A Wife’s Story by Bharati Mukherjee | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. A Wife’s Story is a short story written by Bharati Mukherjee that was published in her short stories collection titled ‘The Middleman and Other Stories was published in 1988. Her novel titled ‘Wife’ was published in 1975.

Bharati Mukherjee always maintained that she was an immigrant rather than an expatriate. All of the stories of ‘The Middleman and Other Stories’ are based on the central theme of the cultural transformation of characters belonging to Southeast Asia (Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshi, Chinese, and so on) and how they face troubles, yet assimilate the Western culture just because according to ‘Bharati Mukherjee,’ it is a better culture. She maintains that she is an American, not an Indian, and thus, the usual subject of ridicule in her stories is Indianness. Her love and loyalty towards the Western culture earned her and the short story collection the National Book Critics Circle Award (NBCCA), an American literary award, in 1889. The book was also selected as the New York Times Book Review's notable book of the year.

Characters of ‘A Wife’s Story :

The story is written in first-person narrative style and Panna Bhatt is the narrator and protagonist of the story. She is a middle-aged married woman who lost her only son in a terrorist attack in India. She was arranged marriage and she doesn’t have a romantic relationship with her husband who remains unnamed in the story. After her son’s death, she hardly finds any reason to remain in the relationship and leaves India and her husband for two years after their son died to study on scholarship for a doctorate in special education in New York City. She was never happy in her married life and always felt that Indian society is patriarchial, oppressive, and exploitative against women. Panna Bhatt never read about Sarojini Naidu or Indira Gandhi or Viajaya Lakshmi Pandit, or Annie Besant but she remembers how her ‘illiterate’ grandmother had beaten her mother when she decided to learn French. Panna’s husband is a patriarch and like a good submissive housewife, she doesn’t even take his name ever, and thus, her husband remains unnamed in the story. He is a textile mill manager who understands the financial struggles of middle-class families in developing countries. He is tender and overprotective towards Panna and is unaware of the fact that Panna never loved him and since now she has options, she considers her life with him as imprisonment. Her husband has those peculiar ridiculous and cringeworthy traits of common Indians that Panna is gradually giving up. One of them is fidelity as she has developed an adulterous relationship with Imre Nagy, a Hungarian expatriate and her classmate. Imre Nagy too is married with his wife and two children back in Hungary. Panna’s husband notices that men in America ogle at her wife and is worried about that but he never suspects Imre Nagy as he doesn’t have even an iota of doubt on his wife. Panna is not abrasive and abusive against him and in fact, tries to offer him the best physical gratification as a parting gift. Panna goes to watch a play by David Mamet, a noted American author, and playwright with Imre, and learns a lot about herself as a new and transformed individual. Charity Chinn is the roommate of Panna who is a Chinese immigrant. She is a successful hand model. She disliked her Chinese looks so much that she went under the knife to change her Chinese eyes to Caucasian eyes. Charity is married to an American named Eric who is living in Oregon as a devotee of Rajneesh, the Indian Guru. Charity didn’t have enough money for her plastic surgery and thus, she sleeps with her plastic surgeon every third Wednesday. In addition, she also has developed a relationship with Phill, a flutist. Despite her adulterous relationship with Imre, Panna feels that she is morally superior to Chinn in a sense. On the other hand, she is envious of Chinn too for Charity’s greater extent of physical joy and sense of freedom.

Summary of A Wife’s Story:

Panna and her husband lost their only son in a terrorist attack and Panna is distraught about her loss. Her husband, however, being emotionally dormant, succeeds in overcoming the pain and continues to devote himself to his usual business and work. Suddenly, Panna too gets a chance to study on scholarship for a doctorate in special education in New York City. Panna is excited about this opportunity and she remembers how her illiterate grandmother had brutally beaten her mother when she decided to learn French in an Indian college. Panna notices the transformation of the three generations, from being illiterate to visiting a foreign land for higher education. Panna’s husband is a traditional oppressive, patriarchial man who though allows her to go abroad, doesn’t allow her to even take his name. In America, Panna starts sharing a room with a Chinese immigrant who, just like Panna, is enamored by Western culture. Her name is Charity Chinn she is married to an American man named Eric. However, Eric decided to go to Oregon to live at the Ashram of Guru Rajneesh of Indian origin.

Meanwhile, Charity Chinn, who always disliked being Chinese, decided to change her looks and took the help of a plastic surgeon to change her Chinese appearance to a more Caucasian appearance. However, she didn’t have enough money for plastic surgery, thus, she managed a deal with the plastic surgeon. Charity spends each of the Third Wednesday nights of a month with her plastic surgeon, offering his physical gratification. In addition, Charity has also developed an affair with another Caucasian named Phil, who is a flutist and also works as a home service provider, waxing floors of apartments and baking bread for people as per their requirements. Panna is not too impressed by him and considers him childish and womanly. Though she is impressed by Imre Nagy, one of her classmates who is a Hungarian expatriate. Just like Panna, he is married and has two kids with his wife. Her family is back in Hungary. Charity would often ask Panna if she should leave her spiritualist husband and commit to Eric with whom she is already having a sizzling physical relationship of which Panna is a bit envious because, unlike Charity, Panna suffered the burden of arranged marriage, forced to live with a man she didn’t know. Anyways, after living so many years with her husband, she comes to know almost everything about him and can exactly guess how he would feel or react to any particular situation.

One day, she accompanies Imre Nagy to watch a standing performance by David Mamet. At the show, David Mamet observes her and seems to pick her up for blatantly ridiculing Indian women and Indian culture. He makes fun of Indian traditions, Indian frugality, Indian accent, Indian looks, and so on. Panna, still an Indian by birth, feels a little hurt and decides to write a letter to David Mamet in protest. However, she finds that Imre Nagy totally enjoyed the show. Imre feels that there is nothing wrong with stereotyping and being racist. Panna realizes that the Indian traits that David Mamet made fun of, are actually truly ridiculous and most of them are too visible in her own husband that she often doesn’t like. She feels more ‘un-Indian’ and decides not to feel bad about it. After all, she is a submissive woman and her current male companion, Imre Nagy isn’t feeling bad about Indians being lampooned and satirized. Panna is astonished and excited when she sees that though she was openly ridiculed and satirized by David Mamet during the show for being Indian, Imre isn’t disturbed by it, rather he asks her not to take the show so seriously. He then flirts with her and openly expresses his affection by kissing her, as if giving a consolation prize for being ridiculed. Panna is happy about getting the prize and she forgets all her revolting protest against David Mamet. She enjoys watching Imre dancing on the street and thinks, no one can live so freely in India. Obviously, she never attended an Indian marriage or Holi festivities and she doesn’t know anything about how Indians love to celebrate every occasion and how dance and music are a part of Indian life. Panna thinks of the predictable Indian men, the engineers, lawyers, shopkeepers, or businessmen like her husband who can never dance like Imre in the streets. She is completely taken over by the superiority of Imre over Indian men. Imre tells her that he is considering bringing his wife and children to the U.S. and settling there with his family. Panna doesn’t know how to react to it. She is having an affair with Imre but unlike Imre, she cannot think of requesting her husband to settle with her in the U.S.

