Marriage, Displacement, and the New Indian Woman: A Feminist Reading of Nina in

Abstract

This research paper entitled “Marriage, Displacement, and the New Indian Woman: A Feminist Reading of Nina in Manju Kapur’s The Immigrant” explores the significant role that the institution of marriage plays in Indian society and the transformation a woman undergoes upon entering married life. The novel portrays Nina, an educated yet culturally conditioned woman whose marriage to Ananda, a dentist settled in Canada, leads her into a new socio-cultural environment. Moving from the protected space of her parental home to the unfamiliar world of migration, Nina experiences emotional, cultural, and psychological displacement. Through a feminist perspective, the paper examines how marriage and migration reshape Nina’s identity and compel her to confront the realities of marital expectations, sexual dissatisfaction, and personal autonomy. Although equipped with education and professional aspirations, Nina initially internalizes traditional ideals of marriage prevalent in Indian society. However, her experiences in the diasporic setting gradually transform her outlook and lead her toward a new understanding of selfhood. The study argues that it is the combined forces of marriage and displacement that ultimately redefine Nina as a “New Indian Woman,” a transformation that she herself had never anticipated.