In Her Two Novels With ” beautifully executed images” , JanetteTurner Hospital creates four vivid female character in hertwo novels.
The four characters are Juliet and Yashoda inThe Ivory Swing and Elizabeth and Emily in The Tiger in theTiger Pit . Each of the above is invested by Turner Hospitalwith a deep consciousness. In the view of Janette Turner Hospital, women areimmensely uncertain. They are never sure of what they want.
However, when it comes to dealing with external conflicts,they are very strong-willed. On the other hand, she alsoindicates that maternal love is strong. Women havepassionate beliefs in the importance of the family. As thestories follow, these feminine personalities are graduallyproved. Before leaving for India, Juliet had a hard timedeciding whether to stay with her professor husband, David,or move to Montreal to stay with her former lover Jeremy. Uncertain as usual, all Juliet wants is to ” maintain thebalancing act.
“She could never summon up the courage toface new circumstances. Her mind is never firm enough tochallenge the present state. So she makes her choice in theorder of morality. She stays with her husband and leaves forIndia with him.
It is more likely that the fate designatedJuliet’s future. She is married to Dave on her own accord. Therefore, she does what a good wife is supposed to do. 1. Reviewed in : Booklist v. 79 p.
994 Apr 1, 19832. ” The Ivory Swing ” p. 18 In Kerala, where David is on sabbatical to studyprimitive Indian culture, the couple encounters Yashoda,” awidow who does not accept the fate and rigid rules of herculture. “Yashoda wants the right to wear jewellery, toappear in public; most of all, she wants love.
She does notcare about either inauspicious or disgrace. She even runsthe risk of being penalized to travel with Annie. For anIndian woman such as Yashoda, it is considered quitedifficult adjusting to her society. Among the four female characters, many similaritiesare found between Juliet and Elizabeth. Like Juliet,Elizabeth has to choose between her husband and lover.
Theonly difference is that the death of her lover has certainlymade her life easier. She no longer doubts anymore afterJeremy’s death. Her cross-roads becomes one way and eversince then her life is as simple as an ordinary housewife. Elizabeth still recalls her past, but she appreciates thatfact that fate decides her future for her.
In this case sheavoids family and friendship broken. And she has somethingto remembrance for a life time. Elizabeth’s youngest child, Emily, is themysterious woman of the four. In Montreal where she happensto be pregnant and Sydney where she encounters her lover,Dave. She thereafter moves to England.
It is obvious thatEmily love Dave a lot; but she is a uncertain as can be. Herleaving Dave without even saying good-bye represents her3. Reviewed in : Booklist v. 79 p. 994 Apr,1983doubts. She is afraid that once she has to face thereality, her love for Dave, she would crush.
Juliet and Elizabeth both stay with their husbandsafter all, yet they do not own what they really want. Davehas noticed Juliet’s ” staring from the window of their houselike a woman behind bars”, so has Emily mentions about herabout her mother’s ” standing at the French window like acaged bird. ” Emily is aware of her uncertainty. Therefore,she decides to leave Dave for England. In her opinion sheonly wants to get away from complicated life to sort thingsout; but instead of talking to Dave about it, she leavessecretly.
Her doing so has hurt Dave and sacrificed herson’s, Adam, happiness as well as her own. It is easy to get this kind of impression thatYashoda might be the exceptional certain woman because itseems that she fights for her ideas; however, if she has thecourage to challenge realities, she should be brave enough toface the results. On the contrary, Yashoda begs for rescue. One can only say she acts as if she was a spoiled kid. Thefour women all have something in common.
The problem is theyare afraid to let out their feelings. 4. ” The Ivory Swing ” p. 1525.
” The Tiger in the Tiger Pit ” p.32 Although Janette Turner Hospital implies that womenare uncertain, she believes that when it comes to dealingwith external conflicts,
