Author(s): Diksha

Abstract: This paper presents a critical re-reading of Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence through the theoretical framework of Elaine Showalter’s The Female Malady, the madwoman in the attic trope as depicted in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre, and contemporary feminist trauma theory. Focusing on the character of Kusum, the paper examines how madness in Deshpande’s writing is not a personal or medical condition but a product of patriarchal oppression, familial betrayal, and the systematic silencing of women's suffering. By identifying Kusum as the Indian Bertha Mason, this analysis reveals how the archetype of the madwoman is reimagined in the Indian context to expose the cost of asserting agency and the consequences of non-conformity. The paper further investigates the intersection of class, gender, and trauma, underscoring how characters like Kusum - with limited agency - are marginalized within Indian families and society, their madness pathologised and their suffering erased. This study views Kusum’s madness simultaneously as a symptom of insidious traumatisation at the hands of a patriarchal society and as a form of resistance to it.

Keywords: Madness, Patriarchy, Oppression, Trauma, Feminism, Pathologisation, Resistance

Article Info: Received: 18 May 2026; Received in revised form: 15 Jun 2026; Accepted: 18 Jun 2026; Available online: 23 Jun 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.113.77