Identity Crisis and Psychological Exploration: A Feminist Study of Anita Desai’s Clear Light of Day

Anita Desai's novel, Clear Light of Day explores the themes of feminism, identity crisis, familial issues, and nostalgia. Through the protagonist Bim, Desai shows how one’s experiences shape one’s identity, memory and personality. The objective of the research is to find out how the effect of identity, social expectation, deep sense of nostalgia and memory influences on Bim. It also explores how Anita Desai portrays Bim’s complex psychological exploration in Clear Light of Day. This qualitative research uses the psychoanalysis method and feminism and thoroughly examines Bim’s nostalgia and familial bond in Clear Light of Day, paying special attention to her identity, memories, and what goes in her mind, providing valuable insights into how complex her character is in the novel. The article is primarily based on the textual analysis method and offers a feminist reading of how Bim progresses in this novel. Moreover, the main concerns of feminism—such as oppression in terms of gender, sexuality, and identity crisis—are explored in the context of contemporary patriarchal society. It is a critical investigation on applying the identity formation theory of Erik Erikson and Sigmund Fraud’s psychoanalysis theory. By applying Sigmund Fraud’s psychoanalysis theory, this study tracks Bim’s character development by investigating the trauma interacts with her subconscious mind and transformation. So this paper investigates the effect of feminist study on social expectation, nostalgia and identity as well as explores Bim’s complex psychology.