She learns that the mill managed by her husband is suffering labor unrest. He calls her on the phone and expresses his love and how much he is missing her. She feels a sexual urgency in his voice and fakes her own love for him and says that she too is missing her. In such hard times when her husband’s mill is facing labor troubles, she cannot think of him visiting her in New York, especially when she knows how cheap and frugal he is. Yet, she comes to know that her husband has decided to visit her as he is worried about how she is living alone in a foreign land and if she needs any help. Panna is a submissive wife of a patriarchial exploitative husband. She doesn’t like Indian dresses but is forced to wear a saree as she goes to the airport to greet him. She wears her most expensive Indian jewels and her mangal sutra, the necklace that she got at her wedding. Luckily, Charity had left the city for two weeks and thus, Panna and her husband have the apartment to themselves, affording them more privacy than they ever had in India. Panna’s husband spends several days in New York during which he meets all her friends and classmates including Imre Nagy. She finds that her husband too likes Imre and just as she thought, her husband is unable to guess about her affair with Imre. He doesn’t have an iota of doubt over her fidelity towards him, though it hardly exists. Panna feels loved by her husband but she notices that he is more interested in the abundance of consumer goods in America such as hair rinses and diet powders and with its street vendors and store sales. She also notices the differences between her husband’s preferences and Imre’s choices of entertainment. Imre wants to see an avant-garde French film, her husband the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. Panna’s mother rebelliously learned French and she too knows French well thus she feels Imre has better taste in entertainment, ignoring the fact that her husband hardly knows any French and he is not even fluent in English.

Another issue that she notices is her husband’s money-making mentality. He had spent too much money to convert his rupees into dollars in black and thus, he wishes to buy some electronic items and other goods at cheap prices that he may take back to India to compensate for his loss. Panna doesn’t like his business-minded Bania attitude. On the 10^th day of his visit, Panna’s husband plans for a site-seeing tour and arranges the cheapest touring company that will allow them to visit most of the sites in New York at the least possible price. Panna realizes that her husband is again showing all those traits that David Mamet made fun of. Since her husband is not fluent in English, he sends Panna to buy the tickets. When she goes, the ticket seller takes extra interest in her and gets flirtatious. Her husband notices that and when she returns, he complains that while he asked her to wear a saree, she chose Western clothes and that is why the ticket checker mistreated her as he believed she is a Puerto Rican. Panna feels that her husband is blaming her for bad behavior though it was not her fault. They visit the Statue of Liberty but find that it is closed on that particular day for some maintenance work. On their ferry to World Trade Center, her husband requests her to take his picture with the WTO building in the background. However, she fails to handle the camera properly. She is approached by a bearded man who offers to help. He, too, is an immigrant, a photographer, and while snapping the picture, he offers to buy her a beer, which she politely refuses. How could she accept the beer, she was with her Indian oppressive husband.

Her husband who never doubted her relationship with Imre, questions her what the bearded man was asking, to which she hides that he was asking to buy a beer for her. Her husband isn’t happy after the outing as he feels that his wife is too exposed to other men. He requests her to come back to India and insists that he came there just to take her back. Panna is astonished by this and a bit enraged. She plainly says that she cannot go back before completing her course. Her husband gets frustrated and in his anger and oppressive fit, he throws a food plate.

Later that night, he gets a phone call. He is in no good mood so he hands over his phone to Panna, saying that he cannot understand the accent of Americans. When Panna attends the phone, she learns that it was from her husband’s boss. Her husband’s mill is facing much difficult time and his boss had called him back. Her husband decides to go back to India the very next morning and Panna fakes her worries and love for him again. He forgets how she rejected his request to come back to India and pulls her in his arms. As he starts to undress her, feeling how American she has become, he too decides to be a little American and says, wait for two minutes. rushes to the bathroom to administer the "American rites: deodorants, fragrances." She decides that she should make up for her absence and the labor trouble half a world away; she wants to pretend to him that nothing between them has changed. Panna waits for him while looking at herself in the mirror, naked, shameless, and liberated. She wonders if she will ever return to India as a good Hindu wife, or if she will continue to enjoy this freedom as an expatriate?

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.

The Golden Honeycomb by Kamala Markandaya | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘The Golden Honeycomb’ was the ninth novel written by Kamala Markandaya that was published in 1977. It is a historical realistic fiction novel that presents the conditions of the Indian Princely states under the influence of the British Raj during the period spanning from 1850 to 1947. During that period three fifth of India was directly under the British administration, while two-fifths comprised the princely states ruled by autocratic Indian princes who were bound with Britishers in various types of treaty relationships, ranging from subordinate alliance to vassalage. The Governor-General was overall in charge of princely states in India, as a representative of Queen Victoria.

The novel is divided in three parts along with a prologue and an epilogue. The prologue depicts the urgency of the British administration to increase their dominion over the Indian subcontinent by hook or crook.

The British Government faced defeat and ignominy during the American War of Independence and that pushed them to increase their grip in the East, especially in India. After hearing about the defeat of the British forces in America, Warren Hastings, the then Governor General of India makes a remark:

“If it be really true the British arms and influence have suffered so severe a check in the western world, it is the more incumbent upon those who are charged with the interest of Great Britain in the East to exert themselves for the retrieval of the national honor.”

The novel depicts the emasculation and alienation of royalty from their people through an ingenious British scheme, the subsidiary Alliance, which reduced the princely states to mere “golden honeycombs” while The British had all the authority to snatch the honey whenever they wish.

Characters of The Golden Honeycomb:

Bwajiraj-I is the king of Devapur, a princely state of India. He is struggling against the increasing power of the British forces and as he tries to side with the general public of his state, he is deposed for his seditious activities against the British government. Dewan is a shrewd minister of Bwajiraj-I. Bwajiraj-II is a young man of the ruling class who is picked by the British government as the new king of Devapur. Bwajiraj-II has no real power in his hands but he is allowed to have all possible amenities in return for being a puppet in the hands of the British administration. The British government appoints a British Resident to overlook the administration of Devapur. Manjula is the wife of Bwajiraj-II. Bwajiraj-III is the only son of Manjula and Bwajiraj-II who becomes the King after his father’s untimely death at a very young age. Bwajiraj-III is raised and indoctrinated under British influence and he proves to be a perfect vassal of the British government. Mr. Barrington is the English tutor of Bwajiraj-III. Colonel Arthur is the British Resident of Devapur who keeps a strong hold over Bwajiraj-III. Shantabai is the Queen wife of Bwajiraj-III who gives birth to three daughters. Mohini is an attractive commoner maid of the Queen who grabs the eyes of the King. Bwajiraj-III proposes Mohini to become his second wife but she declines, claiming that Bwajiraj-III is not a king even in his own house, he is just a puppet. Rabindranath or Rabi is the son of Bwajiraj-III and Mohini. Being his only son, Rabi becomes the heir-prince of Devapur. Sophia is the daughter of a British Agent.

Summary of The Golden Honeycomb:

The novel begins with a prologue in which the author explains the premise of the period from 1850 to 1947, during which, the Indian sub-continent was under the oppressive influence of the British government. ‘The Prologue’ depicts clearly the British policy to keep India as its prized colony for its power as well as economic prosperity. The author highlights the commercial mindset of the East India Company and its subtle intriguing ways to hold on to India and conquer its princely states one by one.

