The Changing Face of Women in Indian Literature

As pointed out by Meenakshi Mukherjee:

The classical ideals of the god like hero and the patient heroine extol the virtues of extinction of the ego whereas the novel in the western world often focuses upon the achievement of Selfhood of personality. One might argue that classical ideals no longer obtain in the Indian context. But in actual literary practice, numerous characters are found to adhere to classic prototypes-especially the women of fiction who persistently re-enact the suffering sacrificing role of Sita or Savitri.