Marriage, Family, and the Construction of Female Subjectivity in Anita Nair's Ladies Coupé, Mistress, and Lessons in Forgetting

Abstract

Marriage and family remain central institutions in Indian society, shaping women's identities through cultural expectations, gendered responsibilities, and emotional relationships. Contemporary Indian women writers increasingly interrogate these institutions by exploring the tensions between social conformity and individual autonomy. This paper examines the representation of marriage, family, and female subjectivity in Anita Nair's Ladies Coupé, Mistress, and Lessons in Forgetting. Drawing on feminist literary criticism, particularly the ideas of Simone de Beauvoir, Elaine Showalter, and Nancy Chodorow, the study analyses how Nair's female protagonists negotiate patriarchal norms embedded within domestic life. Rather than portraying marriage as either wholly oppressive or inherently fulfilling, Nair presents it as a complex social institution where identity is continuously negotiated through love, silence, compromise, and resistance. Through close textual analysis, the paper argues that female subjectivity in Nair's fiction develops gradually through self-reflection and emotional resilience rather than dramatic rebellion. Her protagonists challenge conventional notions of womanhood by seeking relationships grounded in dignity, equality, and mutual recognition. Ultimately, Nair reimagines domestic life as a site of both constraint and transformation, demonstrating that personal freedom begins with self-awareness and the recognition of women as autonomous individuals. By foregrounding the psychological complexities of ordinary women's lives, her novels make a significant contribution to contemporary Indian English literature and feminist discourse.