One such state is Devapur. The king of Devapur is Maharaj Bwajiraj-I who is a self-indulgent, irresponsible, and vane person lacking a strong individualistic character. However, he doesn’t like the British intervention in the administrative manner of Devpur as it makes him realize how little power he actually holds. Thus, he tries to restrict the interventions of the East India Company. The British Government, which is gradually taking over the role of the ruler of India while replacing the East India Company and the princely states, decides to get rid of Maharaj Bwajiraj-I and he is deposed for his seditious activities. The Dewan of Devpur hobnobs with the British Agent and suggests the name of an eighteen years old young man belonging to the ruling class as the new king. The British Agent accepts the idea because he believes that the new king will be no more than a puppet under the influence of the British administration. The young man is anointed as Bwajiraj-II the king of Devapur. Originally, he was a commoner, the son of a landlord who is just married to Manjula, a girl of thirteen. Now, he is the king of Devpur with all possible amenities available for him. However, he is neither free nor happy. It becomes a duty of his to wear the robes of the king and attend the Durbar as a mere vassal of the British empire as all the major decisions are to be taken by the British Agent. He continues to enjoy the richness of the Durbar and soon, his wife gives birth to his son. Bwajiraj-III. The new prince is raised under British influence and he gets English tutors and indoctrinators. Maharaj Bwajiraj-II wishes his son to thoroughly imbibe the British culture but Maharani Manjula opposes him and says that he must learn about his own country and culture first. The British Agent ensures that the Queen has no say in the prince’s life. The prince knows nothing about Devapura and India but he learns the history and geography of England, He learns about the British constitution, laws, customs, and mannerisms and learns about the British generals and statesmen who rule over a third of the world.

Unfortunately, Bwajirao-II meets an accident while hunting and dies. His son is announced as the new king Bwajiraj-III while the British Agent becomes the caretaker. Bwajiraj-III hardly gets any idea of India as his nation or Devapura as his state. He grows up in the best of the leisure and amenities and then is sent to the Chief’s College for higher education. Chief’s College is a special institution founded by the British government to educate and civilize the sons of Indian princesses and noblemen to inculcate British ways in them. The Chief’s College is designed to function as the Indian Elton. This further alienates Bwajiraj-III from his people anddd he thoroughly becomes a British vassal. Bwajiraj-III becomes the favorite student of his English tutor Mr. Barrington who praises him highly and writes a favorable testimonial describing him as “a fine horseman, an excellent shot, a first-class cricketer, and unrivaled at polo.” The British Agent keeps a close watch on Bwajiraj-III to keep everything under control. Bwajiraj-III praises everything British and he ridicules and hates his own culture and people.

Maharani is completely alienated from her son, so much so, that she is not allowed to select the bride for her son. Dewan again shows his shrewdness and suggests Shantibai as a match for Bwajiraj-III who is liked by Maharani and British Agent both. He gets married to Shanibai, chosen by the British Agent. Shantibai gives birth to three daughters. Bwajiraj-III continues to be the perfect puppet in the hands of the British Agent. He is the ruler of Devapur with no power to rule. Shantibai is a traditional Indian woman whom Bwajiraj-III doesn’t like very much. She gives birth to three daughters. Bwajiraj-III wishes to have a son to be his heir. He falls for a common girl Mohini who becomes his mistress. Bwajiraj-III wishes to marry Mohini but she declines the proposal as she realizes that he is not a free man. Mohini gives birth to a son and demands that he should be recognized as the heir of Bwajiraj-III without her marrying the Maharaj. She insists that though the Maharaj is not a free man within his own palace, her son will lead a life of freedom. She names the prince Rabindranath and calls her Rabi with love. Since Rabi is not the official son of Bwajiraj-III, Mohini succeeds in avoiding the unwanted attention of the British Agent in the life and growth of his son. She appoints a Pundit as an Indian tutor for Rabi as he grows old. Despite Bwajiraj-III’s wish to send Rabi to the Chief’s School and then Chief’s College like a prince, Rabi’s mother, and his grandmother ensures that he gets his education in Indian manners. The Pundit, with the help of Mohini and Maharani Manjula, inculcates Indian values in Rabi who learns the glorious past of India and how the foreign rulers are now devastating his nation. He learns about the heroic deeds of his ancestors and understands the value of Individual freedom and cultural identity. Being the son of Mohini, a commoner, Rabi lacks the vanity and pride of Bwajiraj-III. He plays with Das, the son of a servant, and enjoys his time with Janaki, a sweeper girl. He has no inhibitions of caste and class and he learns to love the people of the ‘empty-belly race.’ When Bwajiraj-III sees Rabi playing with Janaki and Das, he dismisses Das’s father and Janaki from their jobs. Rabi protests against this as he wants the freedom to choose his friends. Life goes on and Rabi continues to understand the situation of his father as a vassal of British Agent. Maharani Shantidevi notices that Rabi is becoming a rebel who doesn’t like his father being a mere servant of British rulers. She further explains how everybody has sold their soul to the Britishers. She says that Bwajiraj-III is proud of his legacy as the king of Devapur but in reality, he is just a slave of the British rulers. Rabi then learns why he was alienated from Janaki and Das. He understands that being the son of a slave, he too is a slave with no freedom to choose his companions. However, he doesn’t yet realize the extent of slavery of his father.

Bwajiraj-III insists Rabi join his Durbar as the prince. Rabi agrees to it half-heartedly and then he learns the true extent of the submissiveness of Bwajiraj against the British Agent. This fills him with hatred toward his own father.

As Rabi grows old, he starts learning about the world outside the walls of the palace. He learns about the hardship of the common people. He decides to take sides with the mill workers protesting against the inhuman conditions in the mills for the workers. Rabi meets Sophia, the daughter of a British Agent and Sophia notices the fire of individual freedom in Rabi’s eyes. She starts appreciating him. Both of them are on the opposite side of the political fulcrum. Both were aware of the troubled alliance that existed between the British and the Indians and of the boundary between them that they were forbidden to cross. But all this changes one night when, during the revelries of a village festival, the two find themselves passionately drawn to each other. Realizing what is at stake, the lovers dare to defy every rule of class and race.

Bwajiraj decides to take Rabi to the grand Delhi Durbar where he has been invited to attend the meeting in honor of the ceremony of the crowning of His Majesty King-Emperor Edward in 1903.

Mohini opposes Rabi from going to Delhi and insists that, unlike his father, Rabi is not a slave of the British Empire. However, Bwajiraj manages to persuade her to allow Rabi to go with him. Bwajiraj is very excited because he loves Durbar and especially the Delhi Durbar. After all, it allows him to feel as being linked with the King Emperor or Britain, his beloved nation. He believes that as the representative of the people of Devapur, he can express the loyalty of all people of Devapur towards the Viceroy and the King-Emperor.

At the Delhi Durbar, Rabi sees his father bowing three times against Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India. Lord Curzon treats Bwajiraj coldly and this fills Rabi with hatred. He realizes that the Maharaja has no power and respect in the Durbar, he is powerless. He learns that all the power is held by Lord Curzon while Bwajiraj is only his vassal. Rabi makes up his mind and decides to join the non-violent protests against the British empire.

On their return, Rabi actively starts taking part in social services and as he devotes himself to the cause of the Indian Freedom Struggle, he makes distance himself from Sophia.

