Abstract

In Disgrace, Coetzee portrays the post-apartheid situation in South Africa with its many political and social changes when the black people acquired their newfound freedom and control. In spite of people’s expectation for a better life, the situation keeps getting worse not only for black women but also for white women who were privileged during apartheid due to their skin color. The female characters like Melanie, Lucy, Soraya, (Petrus’ wife) and Bev Shaw become victims of this situation and undergo too much pain and difficulties. They are exposed to humiliation, rape and degradation. This paper shows how these women live in this unbearable condition and suffer in silence. Additionally, we argue that the situation is not entirely beyond redress, rather, the women subject themselves to the humiliation due to their passivity and silence which encourage others to exploit and treat them as mere sex objects.