A Search for Feminine Desires in Patriarchal Social Structure in Khushwant Singh’s Nirmala and Gita Hariharan’s The Feast

Krati Sharma; Sarveen Kaur Sachdeva; Shahnawaz; Neetu Sharma; K. S. Nisar

doi:10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_6

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A Search for Feminine Desires in Patriarchal Social Structure in Khushwant Singh’s Nirmala and Gita Hariharan’s The Feast

Authors

Krati Sharma¹^{, *}, Sarveen Kaur Sachdeva², Shahnawaz³, Neetu Sharma⁴, K. S. Nisar⁵

¹Professor, Department of English, Poornima Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, 302022

²Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Applied Sciences, Poornima College of Engineering, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, 302022

³Associate Professor, Department of English, Poornima Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, 302022

⁴Associate Professor, Department of English, Poornima Institute of Engineering & Technology, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, 302022

⁵Professor, Prince Sattam Bin Abudulaziz University, University in Al-Kharj, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia

^*Corresponding author. Email: krati.sharma@poornima.org

Corresponding Author

Krati Sharma

Available Online 30 June 2026.

DOI: 10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_6 How to use a DOI?
Keywords: Feminine Desire; Patriarchal Constraints; Repression; Rebellion. Female Solidarity; Womanhood
Abstract: On the contrary, Hariharan’s The Feast is a provocative and symbolic reading in which women secretly get together to dine and exchange stories, providing them with a voice and an identity in a society wherein they are frequently ostracized by men. This study analyzes how female characters in the story embrace, fight, or navigate hierarchical discrimination using feminist literary theory and narrative evaluation. It further demonstrates how the body, memory, food, and stillness are signs of both rebellion and repression. In order to fully understand the theatrical and philosophical structures that create gendered identities, the essay draws on significant feminist theorists such as Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, and GayatriSpivak. Conversely, the essay argues that The Feast is an expression of the collective statement of female, but Nirmala is the symbol of domestication and passivity of desire. Nevertheless, as a survival strategy by the means of psychology, both stories underline the importance of female solidarity, narrative agency and symbolic manifestation of desire. This essay advances the concepts of gender, voice and resistance in South Asian fiction by showing how fiction reveals the concealed desires of women out of the ruins of patriarchy.
Open Access: Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Food Studies: Intersections of Culture, Science and Sustainability (ICEFS 2026)
Series: Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date: 30 June 2026
ISBN: 978-2-38476-583-6
ISSN: 2352-5398
DOI: 10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_6 How to use a DOI?
Open Access: Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

ris enw bib

TY  - CONF
AU  - Krati Sharma
AU  - Sarveen Kaur Sachdeva
AU  - Shahnawaz
AU  - Neetu Sharma
AU  - K. S. Nisar
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/30
TI  - A Search for Feminine Desires in Patriarchal Social Structure in Khushwant Singh’s Nirmala and Gita Hariharan’s The Feast
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Emerging Food Studies: Intersections of Culture, Science and Sustainability (ICEFS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 48
EP  - 56
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_6
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-583-6_6
ID  - Sharma2026
ER  -

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