Wangjam Phajabi Devi
Volume-XIV, Issue-III, April 2026
Volume-XIV, Issue-III, April 2026 | ||
Received: 29.03.2026 | Accepted: 27.04.2026 | |||
Published Online: 30.04.2026 | Page No: | |||
DOI: 10.64031/pratidhwanitheecho.vol.14.issue.03W. | ||||
Redefining
Motherhood in Manju Kapur’s Custody
Dr. Wangjam Phajabi Devi, Assistant Professor, Dept. of English,
DMCA, Dhanamanjuri University, Manipur, India | |
Manju Kapur’s fifth novel, Custody
redefines motherhood by delving into its dualistic conceptualisations. Many
theorists claim that motherhood, the glorified position and sacrificial role of
women is also treated as a site where gender roles are encrypted. Mothering is
a role through which enforcement of male regime is materialised. It is an
institution to reify patriarchal hegemony. Custody examines the role of
mothers in familial functioning. It also retraces the nuances of motherhood in
consolidating societal norms. It interrogates the very system which questions
the perfection or imperfection of women under the prism of motherhood. The
novel mainly focuses on intricate familial issues where mothers play a pivotal
in maintaining equilibrium in familial power structure. It projects two
generations of mothers– traditional and modern, and analyses the connotations
of motherhood by disseminating the dichotomised perspectives of these mothers.
The paper is an objective and critical analysis of the contents of the text. It
aims at finding the author’s observations and manifestations of the definitions
of motherhood. While attempting to authenticate the writer’s arguments the
paper incorporates different critical essays, theories, and literary texts.
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