Representation Of Women In Short Story Analysis

This article explores representation of women in short stories written by women writers from the state of Karnataka, India. The seven different stories selected for analysis are – (1) The Two Paintings (2) Mother, (3) Second Marriage, (4) Roowariya Lakshmi, (5) Dog’s Tail, (6) The Third Eye, and (7) The One Who Left Forever. Each of these stories represents women who play different roles that were archetypal of the social milieu of the times. The authors were preoccupied with women’s suffering, status, sexuality, obligations, the psychological experiences when women fall in love outside of their marriages, and emancipation from societal and familial constraints.
Keywords: Women’s suffering, obligations, sexuality, love, constraints
Introduction
The stories were originally written in Kannada and then translated to English by Lakshmi and T.V. Subramanyam. The women in these stories play different roles such as housewives with modern ideas, an old fashioned ideology of staying home to serve her husband, an artist’s wife, a young woman married to an elderly man who is twice her age, a mother who has to decided between tradition and her attachment to her son, a woman who experiences attraction outside marriage, and a woman’s dilemma to marry a man older because he is wealthy.
Women Writers

The following section is a brief description of the women writers from the state of Karnataka.
Vani
Vani was born in 1912 in Srirangapatna near Mysore. Her novels including Shubhamangala, Eradu Kanasu, and Hosa Belaku were made into movies. Her short stories, Chinnada Panjara, Mane Magalu, etc.She received the Karnataka Sahitya Award in 1962 and the coveted Sahitya Academy Award in 1972.

H.V. Savitramma
H.V.Savithramma was born in Bengaluru in 1913. Her short collections include Nirashsrithe, Marumaduve, Sarida Beralu, etc. She has received the Indo-Soviet award and has translated Rabindranath Tagore’s Naukhaghata and Gora. H.V.S has also received the prestigious Karnataka Sahitya Academy
She earned her MBBS degree from Mysore Medical College. Her topics range from social issues to women’s problems. Her novels include Madhavi, Runamuktalu and her short stories such as Roowariya Lakshmi, Dinakondu Kathe (children’s stories) are popular. She received the Kannada Rajyothsava award, Karnataka Sahitya Academy, and other awards.

Triveni
Anasuya Shankar wrote with the pen name of Triveni. She received her B.A in Psychology and she employs psychological aspects to create characters in her novels. Her stories Belli Moda, Sharapanjara and Mukti were made into movies with Minuguthare Kalpana as protagonist in the novels. Her short stories volumes include Hendatiya Hesaru, Eradu Mansu, and Samasyeya Magu. Triveni’s delineation of women’s issues such as suppression, oppression, and post partum depression are informative and educational. She received the Karnataka Sahitya Academy award in 1960.
Veena Shanteshwar –
Veena was born in Dharwad and earned her M.A, M.Lit, and PhD in English. Dr. Shanteshwar’s short stories including Mullugalu, Kavalu, and Koneya Daari. She translated works from English and Hindi. Veena received the Karnataka Sahitya