Once, a group of peasants and laborers decide to stage a protest against increased levies and taxes. They forcefully stop the car of Maharaja to request him to take back the order of increased taxes. Rabi appears as the leader of the mob and asks Bwajiraj to rescind the order of increased levies and treaties that cannot be supported by poor peasants and laborers. Bwajiraj says that he is the prince and heir of Devapur and that his actions will ruin the state. Rabi exclaims that he is against monarchy and wishes India to be a free democratic state. While Bwajiraj is not happy with the freedom struggle, Rabi continues to increase his contribution to the revolution. India achieves Independence and the princes of India were left with two choices. They had to sign the Instrument of Accession and accede either to India or to Pakistan. By participating in the national freedom movement, Rabi wins popularity and helps to bridge the gulf between the ruler and the ruled.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith | Characters, Summary, Analysis

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies." ~ Tony Lumpkin

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. She Stoops to Conquer was a comedy play written by Oliver Goldsmith that was first performed on 15 March 1773 at Covent Garden Theatre in London. It is considered a laughing comedy that can also be categorized as a comedy of manners. It is a play in 5 acts that tells about the conflict between parents who wish to arrange their children's marriages and children who have ideas of their own. The Prologue of the play was written by David Garrick, a student of Samuel Johnson who became a successful actor and play producer.

The original title of the play was Mistakes of a Night as it tells the story of one long night. However, it was changed to She Stoops to Conquer before it was first staged and it suggests the idea of the main female character pretending to be a barmaid to check if the potential suitor suggested for her is suitable for her or not.

This play is considered the origin of the popular English phrase “Ask me no question and I’ll tell you no lies.”

Characters of She Stoops to Conquer:

Young Charles Marlow is the protagonist of the play. He is the son of Sir Charles Marlow and belongs to a respectable and aristocratic family in the town. Marlow is a young, well-educated, sophisticated man with a strange contradictory character. While he is modest and shy around the women of upper-class society, he becomes lecherous, lively, and excitable in conversation with barmaids or other low-class women. Mr. Hardcastle is the patriarch of the Hardcastle family. He is a friend of Sir Charles Marlow who invites his son Young Marlow to meet his daughter Kate as a suitor and wishes them to marry. Mrs. Hardcastle is the wife of Mr. Hardcastle and an over-protective mother of Tony Lumpkin, her son from an early marriage. Constance Neville is an orphan whose only inheritance is a set of jewels in the care of her aunt Mrs. Hardcastle who treats her well but wishes her to marry Tony Lumpkin, but Constance wants to marry George Hastings.

George is a friend of Marlow who loves Constance and is willing to marry her even without her money. Kate Hardcastle is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs Hardcastle. She is the lead female character of the play who can maintain the simplicity of country life and the modern values of the town together.

Summary of She Stoops to Conquer:

She Stoops to Conquer is a Five Act play that begins with a Prologue in which a comedy actor Mr. Woodward appears on the stage and laments that comedy is supposedly dead. He hopes that Goldsmith’s play will make him laugh, thereby bringing the comic arts back to life.

Act 1:

Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle live in a grand old house. Their daughter Kate is a grown-up young girl who is of the age of marriage. The play begins as Mrs. Hardcastle complains to Mr. Hardcastle that he never takes her outside to see the modern developments happening in the city. Mr. Hardcastle says that he loves old things, like his wife. Mrs. Hardcastle retorts that she was a young woman at the time of the birth of Tony, her son from her first husband, who is not even twenty-one now. Mr. Hardcastle says that he is worried about Tony who is too immature and continues to indulge in pranks. Tony is preparing to visit a pub but her mother tries to stop him but he goes away.

Meanwhile, Kate appears on the stage and Mr. Hardcastle objects to her modern clothes. Kate reminds him about their deal. Kate dresses according to the wishes of her father in the evenings and in the mornings, she dresses for her friends. Mr. Hardcastle informs her that the son of his friend Charles Marlow, Young Marlow is visiting their home to meet her. He tells her that Marlow is handsome, well-educated, and modest. Kate doesn’t like modesty in men though. Constance is in the care of Mrs. Hardcastle who wishes her son Tony Lumpkin to marry Constance because she holds some valuable jewels as the inheritance of Constance that is meant for her dowry. Mrs. Hardcastle wishes to keep the family jewels within the family. However, Tony and Constance do not love each. Constance has a beloved and he is also expected to come along with Marlow. Kate discusses with Constance her father fixing a marriage with an awkwardly modest man. Constance too complains that Kate’s mother is insisting she marry Tony whom she doesn’t love.

Tony isn’t interested in money and inheritance and he prefers a simple low living, spending his time in pubs. At the pub, he meets two strangers who ask for a room for rent. Tony decides to play a prank and says that there is no free room available at the pub but the strangers may find lodging at the old inn down the road, which in fact, is the house of Mr. Hardcastle. These two strangers are Young Marlow and his friend George Hastings.

Act II:

Marlow and Hastings reach the old house and while Mr. Hardcastle recognizes Marlow, Marlow is unaware and believes that Mr. Hardcastle is the innkeeper and not his host. As a result, he treats him badly and chastises him for the old and outdated look and upkeeping of the inn, which in fact, is the house of Mr. Hardcastle. Mr. Hardcastle is shocked at the behavior of Marlow as he believed that Marlow is a polite and genteel young man.

Meanwhile, Kate and Constance come and meet the two young men. Since it is morning time, Kate is dressed in an expensive modern dress. Marlow has a peculiar tendency of being too shy and awkward in front of rich young ladies and thus he draws back. He feels so shy that he refuses to look at the faces of Kate and Constance. Constance on the other hand, recognizes Hastings. Hastings informs her that someone said that it is an inn. Constance realizes that it must be a prank of Tony. Hastings and Constance decide to keep the truth from Marlow because they think revealing it will upset him and ruin the trip.

Kate observes Marlow and finds him awkward but exciting and decides to explore his true character. Constance plans to elope with Hastings but before that, she wishes to take the jewels which are her inheritance. When Tony arrives, Hastings asks for his help and they decide that Tony will steal the jewels for Hastings so that he can be rid of his mother's pressure to marry Constance, whom he doesn't love.

Act III:

After meeting Marlow and observing his rude behavior, Mr. Hardcastle is disappointed and he tells Kate that he no more believes that Marlow can be a good match for her. Kate insists that Marlow appears to be much more than what her father and she have observed till now and asks her father for the chance to show him that Marlow is more than both beliefs.

Meanwhile, Tony steals the old jewels of Constance’s inheritance from his mother’s locker. However, neither Constance nor Mrs. Hardcastle are aware of that. Constance decides to ask her aunt to hand over the jewels to her but Mrs. Hardcastle is not willing to do so. When Tony sees Constance begging for the jewels he already stole to hand them over to Hastings, he conspires another prank. He suggests his mother pretend that the jewels have been misplaced, or stolen to dissuade Constance from her demand. Unaware of the jewels actually being stolen, Mrs. Hardcastle agrees to play the trick.

As the afternoon approaches, Kate decides to change her dress and wear some plain clothes of her father’s liking. When Marlow sees the girl in plain dress, he believes that she is a barmaid of the inn and as per his peculiar liking, he confidently confronts the barmaid and lecherously flirts with her. Mr. Hardcastle is observing all this and he gets angry. But before he may overreact, Kate stops them and takes them away. She asks her father to wait till the night and she will prove by then that Marlow can be both lively and moderate at the same time.

