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VOL. 11, ISSUE 3 (2025)
A comparative study of women characters and the cartography of emotions in the Novels of Arundhati Roy and Anuradha Roy
Authors
Ankita Kohli
Abstract
This paper presents a comparative analysis of
the portrayal of women characters and the intricate mapping of their emotional
landscapes in the novels of Arundhati Roy and Anuradha Roy. Though often linked
by surname and nationality, the two authors employ distinctly different
literary styles and thematic concerns. Arundhati Roy, in The God of Small
Things (1997) [1], uses a dense, poetic, and non-linear narrative to
explore the lives of women shattered by the "Love Laws" - the rigid
hierarchies of caste, class, and history. Her characters, particularly Ammu and
Rahel, are conduits for a visceral, often traumatic, emotional experience. In
contrast, Anuradha Roy’s novels - An Atlas of Impossible Longing (2008) [3],
The Folded Earth (2011), and All the Lives We Never Lived (2018)—adopt a more
measured, lyrical realism. Her protagonists navigate solitude, longing, and a
search for identity against the backdrop of a changing India, their emotions
often internalized and expressed through a profound connection to landscape and
memory. This study argues that while both authors create emotionally resonant
and psychologically complex women, Arundhati Roy focuses on emotions as a site
of radical, transgressive rebellion, whereas Anuradha Roy explores emotion as a
quiet, persistent force of inner resilience and existential inquiry.
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Pages:29-31
How to cite this article:
Ankita Kohli "A comparative study of women characters and the cartography of emotions in the Novels of Arundhati Roy and Anuradha Roy". International Journal of English Research, Vol 11, Issue 3, 2025, Pages 29-31
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