Roots and Shadows by Shashi Deshpande | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse.

Roots and Shadows was Shashi Deshpande’s third novel which was published in 1983. The novel is often considered a feminist novel though the main theme of the novel is not feminism. Rather, it is to express the anguish and conflict of the modern educated woman struggling between the patriarchy and tradition on one hand and individuality, self-expression, and independence for the women on the other. The novel tells about the dynamics of an Indian, Brahmin, joint family and all its conflicts, compromises, and peculiarities.

Characters of Roots and Shadows:

Indu is the main character of the novel. She is a married woman who has yet to become a mother. Her mother died during her infancy and her father Govind, a photographer, left her in the care of his old aunt, Akka, and his brother, Anant or Kaka. Akka is the matriarch of the family, an elderly widowed woman with no child of her own. Narmada Atya is the widowed sister of Anant and Govind. Other uncles and aunts of Indu are Madhav Kaka and Sumitra Kaki, Vinay Kaka and Kamala Kaki, Sunanda Atya and Vasant Kaka, and Saroja, her widowed aunt and mother of Naren, one of her cousins. Her other cousins include Hemant, Sumant, Padmini (or Mini), and Sharad, sons and daughters of Anant Kaka. Sunil, Geetha, and Lata are children of Madhav Kaka and Sumitra Kaki. Viththal is an orphan Brahmin boy whom Akka adopted at an early age. Jayant is a young man of a different caste whom Indu meets at college and falls in love with. Later on, she marries him.

Summary of Roots and Shadows:

The novel begins as Govind, Indu’s father leaves her at his aunt Akka’s house after his wife’s death. It is a big joint family. Akka is an elderly widow with no child of her own. She is the matriarch of the family and lives with Indu’s grandfather (Akka’s brother-in-law), and his sons Anant, Madhav, Vinay, and Vasant. The family is controlled and dominated by Akka. It has been drilled into Indu’s mind that, being a female, she has to be obedient and unquestioning, meek and submissive. She is of the view that Akka is an obstacle in her way leading her to achieve her goal, the goal of attaining freedom and completeness. Indu grows up as a rebellious and pugnacious kid who wants to do things according to her fancy and understanding. At home, Indu was comfortable with Naren. He not only appreciates her but also encourages her to achieve her goal, the goal of attaining freedom and completeness. She, therefore,

rebels against Akka, her dominating authority, her conventional world with rigid rules, norms, and values, and the oppressive atmosphere in the family where women have no choice but to submit, surrender, and accept their lot silently and ungrudgingly. She finally succeeds in her endeavor when she leaves the house at the age of 18 and later marries a man of his own choice, Jayant.

Indu believed that he love marriage would bring a sense of freedom to her but gradually she begins accepting the traditional normal life of a typical Indian housewife. Her life and her thoughts begin to move around her husband. She thinks of her husband when she dresses; she thinks of him when she undresses; she thinks of him when she looks in the mirror; she thinks of his wants, his dreams, and his way of life. She forgets her ‘self’ and her ‘identity’. She sheds her ‘I’ into her husband’s. She shapes, molds, and changes herself according to her husband’s needs and desires. She understands that her attachment to Jayant is quite disturbing and her total surrender to him quite frightening. However, she believes that to live without a husband is the greatest calamity in her life. The irony of her life is that though she is not completely happy with her husband, she cannot live without him. She realizes that she, as a human creature, is incomplete, almost nothing without her husband. This sense of incompleteness fills her with sorrow and frustration. To get rid of it, she begins working as a writer in a magazine but wishes to take up a different form of writing that would satiate the novelist inside of her. She is a doting wife and almost as dutiful and self-effacing as the domesticated housewives she always resented.

She hides her dependence on Jayant and the hypocrisy of her emotions and actions builds a stream of angst and guilt inside of her. Jayant allows her to work as a writer but he never appreciates her, not consider it any real work. Indu starts feeling as if she is a caged bird. She gets a chance to set herself free from the cage, her marital home when she is called back to her ancestral home during Akka’s illness. The two had not spoken for 10 years and never really saw eye to eye, Indu is surprised when she learns that Akka wants to bequeath all her property and wealth to her. She hides the information from the rest of the family up until her final rites when the probate lawyer, Shayamarao reads Akka’s will to the entire family. They all are shocked to see that Indu, a familial pariah, was given everything. Even Indu herself is baffled at this. Indu’s cousin Padmini or Mini is supposed to get married and Akka promised to pay for it. So, Indu feels obligated to honor the said promise. However, she doesn’t like the man Annt Kaka chose for Mini as she feels Mini deserves a better match. However, Anant Kaka says that it is difficult to find a better match as he doesn’t have much dowry to pay. Mini is prepared to marry any man as ‘to marry’ seems to be the only purpose of her life. To Indu’s surprise, she is interested in marriage and not in man. Mini says, ‘I’m past twenty-four. I have to get married. What else is there to think about? . . . What choice do I have? . . . Of course I’m marrying him because there’s nothing else I can do. I’m no good at studies . . . There’s only one thing I’m really good at . . . looking after a house”. She knows that she has to get married so that she can get home, her own home. She is ready to marry any man, any man who is ready to marry her.

Indu learns about Viththal and his mother from Old Uncle: “Vithal’s father . . . a sour, grim man who rarely spoke and never smiled, there was a streak of cruelty in him that came out in his relations with his meek, silent wife. Viththal as a child, had been a frequent spectator of scenes in which the father had worked out his sadistic anger on the mother for the merest trifles. And then one day, when the man was out on the job, the mother just disappeared. She had not even bothered to cook a meal for the child. When the man returned after a three-day job, he found the boy starving. The mother never returned and her father was indifferent. Indu was still not a mother and she had a kind of distaste for the female function, the function of feeding a child, the function that gives a feeling of motherhood. She shivered to see Sunanda-atya sitting down with the child on her lap, opening her buttons and pushing a flaccid nipple into his mouth; and the child taking a long shuddering breath and sucking with loud noises. How can Indu perform this female function without a child of her own? Indian married women like Indu are considered incomplete without a child. However, she a motherless and yet never unloved, quail at the thought of becoming a mother for fear of being disillusioned.