Act IV

Tony handover the stolen jewels to Hastings who decides to give them to Marlow for safekeeping. However, Marlow is unaware of their plan and he still believes that they are living in an inn. So he places the jewels in a basket and gives the basket to Mrs. Hardcastle for safekeeping. The servant of the house brings news that Sir Charles Marlow is visiting his friend Mr. Hardcastle’s home. When Hastings listens to this, he gets frightened as he thinks that Sir Charles Marlow will recognize him and that his plan to elope with Constance will be jeopardized. He decides to run away with Constance much before Sir Charles Marlow may arrive. He goes to Young Marlow and asks for the jewels. Marlow informs him that he has given them to the landlady of the inn for safekeeping. When Hastings learns this, he realizes his plan to elope with wealth is over, and decides he must convince Constance without the jewels as he is willing to marry her without any dowry.

Meanwhile, Marlow again treats Mr. Hardcastle with much more impertinence. Mr. Hardcastle gets too angry and kicks Marlow out of his house. Marlow gets confused about what is happening and gradually, he starts realizing that he has been tricked and has been made a fool of himself. Outside Mr. Hardcastle’s house, Marlow sees Kate who is now in simple plain clothes. Kate tells him that she is a poor relative of Mr. Hardcastle. Marlow feels that she is very attractive and he loves her but realizes that his father won’t allow him to marry her as she is of poor standing and cannot bring any dowry and thus he decides to let her go out of his mind.

Meanwhile, Hastings writes a letter to Constance, urging her to arrive at the nearby park from where he plans to elope with her. Unfortunately, that letter reaches Mrs. Hastling’s hands and when she comes to know about the plan, she gets furious and decides to take Constance to the park by herself so that she may come to know who is trying to elope with her. Both Marlow and Hastings are deeply disappointed when they meet each other again and soon their disappointment turns into a heated altercation. However, Tony arrives at the scene and calms them down. He promises that he will solve Hasting’s problems.

Act V:

Sir Charles Marlow arrives at Mr. Hardcastle's house and finds Hastings there. Mr. Hardcastle informs him about the bad behavior of his son. Hastings reveals how Marlow was fooled to believe that Mr. Hardcastle is an innkeeper and that his old home is an inn. When Sir Charles Marlow comes to know about this, he and Hastings laugh at how Marlow was fooled while he thinks too smart of himself. However, Mr. Hardcastle is still angry at Young Marlow’s misbehavior. Young Marlow arrives at his house and apologizes for his misbehavior and says that he hasn’t even seen Kate yet. Mr. Hardcastle says that he is a liar because he saw him flirting and trying to embrace Kate in a lecherous manner. Marlow gets confused again and goes outside, wondering what is happening.

Meanwhile, Kate arrives at the scene and convinces her father and Sir Charles Marlow to let her interview Young Marlow while they may observe her meeting with Young Marlow hidden behind a screen. She calls Marlow in and as it is evening time, she is wearing her plain clothes. However, she doesn’t pretend to be a barmaid this time, rather she talks in her normal voice. She expresses her affection for Marlow and asks him to marry her. Marlow too expresses that he likes her and would love to spend his life with her but says that he cannot marry her nor wishes to pursue her romantically because he does not think his family will allow him to marry a poor girl. He does not wish to disappoint his father. Kate then says that he should not worry about it because she belongs to the same class as the girl belongs to whom he came to meet. When Marlow listens to this, he bows down on his knees and proposes to Kate, without yet knowing that she is Kate. At this point, Mr. Hardcastle and Sir Charles Marlow remove the screen behind which they were hiding and burst out in loud laughs. Sir Charles Marlow questions Young Marlow why he lied about his feelings for Kate and said that he hasn’t seen her yet while now he is confessing his love to her? Marlow then realizes that he has been fooled twice and feels embarrassed again, yet he is happy that he is about to marry the same girl he actually loves.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hardcastle takes Constantine to the park where Hastings is waiting for her. However, in place of Hastings, they see another man who is Tony in disguise. Disguised as a supposed lover of Constance, Tony teases Mrs. Hardcastle and makes her and Constance run behind him in rough circles of the park. After some time, Mrs. Hardcastle gets too much tired and feels that they have come far away from the park. Tony then goes inside the park and informs Hastings that her mother is too tired now and he can easily elope with Constance. Hastings goes to take Constance but after meeting her, decides that they should not elope but ask Mr. Hardcastle’s blessings for their marriage.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hardcastle sees a man coming towards them from the highway. Since it is getting dark, she fails to recognize him and gets frightened that he must be some highwayman and runs back home. At home, she informs that Constance has eloped with her lover but she is happy that now she will keep the old jewels in her own custody. Constance and Hastings return home at the same time and ask Mr. Hardcastle to let them marry as they love each other. Constance tells him that she and Tony do not love each other and they do not wish to marry. Sir Charles Marlow convinces Mr. Hardcastle that Hastings is a good and honest young man. Mr. Hardcastle calls Tony and asks him if he really doesn’t wish to marry Constance to which Tony says that he doesn’t love her but since he is underage, he cannot decide by himself. Mr. Hardcastle then says that Mrs. Hardcastle is hiding the fact that Tony is already twenty-one years old and can take his decisions by himself. Tony then confirms that he doesn’t wish to marry Constance and frees her to marry Hastings. Everyone is happy then as Marlow is engaged to marry Kate while Constance and Hastings get the blessings of Mr. Hardcastle and Sir Charles Marlow for their marriage. However, Mrs. Hardcastle is a bit sad that now she will have to offer the old jewels of her family to Hastings, as the dowry of Constance.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Robinson Crusoe was the first novel written by Daniel Defoe that was published in 1719. Initially, it was published as an autobiographical travelogue by Robinson Crusoe; however, Daniel Defoe was revealed to be the real author of the fictional novel and fictional character Robinson Crusoe in the later editions. Robinson Crusoe is expressed as a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical desert island near the coasts of Venezuela and Trinidad.

Daniel Defoe belonged to a Presbyterian Puritan family and he wrote this book as a spiritual autobiography of Robinson Crusoe while emphasizing different aspects of Christianity and his beliefs. The book tells the story of how Robinson becomes closer to God, not through listening to sermons in a church but through spending time alone amongst nature with only a Bible to read. The novel follows the Christian idea of Providence, Penitence, and Redemption. In this novel, Defoe depicted Crusoe trying to replicate English Christian society on the island. This is achieved through the use of European technology, agriculture, and even a rudimentary political hierarchy. Crusoe refers to himself as the ‘king’ of the island. At the very end of the novel the island is referred to as a "colony". The Master-slave relationship of Crusoe with another character Friday suggests the idea of ‘cultural assimilation.” Crusoe represents the "enlightened" European while Friday is the "savage" who can only be redeemed from his cultural manners through assimilation into Crusoe's culture. The novel also talks of ‘religious tolerance.’ When confronted with the cannibals, Crusoe wrestles with the problem of cultural relativism. Despite his disgust, he feels unjustified in holding the natives morally responsible for a practice so deeply ingrained in their culture.

The story of Robinson Crusoe is often mentioned by Classicist, Neoclassicist, and Austrian economists to illustrate the theory of production and choice in the absence of trade, money, and prices.

Because of the spiritual nature and episodic pattern of Robinson Crusoe, many critics argue that it is not a novel. Nonetheless, Robinson Crusoe was considered the first English novel for a long period until it was contended that Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko was published much earlier, in 1688. Yet, Robinson Crusoe is credited as the first realistic fiction.

Robinson Crusoe became hugely popular and inspired a new literary genre named Robinsonade which describes the genre of stories similar to Robinson Crusoe. While Robinson Crusoe was an accidental castaway, J. G. Ballard wrote stories in which the protagonists often choose to maroon themselves and coined the term ‘inverted Robinsonade’ to represent stories of becoming castaway willingly for a healing and empowering process.

