Abstract:
This study illustrates the depiction of desire in Kamini and Lal in Giraya (1971) by
Punyakante Wijenaike, and exemplifies their submissive roles which are constrained
by the contemporary society. These social restrictions obstruct their freedom while
their actual desire for equal respect is disregarded. The objective of the study is to
explore the victimization and marginalization of Kamini and Lal which enforce them
to satisfy conventional social expectations in the institution of marriage for their
survival. The scope of the study is limited to a Sri Lankan novel since there are less
empirical data which explore the desire in both male and female characters together
in a novel. Unlike other novels of Wijenaike, Giraya deconstructs the conservative
social dogmas expounding the darker realities of the society. The existing literature
explores the womanhood, female oppression, marriage and female sexuality. Yet this
study deploys a psychoanalytical exemplification on both Kamini and Lal regardless
of their gender disparities. As a qualitative study, a textual analysis was conducted
utilizing the Freudian psychoanalytic conceptualization of Id, Ego and Super Ego, to
excavate the unconscious mind. It reinforces the psychological struggle which
obstruct their emancipation, neutralising them in the presence of the societal gaze.
Further, this study strives to demonstrate the inner psyche of the two characters
portraying their suffocation in the absence of freedom for them to elevate their
individual desire. In conclusion, the alienated discontinuity of the characters lead to
a more dilapidated relationship, suppressing their actual identities as stagnated
individuals.