Indu further learns about Saroja, Naren’s mother. She was a brilliant singer and wished to learn music but Akka didn’t allow her. How could she allow the female of her family to sit beside a stranger man? Saroja succumbed to Akka’s rule. Indu felt that a woman becomes an obstacle in the way of a woman. It is the woman who decides the destiny of a woman. And that is why Indu does not blame her husband, who, according to her, has not compelled and pressurized her to live her life the way he wants. It is the way that she wants to be. It is the woman who confines herself in the cage willingly. She still felt that Akka was the real villain who ruined almost all the lives of the females of her family. However, one day, Narmada Attya tells her about Akka. “Akka was just twelve when she got married. And he was well past thirty . . . Six months after her marriage, she ‘grew up’ and went to her husband’s home. What she had to endure there, no one knows. She never told anyone . . . But I heard that twice she tried to run away . . . a girl of thirteen. Her mother-in-law, I heard, whipped her for that and locked her up for three days, starved her as well, and then, sent her back to her husband’s room. Akka is one of the victims of child marriage and marital violence. She has been given inhuman and beastlike treatment by her husband and her mother-in-law. She has spent almost every night crying in her marital home. However, being a typical Indian woman, she proves herself a dutiful wife by looking after her bedridden husband when he gets ill. She proves her domineering character by not allowing his mistress to meet him. On hearing this story, Indu realizes that her knowledge of Akka is inadequate and incomplete. She feels guilty for having judged her without knowing anything about her. All this while, Indu is distressed about her relationship with Jayant as he restricts her attachment to her to some placid and dispassionate letters. In her desperation, she even commits adultery with one of her cousins and close friend Naren who is the only grandson of the Old Uncle (cousin of Akka). Naren was a self-indulgent and carefree vagabond who was never accepted by the family. He was orphaned in childhood and only has his grandfather to call his own. In the end, Naren succumbs to his ‘private devils’ and commits suicide. Meanwhile, Indu learns about her profession’s seeming betrayal as she realizes that she is not doing anything meaningful, rather, only perpetuating the self-serving lies of various influential people. She resigns from her job. As she introspects, she starts observing Jayant in a new light. Now she could see his strengths and his weaknesses with a better perception. She realizes that she cannot remain detached from Jayant because if she does so, she may end up like Naren. She realizes that all her infatuation with Naren was not love, it was just a good camaraderie and understanding. She comes with a better understanding of her family. She almost forgives Akka for her cruelties and she now knows what is important for a meaningful domestic life. She realizes that her home, her destination, and her point of final arrival is Jayant and Jayant alone. She needs to shed off her complexes and not let her love for him become a restrictive bond. She also needs to do away with a large part of the façade she has built up around Jayant and inject honesty and authenticity into their relationship.

She decides to fund Mini’s marriage and sell the house (and give everyone their share). She also decides to return to Jayant, her husband, and confess her infidelity with Naren. The meek, docile, and humble Indu of the early days finally emerges as a bold, challenging, conscious, and rebellious woman. She resigns her job, thus defying male authority, hierarchy, and the irony of a woman‟ 's masked existence. Indu weaves the fabric of her own intricate relationship with Jayant, contemplates, and goes back with the positive renewal of life. The whole things in the novel transform one by one. Akka renders her legacy to Indu and with Indu, everything changes. Her life undergoes through a transitional phase, but she buries the memories of Naren and their past. This change though snatches Naren from her but it also makes her present better. Her self-discovery, self-recognition and revived relationship with Jayant give her safety and protection for the future. Indu after this self-discovery goes back to life as its successor.

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 Anniversary by John Donne | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Anniversary is a romantic metaphysical poem written by John Donne that was published in Songs and Sonnets, Donne's poetry collection in 1633. The poem was probably written in 1599 as it recalls the poet's first meeting with his teenage wife-to-be, Ann More, in 1598. It is a metaphysical love poem in which Donne used extended metaphors and paradoxes, however, this poem is much simpler than that of other poems of Donne. There are no difficult allusions and references. He wrote this poem simply and directly.

Theme of The Anniversary:

The Anniversary is a typical metaphysical love poem. The metaphysical treatment of love is different from what is found in conventional romantic Elizabethan lyrics. The approach here is intellectual, not emotional. Love is idealized and intellectually analyzed in this poem. The central theme of the poem is fidelity in love. The poet meditates on the timelessness of the world of love. Time rules and commands the created world, where all things, including the mighty sun, grow older, as it rolls on. Love is also a subject of the world of time, and does not remain beyond its authority. The very idea of the celebration of the anniversary of the lovers’ first meeting implies this. As the inhabitants of the world of time, the lovers, no doubt, grow old, but their love is not haunted by the hurrying chariot wheel of time. This has no ‘to-morrow’, ‘no yesterday’. Love, therefore, lives out of the bound of decay, caused by the continuous march of time. While all other things to their destruction draw, love only has ‘no decay’. It, of course, runs with time, but never runs away from the lovers, but ‘truly keepes his first, last, everlasting day.’ The lovers are, no doubt, also destined to die. But their bodies only perish. Their souls escape from earthly bodies and pass into the blessings of heaven. Yet, love is not a matter of spiritual blessing only. Its unique, distinctive nature is perceived in its absolute monarchy on earth in the true and noble attachment of the lovers to each other. It is not enough consolation for the lovers to know the spiritual union of their souls after their earthly death. What makes love perfect, and unique is the mutual trust and devotion of the lovers. Love is not immortal, but it can be made noble, unique, and great by the lovers’ conduct.

Structure of The Anniversary:

The poem is 30 lines long and composed in three stanzas. Each stanza has ten lines, and the poem is largely in the iambic meter, with the first, second, and seventh lines being tetrameter and the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, ninth, and tenth lines being pentameter. Donne uses the timelessness of Love while still remaining in the realm of time as a paradox for this metaphysical poem. The poet says their love has no yesterday, yet, they are celebrating their anniversary, it is a paradox. Another paradox is the uncertainty in fidelity. In the third stanza, the poet asks a rhetorical question ‘Who is as safe as we?’ and the beloved is supposed to answer ‘Nobody.’ But the question itself shows the doubts of the poet. The poet claims that they are both kings to each other and 'each other’s subjects,' introducing not only the troublesome possibility of treason against each other (i.e. infidelity) but also the idea that having more than one ‘king’ is surely a bad idea, at least in the same ‘kingdom’.

There is no distinct rhyming scheme in the poem.

Summary of The Anniversary

Stanza 1 Lines 1-10

All kings, and all their favourites,

All glory of honours, beauties, wits,

The sun itself, which makes times, as they pass,

Is elder by a year, now, than it was

When thou and I first one another saw :

All other things, to their destruction draw,

Only our love hath no decay;

This, no tomorrow hath, nor yesterday,

Running it never runs from us away, But truly keeps his first, last, everlasting day.

The poet says, addressing his beloved: ‘Everything, all kings and their courtesies, all glory, beauties and wits, the sun itself, by which we measure time, are older by one year than when you and I first clapped eyes on each other. Everything else, however, is in decline, moving towards its own death, whereas our love is different from theirs because it knows no decay. Our love has no tomorrow, and no yesterday because it’s timeless; our love runs and runs, but never runs away from us; instead, it remains as strong as the day we first met.’ Their love never changes; it is the same as it was in the beginning and will continue to be the same till the end. Their love is eternal.

Stanza 2 Lines 11-20

Two graves must hide thine and my corse,

If one might, death were no divorce,

Alas, as well as other princes, we,

(Who prince enough in one another be,)

Must leave at last in death, these eyes, and ears,

Oft fed with true oaths, and with sweet salt tears,

But souls where nothing dwells but love,

(All other thoughts being inmates) then shall prove

This, or a love increased there above,

When bodies to their graves, souls from their graves remove.

In the second stanza, Donne continues: ‘When we die, beloved, we’ll be buried in separate graves; if we weren’t, then even in death we would remain together. But if we are to be buried separately, then we must go the same way as other princes (We’re so empowered by the strength of our love that we’re pretty much princes ourselves, of a kind) and leave each other in death. ‘But souls which are full of love and nothing else, as ours are (because all our other thoughts are ‘inmates’ or prisoners of our love for each other: i.e. our love dictates every thought in our heads), will discover that, when bodies are buried in the grave, the souls rise up from the bodies – because our souls will rise from our corpses to find each other again.’ Our love will increase still more in heaven when after death our bodies sink into the grave and the souls ascend to heaven.

Stanza 3 Lines 21-30

And then we shall be throughly blessed,

But we no more, than all the rest.

Here upon earth, we are kings, and none but we

Can be such kings, nor of such subjects be;

Who is so safe as we? where none can do

Treason to us, except one of us two,

True and false fears let us refrain,

Let us love nobly, and live, and add again

Years and years unto years, till we attain

To write threescore, this is the second of our reign.

