Volume VI Special Issue VII October 2026

Name of Author : Yoogasree Kumar, Dr. Preetha R

Title of the paper : BETWEEN EXPECTATION AND REALITY: STRAIN AND THE UNCONSCIOUS IN ANITA DESAIS CRY, THE PEACOCK

Abstract: What is real and what is not? Travers, 1935, Chapter 7. The aim of this paper is to analyze the tension between expectation and reality in Anita Desais Cry, the Peacock. This study utilizes Robert Agnews General Strain Theory GST and Freud’s concept of the unconscious to trace the strain and distress it creates in Mayas marriage life. This research employs qualitative close reading, to analyze, Mayas fear of death and emotional negligence in her life, which provides the gap between expectation and reality that generates emotional and psychological distress. This paper argues the gap between expectations and lived reality accumulates strain to the point where violence becomes a coping mechanism. This study examines how unresolved strain results in deviant behavior.

Keywords : Expectation, Reality, Unconscious, General Strain Theory, Deviant Behavior.

DOI :

Page Number : 14-18