One often notices mutual bias, mistrust and a hurry to dismiss each other among the two genders. The cultural background, socio-political angles related to division of rights and duties, relative importance and relevance make this mistrust and clash inevitable. In the past, women willingly accepted subjugation of the self before social whims and accepted secondary status and this slave mentality made the masculine world feel secure, stable and comfortable on psychological and material plane. Lack of challenge made them defiant, arrogant, insensitive and authoritative temperamentally towards women. However, over the years the status of women has improved in many countries, if not all. Now that women have gained almost parallel status legally, there is a subdued sense of anger, aversion and aggressiveness in the opposite gender. Indian English literature and Nigerian literature throw significant light on the predicament of gender equation. The social axis is clearly tilted towards patriarchy. However, the burden to retain the institutions of marriage and family rests on the delicate shoulders of the feminine gender in both the countries of two different continents. The present paper discusses the depiction of gender in the novels of noted Nigerian authoress Buchi Emecheta and the acclaimed Indian novelist Kamala Markandaya. It compares and contrasts the status of women in the two different societies as depicted by these novelists.
Department of English, Patna University, Patna
