Autonomy and Patriarchal Resistance in Later Life: A Comparative Study of Ageing Women in the Selected Novels of Shashi Deshpande and Kerstin Ekman

A comparative analysis of representation of ageing women, autonomy and patriarchy resistance in Shashi Deshpande's A Matter of Time and Kerstin Ekman's The Angel House is conducted. A qualitative, interpretive, and comparative literary analysis is performed using feminist literary criticism, feminist gerontology, and aging studies as methods of analysis. Ageing, patriarchal authority, silence and speech, memory, domestic and communal space, female solidarity, and relational autonomy were the themes explored during this analysis. The findings show that the writers resisted stereotypical representations of ageing women as passive, dependent and invisible. In particular, Deshpande mostly represented later life through family conflicts, marital relations, silences, memories and intergenerational relations, whereas Ekman paid more attention to community, friendship and companionship and social engagement. The study also demonstrate that resistance was not only expressed through open rebellions, but also manifested itself through memory, silences, communication, solidarity, and negotiation of social roles. Thus, the study has shown that later life can be associated with agency, self-recognition, social belonging and resistance. Hence, later life can also be represented as a period of active negotiation of patriarchal structures and definition of autonomy within familial and communal relationships.