In the third and final stanza, Donne says, ‘Then, when our souls are united even in death, we will be thoroughly blessed – but then so will everyone. It’s here on Earth, while we live, that you and I are truly special: we are like kings, but we are also like subjects (because I am your subject, but also your king; likewise, you serve me, but I also serve you, so you’re both my king and subject too).

‘Who is as safe as we are? No one else can do treason to us, so we’re safe from harm; because you are my only subject, and I yours, only the other one can commit treason against us (and that’s hardly going to happen, right?).

Let us live without fears – founded or unfounded – then, and let us love as befits kings, for many more years to come, until we die aged seventy (threescore). This is the second year of our reign, for we are kings.’

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!

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Of Mice and Men is a short and straightforwardly written novella by John Steinbeck that was published in 1937. Like his first novel, Canary Row, ‘Of Mice and Men’ is also set during the period of the Great Depression and tells the story of two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job opportunities. Steinbeck himself worked as a "bindlestiff" - or itinerant farmhand - during the 1920s and he used his experiences working alongside migrant farm workers as a teenager that he described in this short novel.

The main theme of the novel is loneliness. It tells about the loneliness of itinerant workers of the Great Depression found it nearly impossible to establish a fixed home or a family. These men were forced to wander from ranch to ranch seeking temporary employment, to live in bunkhouses with strangers, and to suffer the abuses of arbitrary bosses. Those who were left in their fixed home too were lonely.

The novel's title was taken from a line from a Scottish poem by Robert Burns titled To a Mouse.

Characters of Of Mice and Men:

Geroge Milton is the main character of the novel. He is an itinerant worker who travels from farm to farm with his mentally impaired friend Lennie during the Depression. George wishes to earn and save enough money to buy a piece of land for himself. George is an intelligent and responsible man who takes the dominant parent-like role in his relationship with Lennie. Lennie Small is another migrant worker, a friend of George. He is a mentally disabled man with a strong and gigantic body. Lennie is simple and docile but he is capable of great violence especially because he is unable to control his emotions and he is very protective of his friend George. Candy is an old crippled man who lost his hand. He works as a swamper on the farm and owns an aging dog who is very weak. He is lonely and old and thus, he offers to lend money to George and Lennie to buy a small farm so that he may become dependent on them during his older days. Curley is the son of the ranch owner where Lennie and George are working. Curley is a short man but a formidable boxer who is aggressive, boastful, and cocky, with a volatile temper and a tendency to provoke conflict with others. He doesn’t trust his wife whom he thinks is infidel. Curley’s wife is a beautiful woman who dislikes her husband and feels desperately lonely at the ranch, for she is the only woman and feels isolated from the other men. She used to dream of becoming a Hollywood actress but now has little to cheer about. Crooks is a black man working as a stable hand at the ranch who got his name because of his crooked back. He is proud, bitter, and cynical, he is isolated from the other men because of being black. Lennie shows kindness towards him and he becomes fond of Lennie. Carlson is a large, big-stomached man who works at the ranch, Carlson complains about Candy's dog and eventually offers to put the old dog out of its misery. Slim is the jerkline skinner at the ranch. He is a seemingly ageless man who carries himself with great gravity. He gives Lennie one of his new litter of puppies to care for. What is another ranch worker. The Boss is Curley’s father and the owner of the ranch. He acts suspiciously of George and Lennie when they arrive, thinking that there's something odd about the two mismatched companions.

Summary of Of Mice and Men:

The novel begins beside the Salinas River near Soledad, California. It is the period of the Great Depression in the United States and unemployment is a big issue. Two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small are going to a nearby ranch where they hope to get work. George remembers how luckily they escaped a lynching attack from a farm near Weed where Lennie was wrongly accused of rape when he touched a woman to feel her soft dress. Lennie is a friend of George and though they are of similar age, Lennie is mentally disabled and George, being a dominant figure takes care of him as a guardian. However, Lennie is a giant with a strong muscular body.

As they walk along, Lennie sees a dead mouse and finds it cute and soft and thus picks it up. Lennie loves touching soft things, including fabric and fur. George colds him for playing with the dead mouse and tells him to keep quiet when they arrive at their new place of employment. Lennie reminds him that they do not have any ketchup for the beans that they have to eat for dinner. George gets angry at this and tells him that he would be better off if he didn't have to take care of him. Lennie gets sad tries to please George and soon they make up again. Geroge tells Lennie how much he wishes to earn and save enough so that they may become able to buy a small piece of land and make a fixed home. Geroge tells Lennie that he had a dream that they managed to have a small farm with a vegetable patch and a rabbit hutch with so many rabbits having soft white fur. This intrigues Lennie who is too much interested in picking a rabbit in his lap. George tells Lennie that he must try not to get into trouble again but if he gets into trouble as he did in Weed, he should return to the brush near the river and wait for George to find him.

Geroge and Lennie soon reach the farmhouse where they are supposed to work. They knock at the bunkhouse of the farm and an old man named Candy greets them and shows them their bed where they could rest. He informs that the boss of the ranch was angry that they were late as they were supposed to be there the night before. After some time, the boss visits the farm and interviews Geroge and Lennie. He gets suspicious when he comes to know that Lennie is mentally retard and wonders why George accompanies him. George realizes this and tells a lie that Lennie is his cousin and thus he is responsible for him. The boss leaves the bunkhouse and after him, his son Curley visits there. Curley is a short but strong-built man who is jealous of tall strong men. Part of his jealousy is because of his newlywed wife who continues to chide him while everyone believes that she is infidel and a flirt. Curley visited the bunkhouse while looking for his wife. He suspects that his wife has an affair with Slim, a handsome ageless man working in the ranch. When he notices Lennie and George, he tries to start a fight with George but George avoids it.

George and Lennie go to the farm the next day where they make friends with Slim, Carlson, Whit, and other workers. After they return to the bunkhouse, Slim, whose dog has a new litter of puppies, gives Lennie one of them. Lennie is pleased while having the puppy in his hands whose furs are so soft. During the dinner, Geroge admits to Slim that he and Lennie escaped lynching in Weed when Lennie was accused of rape.

Carlson, another worker at the ranch, complains about Candy's old and sick dog, who stinks so bad and continues to howl. He has a handgun and he offers to shoot the dog but Candy loves his dog and is not willing to let him killed. However, Carlson is too disturbed by the dog who doesn’t let him sleep. Candy relents and allows Carlson to kill the dog. Geroge notices that Curley often remains disturbed and suspicious of everyone and soon learns about Curley’s wife. He complains about Tarts like Curley’s wife and why they should be aware of such women. Carlson suggests that the men should visit a nearby whorehouse the next night, George says that he prefers the company of whores, since with them there is no chance of danger.

One day, after a day’s work when Lennie and George are alone in the bunkhouse, Geroge again tells Lennie about his dream to have a small farm and a farmhouse. Candy overhears them and offers to pool his money with theirs if they'd let him work on their farm. Geroge feels that his dream may come true soon. Meanwhile, Curley visits the bunkhouse again while searching for his wife. He suspects that Lennie is laughing at him and thus, he begins a fight with Lennie. Being a boxer, he strongly punches Lennie many times but Lennie doesn’t fight back. At last, George feels that Curley will seriously harm Lennie if Lennie doesn’t defend, so he allows Lennie to fight back. Lennie crushes Curley’s right hand in a moment.

