THE COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE CHARACTERS OF ANITA DESAI’S NOVELS: MAYA - GAUTAMA FROM 'CRY, THE PEACOCK' AND MONISHA- JIBAN FROM 'VOICES IN THE CITY' (Pages 59-68) by Ms. Noor Fathima Ibrahim in THE ENGLISH RESEARCH EXPRESS / ISSN:2321-1164 (Online); 2347-2642 (Print)

Anita Desai , a renowned Indian English fiction writer of the Twenty first century is well commended for her art of characterization. A keenly observant writer has captured the current social realities that exists in a male dominated society. The critical and comparative evaluations of characters presented in the case study of the major novels ‘Cry, The Peacock’ and ‘Voices in the City’ depicts inner psyche and awful workings of the mind of protagonists evoking the cry. It raises a voice against debilitating and absurd realities of Indian masculine world. The characters dwell upon problems of love, marriage and sex in her novels in a convincing and realistic manner. They suffer intensely and end up with alienation and loneliness. Maya and Gautama from , ‘Cry, The Peacock’ , Monisha and Jiban from ‘ Voices in the City’ make the comparative study . The Incompatible and hostile relationship between a husband and wife brings a sensational climax and a contrived ending in both the novels. The study engages in probing a fact that how a mismatched characteristics end in tragedy and failure, disclosing harsh social odds of life that exists in an Indian society. Maya , from ‘Cry, The Peacock’ suffers mentally as her husband is insensitive and inconsiderate towards her. She is haunted by peculiar sense of doom , turns neurotic , kills her husband and ultimately attempts suicide. The novel also illustrates a miserable plight of Monisha from ‘ Voices in the City’, in a tradition bound joint family unable to cope with a hostile situation commits suicide by immolating herself. Keywords: Social realities, male dominated society, inner psyche, protagonists, alienation & loneliness, mismatched characteristics, hostile situation etc.