Feminist Resistance and Mythic Justice in Indian Literature

Remains: Challenging Patriarchy and Caste

With the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Hindu fundamentalism, Indian feminists criticize so-called development. Under globalization and economic success—especially in the IT sector—women and minorities are often neglected. Feminist resistance, therefore, targets more than just patriarchy. Indian society celebrates shakti (the divine feminine creative power), yet controls women through sharam (shame/modesty). A woman’s sexuality is tied to izzat (family honor), meaning women carry the responsibility for male behavior, female desire is policed, and patriarchal control is naturalized.

In The Remains of the Feast, Rukmini, a 90-year-old Brahmin widow, has lived a life shaped by:

• Gender norms
• Caste purity
• Religious rules
• Class privilege

She internalized patriarchy, cooperating in her own subordination by obeying widow taboos regarding food, clothing, and behavior. She never openly rebelled—until she realized she was dying.

Acts of Bodily and Symbolic Resistance

Rukmini’s resistance is quiet, bodily, and symbolic rather than loud or political. She desires forbidden items, including:

• Small cakes from a Christian bakery
• Food made by Muslim cooks
• Coca-Cola
• Lemon tarts, garlic, aerated drinks, and fruit cake laced with brandy
• Bhel-puri
• A red sari (forbidden for widows)

By breaking religious and caste purity laws, she reclaims pleasure and appetite, asserting control over her own body. Her great-granddaughter, Ratna, is crucial; she represents a new generation who listens, accompanies, and witnesses Rukmini’s awakening. Through Ratna, female knowledge is passed across generations. In contrast, the granddaughter-in-law views Rukmini as irrational and deviant, illustrating how patriarchy is often enforced by women themselves.

Rose Garden: Mythic Justice and Female Rage

Ira is a rakshasi who lives outside normal human society and time. Her mythical nature is revealed when we learn she is 6,000 years old and that her entire family was slaughtered by a king who wanted their forest for his own purposes. This origin links patriarchal power, violence, and land ownership to the destruction of female and non-human communities.

Unlike her parents—whose magic was music and love—Ira’s magic is rage. Importantly, rage is not portrayed as hysteria or a loss of control; it is a source of strength and clarity. At its peak, she is at her strongest. The story rejects the idea that women should feel shame for anger, presenting rage as legitimate, creative, and transformative.

Transformative Justice

Ira turns men who have raped women into flowers. She invites them into her home and transforms them there. This act:

• Turns male violence into silence and stillness
• Replaces traditional punishment with mythic justice
• Embodies collective female trauma

Her rage is therefore shared, historical, and communal, rather than individual or selfish.