Socio-Cultural Taboos Of Women’s Infertility In The Select Works Of Manju Kapur

Abstract

Infertility or infecundity is a pressing issue that expels women from the familial structure and invalidates them in the patriarchal set up. In Indian society, the silent struggles of infertile women to experience motherhood are often overlooked and disregarded. This research paper examines the reflections of socio-cultural taboos surrounding women's infertility in the select fictional works of the acclaimed Indian female writer, Manju Kapur. Through comprehensive textual and thematic analyses, the study centring on the key novels Home and Custody, unearths the nuanced ways in which Kapur exhibits social conventions, challenges and stigma associated with women's inadequacies to conceive. By positioning the study within the context of Kapur’s socio-cultural milieu, the study explores the instances within the narratives, the societal expectations, familial structures, moral implications and emotional consequences of barrenness in women. A character-centric analysis and the protagonists’ responses and reactions to patriarchal strictures offer a deep perspective of the diverse experiences of infertile women. The findings of this study showcase Kapur’s works as reflective mirrors of the discriminatory socio-cultural norms on women’s infertility. It further facilitates readers’ critical understanding of societal attitudes and perceptions, and opens avenues for broader discourses on gender roles, social impositions and the transitional phase of women's identities.