Characters of Robinson Crusoe:

Robinson Crusoe is the protagonist of the novel. He is a young rebellious man who likes the idea of sea travel while his family opposes him. He leaves home for sea travel but brings misfortune on himself and is left to fend for himself in a primitive land. Xury is a slave of a Moor ship that captures Robinson Crusoe. Crusoe and Xury escape together from the slave ship and then Crusoe enslaves Xury as his own. Later on, he sells Xury to buy a ship. Friday is another slave of Crusoe who spends many years on the Island. Crusoe saves Friday from the Cannibals and enslaves him. He then tries to teach English to Friday and converts him to Christianity. Crusoe’s father is a merchant named Kreutznaer who embodies the theme of the merits of Protestant, middle-class living. Crusoe’s mother fully supports her husband and opposes Crusoe from going on sea travel. Moorish Pirate is a sea robber who captures and enslaves Robinson Crusoe. The Portuguese sea captain is an honest man who embodies all Christian ideals. He takes Robinson and Xury to Brazil and helps Crusoe in buying some plantation. The Widow is the wife of the late sea captain with whom Crusoe made his first and only successful sea journey to the East coast of Africa. He leaves his little fortune to the widow for safekeeping. The widow is a very honest and motherly figure for Crusoe. The Savages are the Cannibals that come to Crusoe's Island and who represent a threat to Crusoe's religious and moral convictions as well as his own safety. The Spaniard is one of the prisoners saved by Crusoe and Friday. Another one is Friday’s father. Crusoe treats the Spaniard man with much more respect than any other colored people he comes into contact with. The captured sea captain is an ideal soldier and sea captain who faces mutiny on his ship. Crusoe helps him in winning over the traitorous crew member of his ship.

Summary of Robinson Crusoe:

The novel begins as an anonymous editor introduces Robinson Crusoe and his incredible adventures, which he says are true, entertaining, and useful for the reader. Crusoe then begins telling his story. When he was about 18 years old, he used to live with his parents in Hull, England. Crusoe’s father wished him to become a lawyer and his mother too always forced him to follow his father’s advice. However, Crusoe was a rebellious young man who had a dream of long sea voyages. His father admonishes him and offers examples of his two elder brothers who are gone because of their passion for adventure. His father says that a middle-class existence is the most stable and he must acquire it. However, Robinson ignores such advises and decides to run away from his home. On August 1651, Crusoe boards a ship from Hull to London. The weather goes rogue and the ship is forced to halt at Yarmouth. The ship captain advises Crusoe to return to his home but he decides to go to London via road. In London, Crusoe joins the crew of a trading ship bound for Guiana. The ship captain is very generous towards Crusoe and treats him like his son. Crusoe claims that it was the only successful trip of his during which Crusoe made a small fortune through trading. After returning to London, the captain of the ship dies of old age. Crusoe decides to join the same ship again for another trip to the coast of East Africa. He leaves all his fortune in the custody of the widow of the late ship captain and goes on the trip.

On their way, the ship is attacked by a Turkish pirate who takes the ship to the Moorish port of Sallee where the pirate captures and enslaves all the crew members including Crusoe. Crusoe suffers the abomination of slavery for two years and then he gets a chance to escape. Once he is told to go fishing with two other Moorish slaves. Robinson throws one of them overboard and asks the other to accompany him if he is willing to be loyal to him. The name of the second Moorish slave is Xury. Xury admires Robinson and becomes his willing slave and companion. They take the boat to unknown parts of the sea and anchor on what appears to be uninhabited land. Soon they discover that black people live on the island. These black people are very friendly to Crusoe and Xury though they cannot understand their language. Robinson then notices a Portuguese ship at a distance from the shore. He and Xury paddle their ship towards the ship and ask for the help of the Portuguese ship captain. The ship captain says that he will board the two for free and will take them to Brazil.

Robinson sells Xury to the Portuguese ship captain who in return helps him financially to buy some plantation in Brazil. Soon he manages to get some business partners and together, they decide to engage in the slave trade. Since Crusoe has experience in sea travel, it is decided that Robinson will be the master of the tradepost ship. They arrange for a strong-built ship and Robinson agrees to be the captain of the ship for the purpose of slave-trade. However, during his very first voyage on the new ship, a terrible shipwreck happens, and all crew members, except Robinson die in that accident. Being alone in the vast sea, he gets frightened and asks for God’s help in saving him. Somehow, he succeeds in reaching the shore of an island. Robinson names this island the Island of Despair and mentions that it is situated at the mouth of the Orinoco River. He sees penguins and seals on the island but no human being.

Robinson manages to gather some tools, and other provisions from his ship before it sinks into the sea and picks up the Bible that was floating on a wooden log. With the help of the tools, he tries to recreate his English life. He builds a fenced-in habitat near a cave that he excavates. He uses a wooden cross and marks it to create a calendar. Similarly, he recreates other necessities, learns how to cook, and raises goats and crops. He captures and adopts a small parrot as a pet. During his initial days, he feels very miserable and starts reading the Bible for attaining guidance and calmness. Gradually, he starts feeling spiritual enlightenment despite being totally alone. He convinces himself that he is living a much better life here than he did in Europe--much more simple, much less wicked. He comes to appreciate his sovereignty over the entire island. Once he decides to make a small boat and venture around the island but he faces wild tides and gets back to the island, never to try the adventure again. For 15 years, he lives alone, unaware of any other human being in the near vicinity. One day, he discovers some footprints and follows the trail. He finds out a group of cannibalistic savages hunting and eating the prisoners. Robinson discovers that these cannibals do not live on the island but they treat it as a hunting ground for wayward prisoners. They visit here in canoes from a mainland not too far away to hunt the prisoners. Robinson feels outraged and disgusted with their cannibalistic behavior. However, as he continues to think about them, he realizes that he has no reason to hate them as he feels unjustified in holding the natives morally responsible for a practice so deeply ingrained in their culture. Furthermore, he doesn’t know what crimes the prisoners committed against the natives. Yet, he resolves to maintain his own morals and decides to confront the cannibals whenever they return again for hunting the prisoners. After some years, the Cannibals return to the island and Robinson uses his guns and saved artillery from the wrecked ship to make them run away. Meanwhile, he manages to save a savage prisoner from the attack of cannibals.

The savage is extremely grateful to Crusoe for saving his life and follows him to his in-fenced habitat. Crusoe names his Friday and starts teaching him English and learning the Bible. He starts teaching him Christian values and the European lifestyle. Crusoe becomes his ideal master and Friday learns to be an ideal slave aspiring to learn everything Christian and European. Robinson and Friday spend some more years on the island and one day, they witness the canoes of the savages with three prisoners. Robinson and Friday attack the Cannibals and manage to save two of the prisoners. One of them is a Spaniard and the other one is a native savage who happens to be the father of Friday. Friday is too happy after meeting his father and encourages him to learn the Christian mannerism but his father is not too enthusiastic about it. After some months, Friday’s father and the Spaniard decide to return to the mainland so that they may bring back the colleagues of the Spaniard man.