The next day, all the men go to the farm for work but Lennie decides to take a rest. He then goes to see Crooks, the black stable buck. Crooks is rude and unfriendly towards Lennie but soon realizes that Lennie is harmless with no ill intent. He starts treating Lennie well. Candy too visits there and informs Crooks how Lennie, his friend George, and Candy are trying to raise money to buy a small piece of land for themselves. Crooks feels positive about their plans and shows his interest in pooling his money for the new farmhouse if he could join them. At the same time, Curley’s wife visits the Crooks’ room and notices the three men. She is very bored with her current life and seeks company. Crooks tells her that she is not supposed to visit his room to which Curley’s wife shouts at him and threatens him with lynching. Curley’s wife feels attracted towards strong built Lennie.

The next morning, Lennie accidentally kills the puppy gifted to him by Slim when he throws the puppy too hard while playing with it. He is very sad about it. Curley’s wife notices him with the dead puppy in the barn and realizes what might have happened. She pities Lennie and scolds him but then entices him to touch her hair and feel how soft are they. Lennie obviously begins stroking her hair but soon she realizes that he is too strong for her and starts screaming. Lennie gets frightened and tries to stop her scream by putting his hand on her mouth. While doing so, he accidentally breaks her neck and she gets killed. Lennie notices her dying and flees from the ranch.

George and Candy come there while looking for Lennie and discover the dead body of the puppy and Curley’s wife. They infer what might have happened. Candy alerts the other men in the ranch and soon Curley comes to know about the death of his wife. He makes a party of men to search for Lennie. Meanwhile, George steals the handgun of Carlson while he suggests that Lennie might have stolen the gun before he ran away. He directs Curley’s men in the wrong direction to look for Lennie while he goes towards the brush where he had told Lennie to wait for him if he gets trapped in a difficult situation again. Lennie was already waiting for him. The death of the puppy and Curley’s wife had a bad effect on him and he had been hallucinating since then. In his hallucination, he saw a giant rabbit and his Aunt Clara who used to take care of him when he was a child. Aunt Clara warns him that George will be angry at him for killing Curley’s wife and will break his friendship with him and thus, he can never have a rabbit hutch. When George reaches there, Lennie tells him about the dream he just had. Geroge calms and reassures him that they will certainly have the rabbit hutch. Meanwhile, he prepares to shoot Lennie with the handgun he stole from Carlson. As Lennie sees towards the river, Geroge shoots him down. Upon hearing the shot, the other men find George and Lennie. George tells them that Lennie had stolen the gun and that he shot Lennie after the gun got loose in a struggle.

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 Soul Selects Her Own Society by Emily Dickinson | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Soul Selects Her Own Society is a poem by Emily Dickinson that she probably wrote in 1862. Emily Dickinson hardly ever published her massive stock of 1800 poems. Only her sister stumbled upon the prolific collection and took the liberty to publish the massive literary work. The poem was published in 1891 in a collection of her works under the title Poems, which was edited and published by Thomas Wentworth Higginson and Mabel Loomis Todd. In this poem, the poetess celebrates the virtues of an independent and mostly solitary life. The poetess envisions her soul as a queenly figure who chooses her company carefully, without regard for worldly status or prestige. And then “shuts the Door,” refusing to admit anyone else—even if “an Emperor be kneeling / Upon her mat—.” Indeed, the soul often chooses no more than a single person from “an ample nation” and then closes “the Valves of her attention” to the rest of the world. The “one” she allows into her soul maybe someone she loves romantically, but more likely, it is the one person who understands her soul as she does theirs.

Structure of The Soul selects her own Society:

The poem is composed of 12 lines arranged in three stanzas of four lines each, or three quatrains. Emily chose irregular meter in this poem yet, kept her favourite meter of iambic trimeter with occasional use of iambic tetrameter. The quatrains seem to follow a simple rhyming scheme of ABAB though Emily used half rhyme in stanzas 2 and 3 by using words “gate” and “mat” also, “one” and “stone” that do not perfectly rhyme but partially.

The poetess used Personification, Imagery, Symbolism, Simile, Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance in the poem.

Themes of The Sol selects her own Society:

The major theme of the poem is self-reliance and Individuality. Dickinson is remembered as a reserved, reclusive woman, with few good friends. Emily justifies her decision to lead a mostly solitary life. The speaker argues that the soul (functioning here as a stand-in for the speaker herself) naturally rejects the outside world in favor of her own inner circle. In doing so, the speaker champions individuality and self-reliance in a society that often values neither of these qualities. The poem suggests it is the best practice to keep one’s inner life reserved for a select “one” or few. It is the best policy to open the door for those people and then shut it again. This means that no one can get in, no matter their status unless they were selected for their pure intentions. The soul connects to a single person or a few people on a deeper level. One that goes beyond wealth or fame.

Summary of The Soul Selects Her Own Society:

Stanza 1 Lines 1-4

The Soul selects her own Society —
Then — shuts the Door —
To her divine Majority —
Present no more —

Emily often didn’t choose any title for her poems. In this case, too, the very first line of the poem was chosen as the title later on when her poetic collection Poems was posthumously published. The poetess is talking about the soul of an individual, whether her’s or anyone else’s, selects the person, or perhaps people, she wants to grow close to, and then “shuts the Door”.

Emily used the pronoun ‘her’ to denote the feminine for the artful, sensitive, superior soul.

The very first line of the poem is the longest and unbroken, and it is written in iambic pentameter. The poetess used assonance in the first line, repeating the vowel sound of / e / . Once the soul selects her companion or companions, she allows nobody else to enter the close domain of her divine majority.

Stanza 2 Lines 5-8

Unmoved — she notes the Chariots — pausing —
At her low Gate —
Unmoved — an Emperor be kneeling
Upon her Mat —

The poetess describes the strength and determination of the soul in these lines. The poetess says that it does not matter who comes knocking at the door of her soul. It could be an Emperor “kneeling” on the mat of Chariots “pausing— / At her low Gate”. Neither of these things would convince her to open the metaphorical door to her heart. The soul only opens for those it selects for reasons that she understands.

In line 5, the poetess uses Symbolism, using Chariots to symbolize status, wealth, and grandeur and they pause at her low Gate, that is, at her humble gate. Emily used assonance again with the sound of /o/ in “Unmoved — she notes the Chariots — pausing.” The poetess uses repetition (technical Anaphora) of ‘Unmoved’ to suggest the determination of the soul's position despite royalty appearing ready to kneel on her Mat.

Stanza 3 Lines 9-12

I’ve known her — from an ample nation —
Choose One —
Then — close the Valves of her attention —
Like Stone —

The poetess further asserts the exclusive selection process of the Soul and says that she has known “her” to choose “one” from the “ample nation” of people who want to gain entry into her innermost self. And once she chooses her companion/s, she then closes the “Valves of her attention— / Like Stone”. The soul is certainly a part of a country's society (ample nation), yet, it can choose One. The poetess employs a Metaphor using ‘Valve’ which implies a one-way flow ... a valve allows flow in one direction only. That is, now the whole attention of the soul is only upon the companion she already chose, and for others, the soul shuts down like a stone. The stone symbolizes something rigid, heavy, and weighty; the stone is hard to move, it's strong, it is unmovable.

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!

Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Henry Fielding was one of the most influential dramatists and novelists of the 18^th century. Fielding chose a pseudonym H. Scriblerus Secundus as he was a Tory supporter and continued to criticize and ridicule the corrupt government of Prime Minister Robert Walpole. Ideally, he linked himself with the Scriblerus Club of literary satirists founded by Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and John Gay. He also contributed several works to journals including the periodical The Craftsman criticising the policies of Robert Walpole. Just like the members of the Scribelerus Club, Henry Fielding not only satirized the corrupt political system of his time, but he also satirized the literary trends of his time and this was evident in his first novel Shamela which was published in 1741. He continued to satirize the the sexual hypocrisy, corruption, and pretentious writing style of Samuel Richardson’s popular novel Pamela and wrote another full-length novel titled Joseph Andrews which was published in 1742. The full title of the novel was ‘The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams.’ The subject of Joseph Andrews, as of all of Fielding’s novels, is human nature, which he considered fallible but perfectible. The mode is comical or satirical and the novel is written similar in style to Cervantes’s Don Quixote, as the main characters embark on a journey full of slapstick comedy and meet several upper- and lower-class characters along the way. The novel is divided into four books.

Characters of Joseph Andrews:

Joseph Andrews is the protagonist of the novel. He is a young, handsome, but poor man who works as a footman in the household of Sir Thomas Booby, a nobleman. Joseph is an honest virtuous man who is noticed by Mr. Abraham Adams, a benevolent, absent-minded, impecunious, and somewhat vain curate in Lady Booby’s country parish. Abraham wishes to teach Latin to Joseph however, the Booby family moves to London before Joseph’s education could begin. Fanny Goodwill is a young milkmaid, an orphan poor but virtuous girl whom Joseph loves. Being a poor orphan, she faces many sexual predators but continues to safeguard herself. Sir Thomas Booby is a decent man but he is not very strongly virtuous and may compromise in his favor. He dies at an early age. Lady Booby is the widowed wife of Thomas Booby. She is a lascivious character who copes with the death of her husband by playing cards and propositioning servants. Mrs. Slipslop is an upper maid of Booby's household. She is hideous and sexually voracious and lusts for Joseph. Peter Pounce is another upper servant of Booby Hall who is very greedy but comes out for the rescue of Joseph and Fanny. Mr. Booby is a nephew of Thomas Booby. Mr. Booby is based on Samuel Richardson’s Mr. B from Pamela. He is a snobbish squire who marries his servant girl, Pamela Andrews. Pamela is Joseph’s virtuous and beautiful sister, from whom he derives inspiration for his resistance to Lady Booby’s sexual advances. She used to work for Mr. Booby who tried to sexually exploit her but she maintained her virtue and finally married her lascivious master. Fielding has adapted this character from the heroine of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela. Mr. Two-wouse is the owner of an inn where Joseph takes a rest. Mrs. Two-wouse is his nagging greedy wife. Betty is a chambermaid in the inn of Mr. Two-wouse who is benevolent but lustful and tries to exploit Joseph. Leonora is a reclusive, frustrated girl who lives in a grand house. She once rejected the love proposal of Horatio, an honest, hardworking, industrious lawyer because he was poor. Bellarmine is a rich French businessman who is infatuated with Leonora. He impressed her with his wealth and made her reject Horatio but later, he got bored of Leonora and rejected her because Leonora’s greedy father declined to give a huge dowry in marriage. Mr. Wilson is an old man who used to be a rake during his turbulent youth. He fell in love with a beautiful woman and changed his ways to become a virtuous man. Beau Didapper is a corrupt official who tries to corrupt Fanny many times.

Summary of Joseph Andrews:

Book 1) The novel begins as the narrator introduces Joseph Andrews. He is the younger brother of Pamela Andrews, the character of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela. He belongs to a poor family and at the age of 10, he begins working as a cattle grazer in the Booby estate owned by Sir Thomas Booby who is a decent man. Joseph meets Fanny Goodwill at the Booby estate and is attracted to her. She is a virtuous, beautiful but poor orphan girl living with an old farmer near the Booby estate. Joseph is healthy and he is growing into a young handsome man. Soon he attracts the erotic interest of Lady Booby, the lascivious wife of Thomas Booby. Lady Boob insists that Joseph should be working at her behest and thus, he becomes the footman of Booby household. The parson of the estate parish Mr. Abraham Adams notices Joseph and is impressed by his moral and intellectual potential. He decides to teach Joseph but before he could start a course in Latin instruction, Lady Booby and Thomas Booby move to London and Lady B insists that Joseph should come along with them. Joseph doesn’t wish to go as he has plans to marry Fanny but ParsonAbraham insists that they postpone marriage until they have the means to live comfortably. In London, Joseph meets other urban Footmen who try to influence him in corrupt ways. Lady Booby too continues trying to seduce him but Joseph remains adamant. He misses Fanny and feels that he loves her and would safeguard his virtue to return and marry her. After around a year, Thomas Booby dies of illness and after his death, Lady Booby becomes more demanding and libidinous. However, Joseph's Christian commitment to pre-marital chastity remains intact. This frustrates Lady Booby. Furthermore, Mrs. Slipslop, the higher maid of the Booby house too gets sexually attracted to Joseph but he elegantly avoids her too. Mrs. Slipslop fails to accept his rejection and to take revenge, she tells lies against him and complains to Lady Booby. Lady Booby knows that Mrs Slipslop is lying but she tries to take advantage of that complaint and tries to seduce Joseph again under the duress of complaining against him. Joseph maintains his innocent and his commitment to chastity and thus, Lady Booby dismisses him both from his job and lodging.

Joseph returns to London and on his way, he gets robbed by two ruffians who beat, strip, and rob him and leave him in a ditch to die. A stage-coach soon arrives there and though none of the passengers is willing to help Joseph, a lawyer among them suggests that they should take him to the nearby inn. The stage-coach leaves Joseph at an inn owned by Mr. Two-wouse who is a benevolent man. At the inn, chambermaid Betty takes good care of Joseph, and a surgeon visits to take care of his wounds. Joseph reunites with Parson Abraham who is going to London to sell three volumes of his sermons. The thief gets caught and is brought to the inn and thus Joseph gets back his belongings. Betty who took good care of Joseph falls for Joseph and tries to seduce her but he rejects her, claiming his love for Fanny the milkmaid. Betty feels heartbroken. Abraham has very little money which he gives to Joseph for his return journey while he decides to go to London to sell his sermons. However, he finds that his wife removed most of the books from his bag and replaced them with clothes, and thus decides to return with Joseph. Meanwhile, Mr. Tow-wouse who has been pursuing Betty silently for a long, tries to take his chance and enters her bed chamber. However, his wife Mrs. Two-wouse catches him red-handed and throws Betty out of her job and and the inn. Mr. Abraham somehow manages to calm down Mrs. Two-wouse who agrees to make peace with Mr. Two-wouse.

Book 2)

On their way back home, Adam gets a ride in a stagecoach in which an anonymous high-class lady is traveling along with Mrs. Slipslod, the high maid of Booby Hall. Joseph rides on Adam’s horse, following the stagecoach. The stagecoach passes beside a grand house that reminds the anonymous lady of a young girl Leonora who lives in that house and she begins to tell the story of Leonora ("The History of Leonora, or the Unfortunate Jilt").

