Marriage as a Site of Female Oppression in Anita Desai's Cry, the Peacock

Author(s)	Ms. Anamika, Ms. Simran Mittal
Country	India
Abstract	This paper is an analysis of the institution of marriage in the novel Cry, the Peacock (1963) as an alienating patriarchal institution, in which there is an emotional neglect, a power imbalance and a systematic silencing of emotional needs of the female character. In the feminist reading and in close reading of the text, the paper uses the theories of Simone de Beauvoir's "the Other" and Elaine Showalter's gynocriticism as the methodological framework to claim that Maya's psychological breakdown is not from her personal neurosis, but rather the direct effects of the oppressive and negative conditions of her marriage. The paper interacts with the critical works of Aruna and Peruvalluthi, Varshney, Kousalya and Prabhakaran, Gore and Dar to fit into the vast discussion on alienation and feminist interpretations on Desai's fiction. The key theme is that marriage in cry the peacock is not a place of companionship and mutual fulfilment, but is the main institutional cause for Maya's alienation and ultimate mental breakdown, thus marking Desai as a strong critic of the traditional institution of marriage in a patriarchal society.
Keywords	Anita Desai, Cry, the Peacock, marriage, patriarchal oppression, female alienation, emotional neglect.
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 3, May-June 2026
Published On	2026-06-04
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i03.80444

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