Margaret Atwood: A Jewel in Canadian Writing

Margaret Eleanor Atwood is a versatile artist in the Canadian literature. This book is an assessment of Atwoods belief about the condition of women, her portrayal of women and their status in Canadian patriarchal society. She has not overestimated the problems of women but holds a mirror to actual social status of women through her female characters who are true to life. She pleads for a healthy, harmonious and balanced man-woman relationship in which two sexes are viewed as complementary, not as a battle of sexes or a winning or losing game. The study of Atwoods novels creates an awareness that no gods from above but women themselves have to raise their inner self and make an effort to find their freedom. Through her female characters Margaret Atwood presents a different concept of feminism and challenges the unjust traditional role assigned to women. She proposes image of woman not just a two-legged womb but a dynamic human, different from male but no less significant in any manner. The book also explores that Atwoods feminist vision is neither male-centered nor female-centered but it offers a fresh perspective on womens problems based on humanitarian ground. She fulfills the role of a torchbearer to society. The book analyses seven of Atwoods major novels that belong to the postmodern literary genre of feminist protest and reveal an intense awareness of the relationship between bonding and bondage, i.e. between a womans need for connection with others and her equally strong need for freedom. The book will be extremely useful to the students and teachers of English literature and researchers in this field.