, more ambitious more able to deal with conflict, and more comfortable and better able to admit failure or defeat" (Chatterjee, 170).  Being confined by the walls of your house and staying inside without exploring the outside world does not give you enough experience and independence to progress, success, orientation, and empowerment. A woman should try out her means to emancipate herself so that she can attain all these fortunes. She should also be strong enough to face any circumstance on the way to achieving her dreams and ambitions and she should be determined and should not be a person who loses hope when subjected to failures and defeats.

The novel Ancient Promises written by Jaishree Misra is mainly about the struggles undergone by women in present-day society. The novel discusses the plight of Janaki, who unwillingly agrees to fulfill the wishes of her parents. Ashley Ann Biju in her article Life and existence of Janaki in the novel Ancient Promises by Jaishree Misra says that, “Even though women’s empowerment is supported worldwide by people, it is still the same for so many women across the world” (53). This interpretation of Ashley Ann Biju shows us the frustration of a woman writer in the reading of a novel written by another woman writer. The whole novel revolves around Janu’s efforts to come out from the grip of a patriarchal society. The novel begins like this; “My marriage ended today” (Misra, 3). According to the normal criteria undergone by the patriarchal society, marriage is something that is at the climax where a woman attains the perfection of her life and another episode of her life begins there. After which she is hoped to serve her husband and treat him like the most divine god of her life and then give him the next heir (boy child). But here in this novel, where the protagonist is a woman, she is beginning her story by talking about the end of the ceremony of her wedding. The readers can find how the protagonist is trying to survive at her maternal home and is trying to adapt to the environment and the situations she is put to. She is deserted by her in-laws and her husband on several occasions. Instead, she tried to educate herself through other methods and her inner instincts of development and empowerment did not get lost due to her willpower.

 In the novel, there is a scene where Janu the protagonist tells her grandmother that “I'm thinking of going to AMERICA with RIYA to do a COURSE. That's the only way I can show her to some SPECIALISTS there”. After listening to this her grandmother approved it as a good idea. But then Janu’s mother immediately tells her grandmother “You didn't hear her properly, Amma, JANU wants to go to AMERICA with RIYA and WITHOUT SURESH!” (Misra, 159). Even though Janu was her daughter we can see how she is trying to defend the patriarchal norms more than valuing her daughter’s feelings and emotions. This dialogue of her mother can be taken as an example of the words that almost all patriarchal societies take the aid to advocate their deeds, “humanity is male and man defines women not in herself but as relative to him; she is not regarded as an autonomous being” (Beauvoir, 46). Even though women are said to be independent and enjoy their freedom, they are often associated with men and in the very minds of the Indian society, no woman is safe or strong without the presence of a man with her.  This very part of the novel shows us how Janu is trying her best for the emancipation of herself and her daughter by going abroad so that she can give her a better education and she can also have a better choice to develop herself and her career, living condition, freedom, wellbeing, etc. Also later in the novel there is another part where the lawyer interrogates Janu about the reason for the divorce and it goes like this:

“It certainly had the expected effect. Madhava Menon’s glasses nearly fell off his nose and his voice became a shrill squeak ‘Aiyyo, why?’ . . . ‘Beating you?’ . . . ‘Too much drinks, eh?’ . . . ‘Maybe he is having affairs then.’ . . . ‘He is AC-DC, eh?” (Misra, 246-47).

After all these series of questions and hearing out the real reason (which is the mental distress that is the cause of the divorce) from Janu and her mother, the lawyer advises her by saying that “I don’t think divorce is really the best thing for a young girl. Better be avoided”. Even though the lawyer was a man who was well educated, he was not in a position to withdraw himself from the social notions of not caring for mental health beyond the patriarchal norms.

Conclusion

Emancipation of women is very significant in the scenario of a crisis where the women are suppressed by the social conditions that keep the women chained to not lead a free life of joy and success. Janaki is an example of how a married woman tries to emancipate herself by educating her in the field of special education and taking her specially-abled girl child abroad for a better environment of living. She retrieves herself from the chains of her in-laws and her husband and her own family members with the aid of her willpower to achieve great heights and free herself from the hardships she faced after her marriage. As Khatri R (in her article entitled The Role of Education towards Women Empowerment in India) emphasizes the importance of education and literacy on the empowerment and strength that a woman gets to enjoy. The article also gives more suggestions on how to implement changes to bring more enhanced ways of emancipation for women and how empowerment is achieved.

Works Cited

Biju, Ashley Ann. “Life and Existence of Janaki in the Novel Ancient Promises by Jaishree Misra.” Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Science. Quest Journals, 29 Mar. 2021. Web. 12 July 2022.

Banerjee, Divakaruni. “Power goddess.” Women’s Spec. Issue of India Today, April 2005. pp. 30–33. Print.

Beauvoir, Simone De. The Second Sex. Trans. H. M. Parshley. New York: Vintage Books, 1989. Print.

Chatterjee, Shoma. “The Indian Women's Search for an Identity”. The Journal of Asian Studies. Vikas Publishing House, 1988. pp. 898-99. Print.

Khatri, R. “The Role of Education towards Women Empowerment in India.” International Journal of Advanced Research, 2016.

Misra, Jaishree. Ancient Promises. New Delhi: Penguin, 2000. Print.