A Psychoanalytic Study of Desire through the Plight of Kamini and Lal in ‘Giraya’

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.