Premarital and Extra Marital Sexual Issues in Tanjore Region based Tamil Novels

தஞ்சை வட்டார நாவல்களில் பாலுறவுச் சிக்கல்கள்

Abstract

The family system is the organization that appears to fulfill the natural sexual needs of a man. A consensual sex through legal or traditionally and ritually defined, accepted marriage is a statute norm in Tamil society and hence it has systemically regulated the fulfillment of a man’s sexual need within the family system. But premarital sex does happen with or without the knowledge and acceptance of society. Extramarital or post marital relationships also happen in the event of unfulfilled desires and expectations. Such illicit sexual affairs create problems within family leading to disturbed and fragmented marital life and fatal consequences at times. Illicit affairs and its impact on family well being has formed the theme of Tanjore based novels like sennel, vellikizhamai, nenjin naduvae, kuruthipunal, poruppu, mathipetra minor, mogamul, velvi thee, pasitha manudam. This article explores these novels in this context. While issue of premarital has been dealt in sennel, vellikizhamai, nenjin naduvae, kuruthipunal and pasitha manudam, impact of post marital relationship has been depicted in pasitha manudam, velvi thee. Sexual affairs with prostitute and mistress has been narrated in poruppu, mathipetra minor, kuruthipunal (Indhira Parthasarathy) and nenjin naduvae (C.M. Muthu).