Maya's Character Analysis

But contrary to Maya’s expectations, her husband was not keen to send her to college to complete her degree. But she flouts the norms of the society that a woman be given the type of education that will make her fit into traditional social and familial roles. But she takes the bold decision to study interior design, much to the chagrin of Govind. Education is a means of woman’s empowerment and she plans to escape from her husband when she is in a position to support herself and her daughter Anjali.
Education instilled in Maya confidence and courage and she fervently hopes to get a job. She throws away the marital bond, social conventions, public censure and familial and cultural traditions which are nothing more than chains and manacles that bind her to this system. The boldness of a woman to run away with her lover shocks the cultural capital of the State. She takes the bold step even if it means risking her safety and happiness
He knows that a woman’s relationship with another man would bring trouble to her and not to the man. Being a male, he exercises his power to take independent decisions, unmindful of the consequences and never regrets his impulsive decisions. It is this independent nature that helps him to take Maya to his house in Delhi at first and later to his work place in England. Even though his parents took Maya and Anjali into their house, they had their suspicions but did not voice their objections as he was a self-reliant man. He enjoys the freedom to speak and act according to his conscience but women of his generation are denied such rights. Germaine Greer affirms that, “marriage cannot be a job as it has become . . . The woman who realizes that she is bound by a million Lilliputian threads in an attitude of impotence and hatred masquerading as tranquility and love has no option but to run away, if she is not to the corrupted and extinguished utterly”