Women's worlds in the novels of Kandukuri and Gilman

Abstract

In her article "Women's Worlds in the Novels of Kandukuri and Gilman" Suneetha Rani discusses Veeresalingam Kandukuri's Satyaraja Poorvadesayatralu (Satyaraja's Travel to the Distant Lands) and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland. While the novels were published in two different contexts - one in pre-independence India and the other in pre-World War I in the U.S., one in Telugu and the other in English, one by a man and the other by a woman - there is an interesting connecting thread that brings them together. Both were satires on the contemporary male chauvinistic world. While the Telugu novel pleads for a better treatment of upper-caste Indian women, the US-American novel looks hopefully towards an ideal world where men do not exist. Rani discusses the strengths and weaknesses of both novels while at the same time her analysis suggests the relevance of both authors' work today. © Purdue University.