Meanwhile, a small ship comes ashore and many men land on the island to explore. Robinson notices that three of them are prisoners. While most of the men are exploring the island, Robinson manages to come near the prisoners and one of them reveals that he is the captain of the ship and his crew members are traitorous and mutinied against him. Robinson promises to help and save the Captain if he agrees to accept his authority over the Island and if he agrees to take him and Friday back to England for free. The captain agrees to this proposition. Crusoe and Friday free the three prisoners and together, they manage to defeat the traitorous crew members. The captain gains hold of the ship back and he addresses Crusoe as the governor of the island and asks for justice against the traitors. Crusoe admonishes the traitorous crew members and calls them white savages. He punishes them to stay on the island. Before leaving for England, He informs the traitorous crew members how to survive on the island and tells them that soon, some more people will come to the island to accompany them as he expects the Spaniard to visit the island with Friday’s father and his colleagues. After that, the ship captain takes Robinson and Friday back to England. He returns to England after 28 years and learns that his parents died years ago. He learns that since his father has no expectation of returning, he didn’t name him in his will. Nevertheless, Robinson learns that his plantation in Brazil is making good profits and the widow of his old captain too gives back his little fortune that he made in Guiana during his first trip. He gives money to the Portuguese captain and the widow who were so kind to him. He returns to the English countryside and settles there, marrying and having three children. When his wife dies, he once more goes to the sea.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards! 

The Imp of The Perverse by Edgar Allan Poe | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘The Imp of The Perverse’ is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe that was first published in 1845 in the July edition of Graham’s Magazine. The story is based on the guilt-driven impulse to confess to a crime that appears to be perfect. Poe explored the same impulse through the narrators of his other stories including The Black Cat and The Tell-Tale Heart. It is believed that Edgar Allan Poe coined and popularized the phrase ‘The Imp of The Perverse’ which is also used as a metaphor for the urge to do exactly the wrong thing in a given situation for the sole reason that it is possible for wrong to be done. As a metaphor, the impulse is compared to an imp or demon which leads an otherwise decent person into mischief, and occasionally to their death.

Characters of The Imp of The Perverse:

The Imp of the Perverse is a gothic horror story whose protagonist is an unnamed narrator who follows the first-person unreliable narrative style to tell the story. He begins the story as a rational essay discussing and describing the impulse or urge that is common in all men to do or act wrongfully just because they know that it can be done. He begins his confessional story as a formal academic essay trying to describe his psychology and motives behind what and why he did. He argues that we all have a guiding force in our consciousness which he terms ‘the imp of the perverse’ that is responsible for irrational decisions that stand in direct opposition to one’s own self-interest. He says the same impulse made him confess his personal account of a long-planned and perfectly executed murder.

The victim is a close relative of the narrator as he gets all the property of the deceased as an inheritance, after his death. The narrator once read an account of the mysterious near-fatal experience of Madame Pilau who barely survived the accidental poisoning of a candle. The narrator got the idea of how to carry out a perfect murder through the experience of Madame Pilau. Since he was close to the victim and knew all his habits, including the fact that the victim was an avid reader who used to read in bed before going to sleep. He poisoned the candle that the victim used to light for reading before sleep.

Summary of The Imp of The Perverse:

The story begins as the unnamed narrator offers a detailed and highly erudite analysis of the flaws of Phrenology, a pseudoscience that was popular during the era of Poe. The narrator complains that the science of Phrenology fails to explore and explain the universal existence of perversity in the human species. He then says that it is not just about this urge or impulse of perversity, rather, Phrenology, or the “science” of predicting mental traits based on skull shape ignores any such universal impulse. He says that Phrenology fails to account for these impulses because of an inherent flaw in its philosophy which suggests that all impulses are attributed to God and the Phrenologists assume that they know what God’s intentions are. Thus, the practitioners of Phrenology try to describe humanity’s instincts using reason alone, rather than observing them scientifically via lively experience. The narrator then offers an example and says that Phrenology suggests that we eat because God has made us that way. He accuses practitioners of Phrenology of never trying to explore why humans eat or examine the objective data that could suggest a scientific cause for eating. They simply attribute to God the impulse to eat. Similarly, Phrenologists often attribute other impulses like the urge to procreate as an attribute to God without trying to explore why humans are inclined to procreate. The narrator then claims that if all impulses are attributed to God, then it means that there is no free will, and if everything is designed by God, then there cannot be any evil. It would mean “deducing and establishing everything from the preconceived destiny of man, and upon the ground of the objects of his Creator.” The narrator doesn’t agree with it though. He says that it is impossible to understand God and thus, it is also impossible to understand God’s intentions. Thus, we should examine our actions in and of themselves rather than attributing them to God.

The narrator then discusses the specific impulse he strongly felt by himself and that is the impulse of ‘perverseness.’ He says that this impulse forces people to do what they “should not.” The victim knows that it would be harmful to act in a certain way, yet he is impelled to act in exactly the same way because it appears instinctual and “irresistible.” The narrator then asks the reader to examine themselves and they will find this impulse in them too. He then names this impulse the Imp of The Perverse.

The narrator claims that he is himself one of the “many uncounted victims of the Imp of the Perverse.” The narrator then offers a detailed confession of how he planned a murder for months before committing it. A thousand different plans were considered and rejected before settling upon inspiration discovered in an account of a woman who had nearly been killed by accidental candle poisoning. He mentions that he read about Madam Pilau who suffered an accidental death-like experience because of a poisoned candle. This information allowed the narrator to think of a perfect plan to kill a man he knew very well. The narrator was fully aware of the habit of his intended victim to read in bed inside his narrow and badly ventilated apartment. He thought that if a poisoned candle is used by the intended victim for reading before sleeping, the poisoned smoke will kill him and then gradually will vanish, leaving no evidence of the murder. The narrator then executed his plan and replaced the candle used by the intended victim with a poisoned candle. As expected, the intended victim died and after a thorough examination, nobody could explain his death. Thus, the coroner declared the victim dead “by the visitation of God.”

After the victim’s death, the narrator got all his estate as inheritance and he enjoyed the wealth for many years. However, more than wealth, he enjoyed the sheer thrill of triumph as he realized how easily he got away with the murder without even a fear of being caught anyhow. He says “It is inconceivable how rich a sentiment of satisfaction” he gains whenever he thinks about getting away with it.

As time continued to pass, the narrator too continued to feel safer. Yet, he kept conceptualizing every day if there is any possibility of him being caught for the murder he committed. He often thought, “I am safe.” But why continue to tell yourself that you are safe if you really believe you are safe? One day, while thinking all over it again, the narrator convinced himself that he is safe and, of course, he will remain safe unless he confesses his own crime because there is no other evidence for his crime except his own self. Thus, he will remain safe because to confess without suspicion would be foolish. As this thought comes to the narrator’s mind, he gets frightened as he knows how the Imp of the Perversion overpowers him and compels him to do what he should not. He promises himself never to repeat the thought of the crime while asserting that he is safe. However, the Imp of the Perversion has already taken his move. The narrator continues to mutter that he is safe and starts walking faster and faster and eventually begins running, fighting “a maddening desire to shriek aloud.” His actions draw a crowd, which begins to pursue him, and he “felt then the consummation of my fate.” His desperation to avoid confessing leads him to wish he could tear out his own tongue. He faced the quagmire as he didn’t wish to confess but the Imp of the Perversion was forcing him to confess. As he tried to cut his own tongue through his teeth, a force, which the narrator termed ‘an invisible fiend’, strikes him on the back of his neck. He felt as if he got unconscious right then as he remembers nothing of what happened next. Yet, the other people, who are the witnesses of his confession, say that he spoke clearly and emphatically as he made a passionate confession, speaking so breathlessly that it appeared as though he feared the impact of having been interrupted. He gave all accounts of his crime in detail and then, they say, he fainted dead away and eventually wound up sitting in the prison cell, fettered in chains for one last day until he is marched to his execution tomorrow.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe that was first published in January 1843. It is a Gothic fiction story in which a murderer carefully conceals his crime and believes himself unassailable, but eventually breaks down and reveals himself, impelled by a nagging reminder of his guilt.

