Abstract:
The main purpose of this research is to bring forth a comparative analysis of the portrayal of
female characters, Rosie of R. K Narayan's The Guide (1958) and Ila of Amitav Ghosh's The
Shadow Lines (1988). Based on comparative literature and feminist theories, the study goes up to
the norms and complexities of gender issues in South Asian literature with two different decades
and settings. It looks at the similarity and differences between Rosie and Ila as they attempt to
attain independence and authority over their own lives. This research focuses on investigating,
from a feminist point of view, the factors that arise from external situations and affect the goal of
identifying the persistent and evolving problems women have to overcome in order to achieve
self-determination and empowerment. While a broader investigation could have been done using
theories of postcolonialism, postmodernism, capitalism, and psychology, this study specifically
focuses on the feminist perspective.
