Existential Predicament in Shashi Deshpande’s A Matter of Time

Abstract

Shashi Deshpande presents a realistic image of the middle class educated women who form a considerable majority of the contemporary Indian society. Deshpande portrays the middle class women who is torn in the strife between tradition and modernity. The outstanding contribution of Shashi Deshpande to the realm of Indian fiction is that she has broken the age-old stereotyped image of Indian women and has enabled the readers to see women as they are. The women in her novels have no inclination to fit into the moulds of Sita and Savitri. Her women are portrayed not as goddesses but as real human beings of flesh and blood who have their own desires, strength and weaknesses.