vorce rather they suffer from the sick of sacrifice. In contrast, Western countries, the divorce rate is three out of four. To quote Kapur: “There they go on divorcing-marrying till the age of 60 - 70. They do not understand the concept of family. They only think of themselves.” (Kapur: 168) But for Indian women, divorce is a shame and dishonour for their family. That is why thousands of women suffer in Third World societies for the outdated family name. As a result, women suffer like Sangeeta or Astha. But in First World societies, such false family notions cannot trap women. There, divorce is not a shame rather a wise decision in order to avoid family violence.
In India, Secular ideas are not accepted like European countries. Women are not allowed here to enjoy their lesbian rights. But in Western countries, there are no objections for lesbianism. There are many female-headed families in Western societies where lesbian women live and even marry. No objection comes from state or society. Women in Third World societies, live under male-headed family where heterosexuality is acceptable not homosexuality. Women cannot open their heart about lesbian relationship here. In this story, the lesbian lovers; Astha and Pipeelika hide their affairs on account of social obstacles and charges.
3. Research Findings
Many researchers have so far been pursued on Kapur’s A Married Woman (2002). They celebrated Kapur’s female characters as liberated and resistant heroines with the bounties of glory. But the social problems that re-colonize them are not mentioned by them. However, this research finds out the social impediments such as child marriage, forced marriage, gender discrimination, domestic work, family violence, education inequality, discourage for degree, family tradition, patriarchal hegemony, sexual exploitation and so on that cause barricades for the Indian women to walk on the open road of liberty.
In A Married Woman ( Kapur, 2002) through the characters of Astha, Sita, Sangeeta Seema, Mrs, Trivedi and Pipeelika, Kapur reveals the prerequisites of a Third World married women. An Indian wife from bedroom to kitchen has to perform all household duties like cooking, cleaning, washing, upbringing children and taking care of husband and in-laws as Astha performs. In Third World Indian patriarchy, marriage is more important than education. Sita and Mrs, Trivedi are the victims of early marriage. Indian wives never dare to think of divorce and therefore, they often are victims of domestic violence or humiliation as Sangeeta faces in-law’s house and Astha is often answerable for her any sort of negligence of household responsibilities to her husband and mother-in-law. Motherhood and family reputation are also important obstacles for Third world women for which they cannot divorce their husband. From the very beginning of their life, they are taught to be the bearer and upholder of family honour as Astha experiences. After their husband’s death, Indian widows are considered as outsiders, untouchables and sinners as Sita and Pipeelika suffer from such public isolation. In fine, these are the social and familial impediments for Third World women that create barricades in female education, empowerment, employment, identity and independence.