Quest for Identity in Shobha De's Strange Obsession

Abstract

The present paper aims to investigate the significance of identity in one's life, with special reference to Shobha De's"Strange Obsession ", which is the story of two Indian girls Amrita and Minx who are victimized as silent sufferers in the male dominated Indian society. Countries like India where the patriarchal system has been practiced for a long time, have imposed so many restrictions and hurdles to bar the way of women.Here, women always remain unidentified and unnoticed before the presence of male partner.Patriarchal system is a world of double standards, where principles and ideals are used as mask to conceal the worst kind of social injustice, where cruelty and barbaric behavior are used as tools on women. Against this patriarchal system, sometimes women came out and opted for different ways, they challenged the society by rejecting its norms and values and went to extremes by selecting lesbianism.They challenged patriarchy by accepting lesbianism to liberate herself from the grip of the male hegemony. This article makes a serious attempt to study the challenges and struggles faced by Amrita and Minx while making their identity in the male dominated society.