Gender, Identity and Ambivalence Navigating the Indian Family in Manju Kapur's Difficult Daughters

Abstract

This paper explores the intricate dynamics of gender, identity, and familial ambivalence in Manju Kapur’s novel Difficult Daughters, set against the backdrop of pre- and post-Partition India. Through the protagonist Virmati’s defiance of traditional norms and her struggle for self-definition, the novel interrogates the conflicting expectations placed upon women in Indian society. Kapur’s narrative delves into the intergenerational tensions between mothers and daughters, the burden of cultural conformity, and the cost of autonomy. The paper employs a feminist literary lens to examine how Virmati’s identity is shaped by both resistance and complicity within a patriarchal structure, highlighting the emotional and ideological ambivalence that characterizes her journey. Ultimately, the study reveals how Difficult Daughters presents the Indian family not merely as a site of nurturing and belonging, but also as a contested space where individual desires and collective traditions frequently clash. By navigating this terrain, the novel offers critical insights into the gendered politics of identity formation in modern Indian literature.