Online published on 28 February, 2013.
Roots and Shadows, published in 1983, is one of Shashi Deshpande's early novels. As a writer, Shashi Deshpande got recognition after the publication of her later novel, That Long Silence. The present novel, Roots and Shadows, is a path-breaking novel, articulating the experiences of woman in marriage. It has aroused a variety of criticism. But most of the critics confine their critical perspective only to the expression of protest against the patriarchal social system. Smt. Parvati Bhatnagar tends to analyse the present novel in the light of the protest by the female characters against the restrictions imposed upon them. She says: “The novel deals with a woman's attempt to assert her individuality and realise her freedom. It depicts how it brings her into confrontation with the family, with the male world and the society in general.”1