The crime lacks any specific motive as the narrator claims he never had any feelings of hatred or resentment for the man who had "never wronged" the narrator. The narrator also denies having been killed for greed and states, "Object there was none. Passion there was none." The narrator is living with the old man for a long and he loves the old man, except for his one filmy pale blue "vulture-eye" that the narrator hates. The story is about the mystery that people sometimes harm those whom they love or need in their lives. The narrator was annoyed by the pale blue vulture-like eye and he strongly wished to separate the old man from that evil eye so that he may not be forced to kill him. But he failed to realize that the blue-eye that he hates so much is the ‘I’ of that old man. In his obsessive hatred of that evil blue-eye, the narrator separates the identity of the old man from his eye and thus, kills him. The story uses a first-person unreliable narrative style and it appears that the story begins in media res; that is, the narrator is already in a conversation with someone, maybe a police officer or the judge or jury, or a psychologist.

Characters of The Tell-Tale Heart:

The narrator is the unnamed protagonist of the story. It is not clear if the narrator is a male or female as Poe didn’t use any gender-specific pronouns for the narrator. The narrator claims that he is suffering from a strange disease that makes him hypersensitive at times and he could listen to sounds that are not easily audible to any normal person. The narrator is living with an old man and the relationship between the narrator and the old man is not clear. The narrator could be his son, or his younger wife, or daughter, or his sister, or a brother. The narrator could be his servant living and serving him during his old age. The old man is very aged and weak and it appears as if he is very dependent on the narrator. The old man is a good man who never did any wrong to the narrator who could be his servant. The narrator himself claims that he never hated the old man ever. The neighbor of the old man listens to the frightening shrieks of the old man and informs the police of something strange. The policemen arrive at the scene and thoroughly check the house of the old man. The narrator clearly convinces the police of normalcy. The policemen are not very suspicious and are friendly. They do not overuse the authority they hold. Yet, the narrator confesses to his crime which appeared to be perfect for him due to his own guilt.

Summary of The Tell-Tale Heart:

The story begins as the narrator confesses that it is true that he is very ill. He claims that he is suffering from a strange disease that makes him hypersensitive. He stresses that he is not mad but totally sane person. But he can listen to things that others may fail to notice. He says that he had no clear motive to commit the crime he just did. He killed an old man with whom he was living for a long. The old man never did any wrong to him and the narrator never hated him. Nor is the narrator greedy, he never wanted the old man’s money. However, the narrator informs that he was very annoyed by a strange feature of the old man, his filmy pale blue ‘vulture-eye.” The narrator says that though he liked the old man, he always hated his pale blue “evil eye” which convinced him to kill the old man so that he may not look at it anymore. The narrator was in fear of the old man’s scrutinizing eye.

Since there is no clear motive behind the crime, it appears that the narrator is being accused of being mad and the narrator defends himself by saying that he is not at all mad but completely sane. He then tells how intelligently he committed the crime which was a perfect crime as there was no evidence of it. He uses the perfect planning of his crime to prove that he is not mad but has a very rational, scheming mind. He says that he continued to plan his action for long. For seven nights, he used to creep into the old man’s bedroom door, then he would open the latch, put an unlit lantern into the room, and carefully put his head in after. Then he would open the shutter of the lantern so that a single ray would fall on the eye. Each of the seven times, the narrator noticed that the pale blue evil eye of the old man was close. Since he loved the old man sans his blue evil eye, he couldn’t gather the strength to kill him. The next morning, he would wake up the old man and ask him how was his sleep.

However, the eighth day was special. The narrator was enjoying his sneakiness and he was confident of his success. At night, he decided to sneak again into the old man’s room. It was pitch-black dark and the narrator could listen to the stirring sound of the old man, making him realize that he is not sleeping. But the narrator wasn’t afraid, he was convinced that the old man cannot see him in such dark. He gradually entered the room with the lantern in his hand. However, he slipped at the door and the lantern chimed. The old man noticed the sound and he was afraid. In his fear, the old man shrieked out loud.

The narrator listened to his shriek but he wasn’t afraid. He knew the old man couldn’t see him. He waited for a long to control the situation and remained very still. So still and motionless he was, that he started clearly listening to the ticking of the clock. He could sense the fear of the old man who was awake and was wondering if someone has entered his house. The narrator could smell his fear and could relate to it. In his fear, the old man groaned and the narrator recognized his fear. He felt sympathetic to the old man, but he was enjoying his fear. The narrator realized that the old man was too much frightened and perhaps he was trying to convince himself that the noise was accidental and there was no one else except him in the room. However, the narrator knew that the old man can’t be convinced because he could smell death in the room.

The narrator then opened the shutter of the lamp a bit while allowing a ray of light to strike at the face of the old man and he noticed the same filmy pale blue vulture eye that he hated. He started feeling that hatred rushing in his veins but then he noticed that his strange illness made him able to hear the strange dull ticking that is growing bit by bit. He tried to recognize it and realized that it was the fearful heart of the old man which was ticking so fast. The heartbeat of the old man continued to grow and the narrator could hear them clear and loud. The narrator got worried that his heartbeats could be audible to the neighbor too and thus, he decided to put an end to it. He put off the lantern, attacked the old man, threw him down on the floor, and then killed him by dropping the old man’s own heavy bed on him.

The narrator noticed that the ticking heartbeat stopped and the pale blue evil eye could not look at him anymore. This calmed him down and he started thinking about his next move. The narrator then says that if there is any more doubt about his sanity, then it will be cleared when he will tell how cleverly he disposed of any evidence of the crime he just committed. He dismembered the body of the old man and took up the planks. Then he hid everything below the room so that there is no trace whatsoever of the old man. He cleaned the floor so well that there was not a single drop of blood or any trace of the crime he just committed.

It was already four o’clock in the morning and the narrator heard the chime of the clock but he also noticed a knock on the door. The narrator opens the door and sees that the police have arrived. The neighbor noticed the shrieking voice of the old man and informed the police. The policemen ask the narrator to let them check the premises to which the narrator willfully agrees. He is confident that he cannot be caught. He says that he had a bad dream and he made that shrieking voice to which he apologizes. He confidently takes the police throughout the house and even takes them to the room of the old man. He places some chairs for the police to sit n the floor just above the place where he hid the body of the old man underground. The policemen are convinced that nothing is wrong and they start chatting with the narrator in a friendly manner. However, the narrator gets startled when his hypersensitive ears listen to the same ticking sound of the heartbeat of the old man. He tries to ignore it but the sound continues to get louder. The narrator gets convinced that the policemen too can hear the same sound and all their friendly talks are just a charade as they know what he did. He gets frightened and confesses that he killed the old man and hid his body just below the floor where the policemen are sitting. He requests the policemen to dig up the floor and take out the ticking heart of the old man. Like a madman, he shouts, “Yes, I killed him. But why does his heart not stop beating? Why does it not stop?”

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!