Unveiling Women Power: A Feminist Study of Bapsi Sidhwa’s Ice Candy Man

Abstract

This paper analyses oppression and subjugation of women in patriarchal society in Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel Ice Candy Man based on Simon de Beauvoir’s (1988) feminist theoretical perspective. The novel is analyzed on the following grounds. Firstly, in a patriarchal society woman is considered as an object and her oppression is veiled in the name of domesticity and marriage. Secondly, patriarchal society has made dual standards for man and woman to oppress woman. Thirdly, silence on the part of woman invites more oppression on her and encourages her exploitation. Lastly, woman’s realization is essentially required to resist her operation. Following these grounds, the research discusses Sidhwa’s endeavour to unveil men’s hegemony and the struggle on the part of women to come out of their submissive position. The technique of close reading is used to analyze and interpret the text in qualitative approach. Through close reading of the text, the study finds out that Sidhwa empowers women to come out of their domestic lives to bring change not only in their own but also in other women’s lives. She defends women’s cause, by upholding the view that until woman herself does not raise voice against oppression, she will be suppressed throughout the life.