From Margins to Agency: Women's Empowerment and Inclusive Social Transformation in Jhumpa Lahiri's Short Stories and Novels

This study explores the transition of women from marginal positions to empowered agents in Jhumpa Lahiri’s short stories and novels, focusing on how her narratives engage with women’s empowerment, gender justice, and inclusive social transformation. Lahiri portrays female characters who are often constrained by patriarchal family structures, marital expectations, and the dislocations of migration, yet she emphasizes subtle forms of resistance rather than overt rebellion. Through moments of introspection, emotional negotiation, silence, and self-recognition, these women gradually assert agency and redefine their identities. By examining works such as Interpreter of Maladies, The Namesake, The Lowland, and Whereabouts, the study highlights how personal awakening and psychological autonomy become tools for challenging gendered inequalities. Drawing on feminist perspectives, the research argues that Lahiri reimagines empowerment as an inward, ethical, and relational process, suggesting that meaningful social transformation emerges not only through public activism but also through everyday acts of self-assertion that foster gender justice and inclusivity. The data is derived from primary and secondary resources related to topic. This data is verified by the research scholar.