Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)

ISSN: 2278-0181
NCETEMS-2015 Conference Proceedings

Woman Perspective in Kamala Das’s Poetry

Suman Singh1
1
Department of Applied Sciences,
Ganga Institute of Technology and Management,
Kablana, Jhajjar, Haryana, India

Abstract: Kamala Das holds the distinction of being the most Das’s poetry operates within this emotional triangle.
celebrated and most anthologized of Indian English women
poets. A versatile genius a poet, a novelist, a short story Her poetry is equipped with female experience of
writer, a columnist and a painter she has been a favourite with emotional shock of an unhappy marriage, humiliation of
her readers and critics alike. She is known for her bold desire less surrender in sex and her disgust at the male
expression of social behaviour which otherwise is labelled as domination. Kamala depicts the entire class of women in
taboo. Kamala Das is a legendary woman poet who Indian society. She herself expresses it when she affirms:
epitomizes the modernization of the Indian feminine poetic
psyche. She talks about women who have passed through a …. I am every
period of frustration, depression, gloom, depression, pain,
suffering, rootlessness, agony and torture. Her poetry is a Women who seeks love (Summer in
very strong expression of feminine sensibility. Devender Kohli Calcutta :60)
finds it to be ‘celebration of beauty and courage of being a Kamala Das is a Rebel poet- a feminist rebel against the
woman. She is ‘every woman’ expressing all that comes with
patriarchal forces imposing stereo typed role on women ‘
the territory of being a woman the strong ‘wants as a woman’,
the beauty of filial Love, the dependence on man for the Dress in saris, be girl’, a rebel against the male’s
happiness, the concern with physical decay, the identity crisis, inadequacy to provide a meaningful and fulfilling
the unwilling acceptance of allotted roles and lamentations relationship ‘nothing more alive than skin’s Lazy hungers’
against the insensitive male and wale dominated society. and a rebel Indian English writer protesting against the
Infact, hers is a unparalleled example of feminine-cum- carping critics.
feminist sensibility.
Kamala Das shows her resentment against the
I. INTRODUCTION dominating attitude of man. She describes about the bond
between her granduncle and grandaunt ; She tells us that
In her poetry, one finds on expression of herself abasement her uncle looked every inch a king, although he didn’t have
and woman is treated as a toy to play with. Woman figures ample amount of money to buy discernible that her uncle
in her poetry just like a skeleton of flesh and bones. expected some sycophancy from his wife:
Kamala Das has not only portrayed the flux of mind and
thoughts of a woman but also efficaciously projected the Besides his chair was a hookah which my grand-
wages, aunt meticulously cleared every morning.
(Firestone !167)
dreams and desires of Indian Woman.
Kamala Das’s poetry also accentuate women’s psyche of
Kamala Das is pre-eminently a Poet of Love. Her rebellion against male supremacy and ego when she
poetry incarnate her quest for a fulfilling relationship and identifies love either with physical relationship or an
the anguish over her inability to find such a relationship unfulfilled longing. She has commented love and lust in
inside or outside marriage. Her concept of love is all- radical voices. Kamala remarks that sometimes a woman
inclusive where she wants not only physical but also feels that mere ardor is a mere waste and there is a desire to
emotional & spiritual fulfillment. Mr. C.N. Srinath free herself from this “soul killing” vanquish.
observes, “Love desire, genuine love, love on various
planes is Kamala Das’s main pre-occupation, her
obsession.” Woman is this happiness, this lying buried

A corollary to this is the poet’s pre-occupation Beneath a man?

with the theme of Body. She celebrates body but loveless It’s time again to come alive.
relationship makes her revile body as an instrument of
conquest and exploitation. Poems of desire and love form a A world extends a lot beyond his Six foot frame.
major chunk of Kamala Das’s poetic corpus. (Iyer : 145)
Body- soul conflict also emerges as the central concern in Love is the recurrent theme of Kamala Das’s poetry. An
many of her poems. Woman’s instinctive fascination for eternal quest for true love is the pivotal concern in the
man, her longing for a sacred and perfect love that goes writings of this ‘High priestess of love.’ Her forte is not
beyond the joy of sex, the disillusionment that men only cerebral complexity, intellectual stamina, philosophical
lust after her body; the man-woman relationship in Kamala musings but her emotionally rich poetry and profoundly

