The women characters have been skillfully delineated by Raja Rao. There is a great variety of them in the novel.
At the foremost we have Rangamma. She is one of the few educated women in the village. She reads the newspapers herself and thus keeps herself and other people in Kanthapura acquainted with the day to day developments elsewhere. She knows many things of general interest. She is never be fooled by Bhatta. She helps Moorthy literally, although, she does not seem to share his belief that Pariahs and Brahmins are all equal. After meeting Sankar, Rangamma develops into a fine leader and speaker. She is able to fill the void created by the death of her father, who used to expound the Vedantic texts at Harikatha meetings. It is Rangamma, who plays a major part in organizing the women of Kanthapura into a Sevika Sangh. She is practical-minded for when she comes to know that some husbands are complaining that they are not receiving proper attention at home because their wives are away to participate in the drill, she at once takes proper measures and explains to the Sevikas that they must not neglect their household duties.
The next woman character who deserves attention is Ratna. She is a child widow, who has been powerfully influenced by modern ideas and who does not regard being a woman as a matter of shame and inferiority. She is much criticized for her unconventional ways but she does not care for such criticism. She chooses her own path and sticks to it with firmness and determination. She takes a keen interest in the Gandhian movement and is a source of inspiration and a great help to Moorthy. When Jayaramachar, the Harikatha - man, is arrested, she conducts the Harikatha. After Rangamma's death, she reads out the newspapers and other publicity material of the Congress for the benefit of the Kanthapurians. When Moorthy is arrested, Ratna carries on his work and serves as the leader. She organizes the women volunteer corps and imparts to the Sevikas the necessary training. She displays great courage and resourcefulness in the face of government repression and police action. She is dishonoured, beaten up and sent to jail as a consequence. She suffers all patiently and unflinchingly. When Mahatma Gandhi goes to England for the Round Table Conference, reaches a settlement with the Red - man's Government and the movement is withdrawn, Ratna is disappointed like countless other freedom fighters in India. She goes over to Bombay and through her letters, we learn of her great admiration for Nehru, "the equal distributionist".
Achakka, the narrator, though she is never sharply individualized, is revealed by her manner of narration and her comments on persons and events. In the novel, her function is representative and her strength lies in being anonymous. She is just one of the many women of Kanthapura, who responded to the call of Mahatma Gandhi, conveyed through Moorthy. Her faith in the Goddess Kenchamma, her respect for the local scholar Rangamma, her unquestioned affection for Moorthy and her trust in him, all these feelings, she shares with other women of the village. However, Achakka is a woman with a balanced mind, sound common sense and the gift of shrewd and intelligent observation. Her personality colours the whole non - cooperation movement, the brave resistance of the people and their consequent suffering.
One of the simplest women in the village is poor Narsamma, the mother of Moorthy. She cannot understand the ideals dear to her son but who only knows that she did nothing to deserve the calamity of ex-communication of the society that befalls her family. She is the most pathetic character in the novel.
Through the character of Waterfall Venkamma, Raja Rao brings out the pettiness, jealousy, triviality and the orthodoxy of the womenfolk. Venkamma is a woman of a petty and jealous nature. She cannot bear to see others prosperous or successful. The sight of the happiness of others arouses her wrath and she rails and rails against them. There is no end to her spite, jealousy and vindictiveness. She is jealous of Rangamma because she has a much larger house and constantly rails against her. She would like to put lizard poison into her food and thus cause her death. She is also against Moorthy because he refused to marry her second daughter. She nurses this grudge against him and does her best to have her views; she has no sympathy with the Gandhi - movement. She, therefore, sides with Bhatta and the Swami. It is she who spreads the rumour that Moorthy is to be excommunicated. In this way, she causes his mother much pain which ultimately drives her to death. She also hates Ratna for her progressive views and constantly hurls abuses at her. She rails and rails against everybody and thus justifies the nickname the novelist has given to her. However, it is only against her meanness, frivolousness and conservatism that the character of Ratna shines out.
In Kanthapura, Raja Rao presents women as various forms of Shakti. Different forms of Shakti are manifested through the women of Kanthapura.
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