role of women potrayed in the novel

Women's roles in Kanthapura center on their significance in the nationalist struggle—they march, protest, passively resist, boycott, read newspapers, and more—and how that significance is undermined by the traditional domestic, inferior role they were supposed to occupy. While the widows attain a sense of power and meaning in the movement, their own issues are ignored and they are valued more if they play their gendered role. Ultimately, they adhere to traditional patriarchal gender norms even while they demonstrate their importance to the struggle.