Volume 3, Issue 10 Published by, www.ijert.org 1

Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
NCETEMS-2015 Conference Proceedings

deep feelings expressed in forceful intimate verse. Her No doubt, the victimization of woman is evident
achievement is her daring and unconventional portrayal of but woman doesn’t even realize that she is a victim. It
the emotion of love in its countless number of shades. appears that she blames the need of male to humiliate
woman and wonders why women show a submissive
Women are depicted in various roles like beloved,
reconciliation with the female servitude. She feels that the
wife, sister, daughter, mother, mistress, grandmother and
feminine mystique has always been exploited by man who
nymphomaniac. This picture of woman persona is really
treats her as a slave. The fact of male dominance has been
very complex. In Devendra Kohli’s words, “Kamala Das
reflected in her autobiography, “My Story”:
has more to say about the pathos of a woman emerging
from passive role to the point of discovering and asserting ‘The Old Play House’
her individual freedom and identity…..” (Kohli:188),
expresses Kamala Das’s contempt for all that marriage
Kamala Das is primarily considered to be a poet of
entails – the man, his activities, the act and her loss of
feminine longings. Her poetry reflects her restlessness as a
identity. Like a feminist who seeks growth of self in a
sensitive woman who is moving in a male dominated
man-woman relationship, the poet went to her man:
society to champion the cause of woman. She has
forcefully raised the voice against male tyrannies in her I came to you
poems such as “An Introduction,” “Summer in Calcutta”,
“Marine Drive,” “ A Relationship etc. In her poem But to learn
“Afterwards” she gives voice to the secret hopes and fears What I was
of woman kind when she says:
And by learning
Son of my womb,
To learn to grow.
Ugly in loneliness,
However, her man sought to ‘tame’ a swallow’, and make
You work the world’s bleary eye her forget her very nature and the urge to fly. She was
dwarfed by his overpowering
Like a grit, your cleverness
Shall not be your doom
Cowering
As ours was
(Das : Summer in Calcutta:55) beneath your monstrous ego I ate the magic loaf
According to a simple and broad definition, and
anyone who recognizes the existence of sexism, male became a drawf,lost my will and reason,to all
domination and patriarchy, and takes some action against it your
is a feminist Kamala Das’s expression of feminism is at
times explicit and at times implicit. She has been questions I mumbled incoherent replies
celebrated as a ‘champion of womens’ causes. Her
writings reveal a strong feminist streak in various forms.
In her poetry the subordination and humiliation of women The wifely chores performed for such a man nauseated her
forms a prominent motif. For instance, in “The looking .It was only a violent physical relationship and the poet
Glass”, she portrays the stark reality of the life of women: ,always looking for tenderness, recalls the details of his
sexual exploits with abhorrence.
Stand nude before the glass with him
So that he sees himself the stronger one
And believes it so , and you so much more In ‘The Swamp’ she regrets” I am a puppet on his
Softer, younger , lovelier …. string and avers:

Dropping towels, and the jerky way he urinates. I shall rise one day I shall stalk out of his bed.
( Das: The Descendants: 10)
Apart from other things, the woman bargains for a In ‘A Man is a Season’ she chides her husband for
dubiously precarious love at the price complete surrender: ‘letting your wife/seek ecstasy in others’ arms.”
Gift him makes what makes you a woman , In ‘Substitute’ the poet satirises the pseudo-life a
the scent of long hair, married woman is expected to lead in the name of making
adjustments :
the musk of sweat between the breasts,
It will be all right when I learn
The warm shock of menstrual blood,
To paint my mouth like a clown’s
and all your endless female hungers.
( Das: 59) It will be all right if I put up my hair