After traveling for a long, they decide to take some rest at an inn. However, the inn-keeper and his wife are very quarrelsome and soon they decide to take the road again. This time, Joseph sits in the stagecoach while Abraham is supposed to take the horseback. But Abraham is so absent-minded that he forgets the horse and starts walking alone. The stagecoach runs forward while he keeps walking. After some time, he meets a hunter who is out to hunt some partridge. He boasts of his shooting capabilities and bravery. They hear some loud voices of a lady in distress asking for help. Soon they discover that a ruffian has attacked a young girl and is trying to rob her. The hunter gets frightened and runs away but Abraham bravely fights against the ruffian and saves the girl. Soon a group of travellers comes there and the ruffian starts blaming the girl and Abraham are thieves who are trying to rob him. The travelers catch Abraham and the girl and take them to the Justice of the Peace, hoping to get a reward for turning them in. Abraham notices that the girl he saved is not a stranger but she is Fanny Goodwill who came there in the hope of searching for Joseph who, she heard was attacked by ruffians. The Justice is a careless man who doesn’t hear what Abraham and Fanny say and decides to send them to prison. However, a bystander supporter of the justice recognizes Abraham and informs the Justice that he is a clergyman. The justice soon reverses his decision and sets Abraham and Fanny free but by that time, the actual ruffian had already fled the scene. Abraham and Fanny then travel towards the next inn where they hope to meet Joseph. Joseph, the anonymous Lady, and Mrs. Slipslop are taking a rest at the inn where Joseph and Fanny have a joyous reunion. Mrs. Slipslop still believes that she could seduce Joseph anyhow but when she sees the two young lovers meet, she gets too jealous and leaves them in a hurry. The next day, Adam, Fanny, and Joseph decide to leave the inn for their home but they still have to pay the inn bill while they have no money. Abraham goes out to meet a wealthy clergyman Parson Trulliber to take a loan. However, Parson Trullber insults Abraham and denies any loan. A local Peddler then comes to help and gives a loan to Abraham so that they may pay the bill and go to their home.

Book 3)

Abraham, Fanny, and Joseph continue to walk on the road for a few miles when a gregarious Squire sees them and offers them a ride in his stagecoach only to retract his offer and make fun of the three. They reach the next inn where they learn that the Squire is known for making such false promises and fun of people. After resting for a while, the three decide to walk again after the nightfall. Abraham notices some strange lights dancing in the dark and gets worried that these must be the ghosts. Fanny overhears approaching voices agree on "the murder of anyone they meet" and they realize that the lights must be the lanterns of ruffians. The three flee away from the spot and reach a local house to seek safety. The house owner is Mr. Wilson who welcomes them. Mr. Wilson and his family offer food for the three. Mr. Wilson used to be a rake himself but he met a girl and fell in love and decided to change his ways. Redeemed by the love of a good woman, he married her and came to the countryside to lead a virtuous life. Mr. Wilson informs that he and his wife have lost their eldest son to a gypsy abduction.

The three leave Mr. Wilson’s house in the morning and after walking for a distance, they decide to rest and take the meal that Mrs. Wilson packed for them. As they are taking their meal, a pack of hunting dogs attack them. Somehow, they fight back and save themselves but a few dogs are killed. These dogs were owned by a wealthy, corrupt, and sadistic Squire who was infamous as the ‘Hunter of Men’ in that area. He comes to know about the damage to his dogs and gets very angry. But when he sees beautiful Fanny with the two novice men, he sets his lustful eyes on her and invites the three to his mansion for dinner.

At his mansion, the Squire sends Joseph and Fanny to work in the kitchen while he takes dinner with Abraham. His servants and henchmen continue to tease and ridicule Abraham to the point that he gets offended and calls Fanny and Joseph out of the kitchen so that they may leave immediately. The Squire sends his hooligans behind them with instructions to abduct Fanny whom he wishes to rape. His men succeed in abducting Fanny while they leave Abraham and Joseph tied to a bedpost in the room of an inn. The Squire then visits the inn and blames Abraham and Joseph for abducting the beautiful innocent girl. Fortunately, Peter Pounce, the head servant of Mrs. Booby was on a tour to the Squire’s estate along with his men. He sees some hooligans taking away a girl forcefully and recognizes the girl as Fanny, the orphan milkmaid. He rescues Fanny with the help of his men and then he goes to the inn to rescue Joseph and Abraham. The Squire’s plan fails when Fanny reaches the inn and accuses him and his men of trying to abduct her. Peter Pounce, Joseph, Abraham, and Fanny complete the remainder of the journey to Booby Hall together.

Book 4) After returning to the Booby estate, Abraham announces the wedding banns of Joseph and Fanny. Mrs. Booby isn’t happy about that and she tries everything possible to stop the marriage. She takes the help of a lawyer to stop the marriage because both Fanny and Joseph are destitute and they will give birth to beggars. The Justice of Peace takes a bribe for helping Lady Booby. However, Mr. B and his newlywed wife Pamela Andrews arrive at the same time and stop the legal proceeding. Lady Booby tries to persuade Abraham to stop the marriage but he doesn’t agree. Then Lady Booby takes the help of a debauched official Beau Didapper who tries to rape Fanny before her marriage. But the same peddler who gave a loan to Abraham earlier arrives at the scene and saves Fanny. Later on, he meets Lady Booby and informs him that Fanny and Joseph cannot marry because Fanny is the daughter of Mr and Mrs. Andrews, parents of Pamela and Joseph who lost their daughter at the time of her birth. Thus, lady Booby stalls the marriage because Fanny and Joseph are siblings. The Justice of Peace then calls for Mr and Mrs. Andrews to attest. Joseph and Fanny commit that if they really are siblings, they will remain celibate throughout their lives. However, when Mr. and Mrs. Andrws arrive, they inform that though Fanny is actually their long lost daughter, Joseph is not their son, rather, he was a changeling baby whom they got when they lost their daughter just after her birth. When the Peddlar listens to this, it reminds him of the lost son of Mr. Wilson who was taken away by ruffians. That lost baby had a distinct birthmark on his chest. When Joseph’s chest is checked, it comes out that he is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. This clears the way for the marriage of Fanny and Joseph. After their marriage, Mr. B and Pamela ask them to come with them to Mr. B’s estate which is near to the house of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, his real parents. Mr. B- offers a decent dowry for Fanny and gives a respectable clerical job to Joseph. The newlywed couple start living happily with Mr. and Mrs. Wilson and the novel ends.

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!

Shamela by Henry Fielding | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Henry Fielding was an English author, dramatist, and Magistrate born on November 22, 1707, and died on October 8, 1754. He is considered one of the founders of traditional English novels, the other being Samuel Richardson whose works Fielding caricatured and ridiculed. Fielding is known for his three major novels, Shamela, Joseph Andrews, and Tom Jones.

Shamela was his first novel which was published in April 1741. The full title of the short novel was ‘An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews.’ It was a satirical burlesque, picaresque, and epistolatory novel that parodied three major works of that period. A burlesque literary work is intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of other serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects or characters.

Henry Fielding wrote this novel with the pseudonym Conny Keyber which resembles Colley Ciber, the poet laureate who published his memoir during the same year. Fielding also parodied Conyers Middleton’s Life of Cicero, which was dedicated to the British Prime Minister to curry favor. However, the major subject of the satire that Shamela was, was Samuel Richardson’s moralistic novel Pamela published in 1740, and his epistolatory writing style.

