Women, Class and Society: Exploring Marginalised Voices in Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupe

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to analyse and explore the condition of the marginalised voices, particularly women, with respect to Anita Nair’s Ladies Coupe. Marginalisation can be termed as a social exclusion where a group of people are denied equal opportunities, basic rights, and are treated as less important in the society. In a patriarchal society, women are consistently relegated to perform subservient roles; their voices are silenced. Marginalisation can stem from any intersecting factors such as gender, class, or economic status. Anita Nair in her novel Ladies Coupe has discussed the marginalised condition of women. The silent struggles of the women and their awakening are vividly explained by Nair. By bringing together women from diverse social backgrounds and social classes, Nair exposes how class division intensifies the problems of women, irrespective of their educational or professional status. Social hierarchies and gender roles play vital role to mute the voices of the women across Indian society. This study therefore seeks to investigate the condition of the silenced voices of the women, critiques socio-cultural structures that worsen the status of women, how marginalisation acts as a catalyst for self-realization, and reimagines spaces where women can articulate their identities beyond traditional roles.