Volume 3, Issue 10 Published by, www.ijert.org 2

Special Issue - 2015 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
NCETEMS-2015 Conference Proceedings

Stand near my husband to make a proud pair… (Summer in Calcutta: 11)

In’ The Suicide’ the poet unmasks the mask that a woman Kamala Das, in her poems, gives the first person account of
is supposed to wear all through her life: women’s sexual encounters, description of the private lives
of women have thoroughly made the picture of suffering
I must pose
woman complete. Thus, the protest of the feminist critic in
I must pretend case of Marvell’s poem becomes the staple content of
female speaker’s narration in Kamala Das’s poetry.
I must act the role of happy woman
A close examination of the contribution made by Kamala
Happy wife. Das through her poetry is specifically the relationship that
There is no denying the fact that Kamala Das revolts prevailed between man and woman. Her society expected
against the masculine character of our civilization but she total surrender and silence on the part of woman. Although
also shows her restlessness towards women’s passive the woman in her culture was reconciled with her inferior
acceptance of subjugation as the appointed lot. To quote position vis-s-vis man yet this attitude towards the
Specks(93): Suppression as a legitimate form of self treatment received by her family members and the society.
control has long been recommended to women. She feels As a woman she has been intensely conscious of herself;
uneasy with her mother’s “timidity” which helped her she is found focusing attention on woman in her different
create an illusion of domestic harmony which satisfied the roles as a wife, a mother, a mistress and even as a
relatives and friends. Kamala Das exposes her restlessness prostitute. Some of the critics hold the opinion that her
with the betters of feminity in her poem “ The Suicide” poems are a mere pouring out of her emotions.
where she writes: Simultaneously she has confessed that her poems emerged
as a rash of prickly heat. However, her feelings and
But, emotions are based on actual experiences of life. It would
I must pose not be wrong to point out that whatever she has written is
in confessional tone, exposing the raw moods of
I must pretend, experience. It is because of this she cannot be dubbed as
I must act the role of unfeminine. Her poetry concentrates on her own self-
discovery and expressing the different layers of hypocrisy
A Happy Woman, which got over quoted in today’s life and she has been
A Happy wife bitterly criticised for that by the high preachers of social
(Descendants:2) morality. Similarly, her idealistic ideas of love and
domesticity became a cause of rash criticism for which she
was not fully prepared. In nutshell, the poetry of Kamala
In the aforesaid lines, the derision of woman’s Das advocates freedom and self-respect for women.
emotions is evident that even if a woman is not happy as a Kamala Das staunchly etches the emotional picture of
wife or as a woman she must pretend herself to be a happy woman and succinctly reiterates that she should not be
wife. treated as a commodity or a subaltern. She should be
bestowed with respectable position in the society.
Kamala Das is not in favour of physical love that
her strong husband showers or her rather she pines for -----------
emotional identity which is not afforded by him. REFERENCES:
The poetess hammers hard at her husband and [1] Bernikov Louise, “Introduction” in Bernikov, The World Splits Open
articulates her intense desire of escaping from his clutches : Four Centuries of Women Poets in England and America 1551-
and attaining ‘freedom’. This has been incorporated in the 1950 (New York, 1974).
[2] Das Kamala, Summer in Calcutta, (New Delhi: Rajinder Paul,
poem “Substitute”: 1965).
[3] Das Kamala, The Descendants, (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt.
Yet I was thinking, lying beside him, Ltd. 1967).
[4] Das Kamala, My Story, (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt.
That I loved, and was much loved.
Ltd.1991).
It is physically thing, he said suddenly, [5] Firestone Shulamith, The Dialectic of Sex, (New York and London:
Bantam, 1971).
End it, I cried, End it, and let us be free. [6] Spacks Patricia Meyer, The Female Imagination, (London: Allen and
Unwin, 1973).
This freedom was our last strange toy.
( The Descendants :7 )
However, this ‘freedom’ does not provide her
‘pride’,’ joy’ ‘ a sense of security’ and ‘a name’ but in great
despondency she spells out:
After that love became a swivel-door,
When one went out, another came in

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