Pamela told in epistolary fashion, is the story of a young country maid whose master continually makes many improper advances on her. We see her attempts to ward off his advances and her virtue is eventually rewarded by her marriage to her master. We also see her transformation to an upper-class wife. Throughout the work, Pamela is seen as completely innocent, and utterly naive in the ways of the world. Pamela was extolled as an account of how virtuous young ladies should deport themselves. The Master, Mr B-- in Pamela is depicted as a near rapist exploiting his position of power to abuse Pamela. Other than his money, he seems a completely despicable person. One of the major accusations against Pamela is that the novel suggests that women are simply commodities who lose their value when they lose their virginity. Shamela is a short novel written in sixty pages that highlights the sexual hypocrisy, corruption, and pretentious writing styles of other authors. Eliza Haywood published a similar novel to Shamela in 1741 and named it The Anti-Pamela: or Feigned Innocence Detached.

Characters of Shamela:

Shamela is the titular character of the novel. Unlike Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, Shamela is wily and manipulative. Fielding transforms Richardson’s virtuous servant girl into a predatory fortune hunter who cold-bloodedly lures her lustful wealthy master into matrimony. She is petulant and childish and treats others poorly even when they give her what she wants. Henrietta Maria Honora Andrews is Shamela’s mother who once was as lascivious as Shamela is. She encourages Shamela to be smart in her own dalliances and to make sure that the squire marries her. Mrs. Lucretia Jervis is an old servant of the squire who helps Shamela in seducing and blackmailing the Squire. Parson Arthur Williams is a local clergyman whose family the Squire's family supported years back. He is just as manipulative as Shamela. He enjoys having a sexual relationship with her and doesn’t care for the duties of a clergyman. Squire Booby (Mr. B-- of Pamela) is Pamela’s employer whom she seduces and makes him pursue her. Mrs. Jewkes is a servant of the squire who first helped Shamela in seducing the Parson and then helps her in seducing Squire Booby. Parson Tickletext is a clergyman who is very impressed by the virtues of Pamela as he reads her biography in the novel Pamela. However, Parson Oliver informs him that the true name of Pamela is Shamela and tells him about the true colors of Shamela. John Puff is a lawyer who writes an encomiastic letter about Shamela, which is included as a preface.

Summary of Shamela:

The novel begins as Parson Tickletext writes a letter to his friend Parson Oliver while praising the book Pamela and how impressed he is by the virtuous character of this young lady Pamela. He really believes the novel’s emphasis on chastity and righteous living would make a good read for young women throughout England. Parson Oliver gets the letter and answers it back, informing that he knows Pamela personally, and her actual name is not Pamela; but Shamela Andrews, the daughter of a notorious unwed woman Henrietta Maria Honora Andrews. Parson Oliver mentions that Shamela’s father was a Scottish drummer in the army but he was an irresponsible alcoholic who lost all his money in gambling and pimped his beloved Henrietta. Oliver further informs that Shamela deserves no praise as she has never been virtuous, and all the things mentioned in the book Pamela are farce. The rest of the story is told in letters between the major characters, such as Shamela, her mother, Henrietta Maria Honora Andrews, Master Booby, Mrs. Jeweks, Mrs. Jervis, and Rev. Arthur Williams, much like in Pamela.

Henrietta and Shamela both work at the estate Booby Hall owned by Squire Booby who is a preposterous foolish man. Shamela writes a letter to her mother, informing her that Master Booby has grown a keen interest in her. She mentions how the squire held her hand and she pretended to be exceedingly shy and when Mr. Booby kissed her, she pretended to be angry. Henrietta praises the proceedings and guides Shamela to be cautious. She instructs her to collect as much money as she can before Squire Booby kisses her again.

Another housemaid Mrs. Jewkes is assisting Shamela in trapping Squire Booby and making him marry Shamela. The local clergyman Parson Arthur Williams notices something is going off in the Booby Hall and he reprimands Shamela for her conspiring tricks. But Shamela seduces him with her youthful tactics. Parson Arthur Williams realizes that helping Shamela get married to Squire Williams may help him attain a higher social status. He not only sexually exploits Shamela being his lover, but also helps her in her schemes.

Shamela also takes the help of another maid Mrs. Jervis whom Squire Booby trusts. Shamela flaunts her “virtue” in front of Squire Booby. When they both know that he can overhear them talking, Shamela tells Mrs. Jervis that though she finds Squire Booby to be a charming gentleman, she will resist all of his romantic inclinations to protect her “vartue.” She recalls all of the strong, moral lessons her mother taught her about the willful ways of men, how they can zap your “vartue” by the day and then flee into the night forever. Mrs. Jervis melodramatically praises the virtuous Shamela.

Shamela continues to excite Squire Booby in such a way by wearing figure-hugging clothes and is overtly flirtatious and coquettish so that he is persuaded to take advantage of her while she sleeps. As he sneaks into her room and puts a hand on her breast, she leans into him in her "sleep" pushing him to go further until she "wakes" begging him to not destroy her "virtue" before they are married. After several such encounters, Squire Booby is now convinced that Shamela can be a good virtuous, and voluptuous wife for him.

Shamela sends her mother the letter that Squire Booby sent to her praising her behavior, declaring his love, and implying that together they can live a life of “Honor.” Her mother is overjoyed by the news and notes that Shamela shouldn’t be too sad about “ending” her relationship with Parson Williams as they can still see each other on the side.

Parson Williams performs the marriage of Shamela and Squire Booby, who helped Parson Williams’ family financially, many years back. Initially, Squire Booby feels something is wrong between Shamela and Parson Williams but Shamela’s protestations that she is innocent win him over. She is thus able to carry on her affair with the parson under her husband's nose.

The series of letters ends with a postscript to Tickletext saying that the Squire found Shamela in bed with Williams and kicked her out and is trying to prosecute the Parson. Squire Williams has already informed the church about Parson William’s indiscretions. Parson Tickletext is startled and horrified after examining all these letters and evidence and is grateful that he now knows the truth.

As one can see, Shamela is the antithesis of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela.

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 Dark Holds No Terrors by Shashi Deshpande | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Dark Holds No Terrors was the first novel written by Shashi Deshpande that was published in 1980. This novel explores the trauma of a middle-class working woman trapped in a male-dominated society. Deshpande picturizes her men and women characters as the victims of modern society. The author explores and exposes the long smothered wail of the incarcerated psyche of her female protagonist imprisoned within the four walls of domesticity and sandwiched between tradition and modernity. The novel has two parts with eight chapters each.

Characters of The Dark Holds No Terror:

Sarita or Saru is the protagonist of the novel. She wasn’t a beautiful and attractive girl during her youth. She realized that to attain the respect of others, either one has to be pretty (for Saru, this is impossible) or become something respectable like a doctor. She devotes herself to studies and gets admission to a medical college. Baba is Sarita’s father. During her childhood, he remained indifferent to her but he is a responsible sane man. Sarita’s mother was a traditional woman who preferred the patriarchial ways of society. Her mother always gave more importance to Dhruva, Sarita’s younger brother. Dhruva was an attractive teen boy who died during an accident in which Sarita was involved. Her mother blames Sarita for Dhruva’s death. Manohar is the husband of Sarita. They met during the college. Manohar was an attractive young man and a poet. Manohar belongs to a lower caste but Sarita goes against her family and marries him. However, marrying Manohar haunts her because of Manu’s sadism and savage treatment of Saru that stems out of his frustration at seeing Saru’s success as a doctor while he works as a school teacher. In his frustration, Manohar turns a sadist and makes Sarita suffer, while enjoying it. Madhav is a young man who is studying accounts. He lives with Saru’s father as a tenant. He is a young attractive man with a good nature who accompanies Saru’s father after her mother’s death and takes care of the old man. Renu and Abhi are young children of Sarita and Manohar.

