Riya Somani : Chetan Bhagat's Half Girlfriend

Registration ID: IJNRD_308827

Published ID: IJNRD2508090

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Mrs Priya Chakravorty, DR. Sharachchandra Roy

Riya Somani, Half Girlfriend ,feminist critique, gender role, etc.

This paper examines the representation of Riya Somani, the female protagonist in Chetan Bhagat’s Half Girlfriend, through the lens of feminist literary criticism. As an emblem of the modern Indian woman, Riya’s character embodies a complex intersection of privilege, silence, autonomy, and vulnerability. While positioned as urban, independent, and emotionally layered, her narrative agency remains limited and largely overshadowed by the male protagonist, Madhav. The novel reinforces traditional gender roles even as it attempts to depict female empowerment. This study critiques the gendered power dynamics within the text, focusing on Riya's portrayal, her moments of resistance and silence, and the implications of her "half" identity. Drawing upon feminist theorists such as Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, and Indian scholars like Nivedita Menon, this paper questions whether Riya is truly a representation of modern Indian womanhood or a reconfigured object of male desire within a neoliberal romantic framework.The representation of women in contemporary Indian popular fiction is a subject of increasing scholarly interest, particularly in the context of evolving cultural and gender norms in post-liberalization India. Chetan Bhagat, a bestselling author whose works are both commercially successful and socially reflective, offers fertile ground for such inquiries. In Half Girlfriend (2014), Bhagat introduces Riya Somani, a character ostensibly positioned as an emblem of modern Indian womanhood - urban, educated, and assertive. However, a critical feminist reading reveals that her narrative agency is consistently undermined by the structural and ideological priorities of the text.This thesis contends that Riya Somani’s portrayal, while superficially progressive, reinforces traditional gender roles and patriarchal constructs. Although Riya is presented as an autonomous figure who challenges certain cultural expectations, her role in the narrative is predominantly shaped by the emotional trajectory and developmental arc of the male protagonist, Madhav Jha. Her identity as a "half girlfriend" serves not as an articulation of her independence, but rather as a metaphor for her independence, but rather as a metaphor for her incomplete subjectivity and subordinated status within the male-dominated narrative structure. Drawing upon feminist theoretical frameworks, including Simone de Beauvoir’s concept of woman as the “Other,” Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity, and Laura Mulvey’s articulation of male gaze,” this study interrogates the extent to which Riya’s character embodies agency or merely functions as a catalyst for male transformation. Further, the analysis incorporates insights from Indian feminist scholars such as Nivedita Menon to contextualize Riya’s representation within the socio-cultural realities of contemporary Indian womanhood. This introduction establishes the premise for a feminist critique of Half Girlfriend, focusing on the ideological implications of Riya Somani’s construction as a literary figure. The analysis seeks to demonstrate that despite her outward markers of modernity, Riya’s character is emblematic of the enduring tension between perceived female empowerment and entrenched patriarchal narrative forms in Indian popular literature.

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Mrs Priya Chakravorty & DR. Sharachchandra Roy (August-2025). Riya Somani : Chetan Bhagat's Half Girlfriend. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF NOVEL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, 10(8), a627-a631. https://ijnrd.org/papers/IJNRD2508090.pdf

Volume 10 Issue 8, August-2025

Pages : a627-a631

Paper Reg. ID: IJNRD_308827

Published Paper Id: IJNRD2508090

Research Area: Medical Science All

Author Type: Indian Author

Country: KHAGARIA, BIHAR, India

Published Paper PDF: https://ijnrd.org/papers/IJNRD2508090.pdf

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