Summary of The Dark Holds No Terrors:

The title of the novel suggests its theme. “The dark holds no terrors, that the terrors are inside us all the time. We carry them within us, and like traitors, they spring out when we least expect them to scratch and maul.”

The novel begins as Sarita knocks at the door of her parental house. She is returning to her father’s house after fifteen long years of her marriage during which, she never visited her parents. Sarita is a successful respected doctor working and living in Bombay. She visits her maternal home to see and serve her ill father. She tells herself it is only to check how her father was coping after the death of his wife. There is no personal agenda for this visit. Saru’s mother died some time ago. She came to know about her demise through one of her colleagues (Prof. Kulkarni) of her mother’s death due to cancer. Fifteen years ago, before leaving her house and getting married to Manohar, an attractive man belonging to a lower caste she met in her college, she vowed that she would never return to her home. However, now her marriage is on the rocks. She finds her husband an extremely sadist aggressive person and it becomes unbearable for her to suffer the humiliation and pain of it. As a recluse, she visits her father’s home. Her father opens the door and is surprised at seeing her but shows no emotions. He invites her in and offers her water. Her father still feels so distant and indifferent towards her. “The familiar irritation, the familiar exasperation. To meet after fifteen years and feel only that!” Saru thinks.

Saru comes to know that her father is not living alone. A young man named Madhav is accompanying him. Madhav is a college student learning account. Saru realizes that he has a good rapport with her father. Madhav reminds her of Dhruva, her younger brother who died in an accident. The way her father tells his name, comfortably and with ease, leaves her unsettled. He has yet to call her by her name since she walked through his door. She meets Madhav and notices the affection her father seems to have for the boy. She had always believed he was a man incapable of having strong feelings but now she realizes that all his indifference was a sham, or was meant only for her. Saru goes on to try to get her father’s attention. She shows him pictures of her children. Her eldest, Renu, as Madhav points out, resembles her mother. Saru vehemently disagrees. It scares her that Renu could be like her mother. But somewhere she knows there is a similarity. Not in their looks but rather in their personality. The second picture she pulls out is that of her son, Abhi. They tip-toe past the fact that he resembles her dead brother, Dhruva.

Saru spends some days at her father’s house and soon the news that Saru is in town reaches the ears of everyone. People start visiting her. They eagerly seek her professional assistance. Occasionally, her kids write to her. So does Manu. She writes back to the kids. Life seems to be good. Yet, at her heart, she is disturbed. To her, grief seems to have the ability to stay with you for years, whereas happiness seems more like an illusion. She wanted to share it with someone, but she did not have that kind of relationship with anyone. Not her old friends. And definitely not her father.

One day, while resting on her bed, she remembers the day when her brother Dhruva died. She was with him then. She remembers how distraught her mother was at the loss of her son and shouted at her, “What are you alive and he dead?” Her mother was a tyrant who influenced Saru’s perception of herself. Growing up, she wanted to be pretty. But she knew she was far from it at least going by what her mother said. Saru was of average looks but her mother believed she was ugly.

One day, a lady doctor visited their home. As a child, Saru found her elegant with an air of superiority, she concluded that it was because she was a doctor. For one to walk around, seemingly detached, either one had to be pretty (for Saru, this is impossible) or become something respectable like a doctor. Saru decided she also wanted to be a doctor. It was not easy for her as She had to get past her mother and get her Baba to agree to send her to Bombay for college. Her mother was not at all interested in supporting her higher studies but her father supported her. She went to college and became a successful doctor but now she seems to have lost pride in her profession. She calls her profession a ventriloquist, giving her a voice, telling her what lines to tell her patients, and what faces to make. She fears, without it, she is just a lifeless puppet.

At college, she made some new friends who introduced her to Manohar, an aspiring poet and an English teacher. She fell in love with him and they decided to marry. However, Manohar was of a lower caste. Saru fought with her parents and married him despite not getting their blessing. Her mother had made it clear that she could not come running back to them if her marriage to ‘that man’ (he belonged to a lower caste) ever went sour. Saru, at that time, promised that she would never look back. She was happy with Manu. Her married life was not easy at the beginning. She passed her MBBS but wasn’t earning enough and Manu was working at a small college. However, one of her lecturers, Boozie took interest in her and helped her in getting a degree of M.D. Soon, Saru started earning much more than Manu. And she observed that her success and Manu’s own failure frustrated him.

Meanwhile, Madhav decides to visit his parental house as his younger brother runs away. It was Dhruva’s birthday. Saru and her father were alone and the silence between them became burdensome. She dared to ask him if like her mother, she too believed that she was the reason for her brother’s death? Her father says nothing and she weeps heavily. The next day, her father comforts her and talks to her with compassion. This fatherly love melts Saru and she confesses her current problems. She informs him that her husband is a sadist. He is a violent stranger at night, and she is a terrified animal. He rapes her without a second thought, while she lies there unsure of where her reality ends and the nightmare begins. Yet she doesn’t say a word to him because the very next morning, he always becomes the caring husband he is. She mentions that it has not been like this since the start. After their marriage, they were financially struggling but were a happy couple. After her MD, she continued to gain success as a doctor while Manu pursued M. A. Saru mentions, “A wife should always be a few feet behind her husband. If he is an MA you should be a BA. If he is 5'4'tall you shouldn’t be more than 5'3'tall. If he is earning five hundred rupees you should never earn more than four hundred and ninety-nine rupees. That’s the only rule to follow if you want a happy marriage…No partnership can ever be equal. It will always be unequal, but take care it is unequal in favor of the husband. If the scales tilt in your favor, God, help you, both of you.”
One day, a girl visited their home to interview the working women. She interviewed Manu too and asked him “How does it feel when your wife earns not only the butter but most of the bread as well?” Manu smiled at the question but didn’t answer.

He had attacked her ruthlessly that night. And she endured, unable to fight against his strength. And she had continued to endure well after that. Saru knows that another reason for Manu’s anger is Boozie’s excessive interest in her. While Saru always respected Boozie as her senior colleague and teacher, Boozie had an interest in her as a woman. He would often help her during her time of need, offering her loans or helping her get admission to college for her MD. Manu never asked her the reason for Boozie’s help, but he had his own conclusions.

Baba listens to Saru’s struggles patiently and comforts her. He asks her, “Aren’t you sufficient for yourself?” He reminds her that her mother is dead, offering her a choice, that if she decides, she can remain at her father’s house forever.

Saru receives a letter from Manu, informing her that he is visiting her. Saru remembers her first holiday with her family. While shopping for a suitcase with her husband, Manu for their holiday, Saru and Manu meet a colleague of Manu’s and his wife. The couple asks Manu if he is going somewhere to which he replies that he with his family is going to Ooty on a small holiday. The wife of Manu’s colleague then remarks that had her husband married a doctor (like Manu did) he too would have had the good fortune to go to Ooty. Saru says that the observation of the wife is enough to arouse the savage and sadist in Manu in the bed with her. But then again, in the morning Manu becomes a normal, kind husband who leaves Saru to take a rest in the hotel while he takes the children for an outing. Sitting alone in the hotel, Saru recalls the times when her mother would treat her harshly while plaiting her hair. Saru relives the pain of being harshly treated by her mother and begins to sob.

Saru is yet to decide what she really wants from her life, will she return with Manu and try to help him get rid of his depression, will she return with him and continue to suffer the humiliation, or will she decide to say no to him and stay with her father? The novel ends inconclusively.

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!