Bits of Life 2

M-7 Words-1000

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Rajmohan’s Wife was the first published novel in English by an Indian.

Incidentally, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee was also the author of India’s earliest national anthem “Vande Mataram” which means salutations to Mother India. The song is much popularized at present by the leadership of India, to inculcate and rebuild patriotism in the youth and old alike.

Coming to the story of Rajmohan’s wife, the beautiful and brave Matangini, married to a reprehensible man and in love with her sister’s husband, represents the vitality of women who remain strong against brutality and restrictive expectations of middle class Indian society at that time. The question I would raise is whether it was scrupulous to fall in love with another woman’s wife. It remains a debatable topic.

Matangini who risks her life to save her love, Madhav, isn’t rewarded at the end of the book, she was sent to her father’s house and there she died an early death. The novel has two villains Mathur and Rajmohan. The protagonist, Matangini is a representation of brave Indian woman of the 19th century who doesn’t fear to take risks.

A major theme of the novel is, the role of women in nineteenth century India as they struggle against oppression as the symbolic representation of the new spirit of India trying to make strenuous efforts to assert itself over patriarchal and colonial rule.

Matangini knows what is right and what is wrong and she will not move along with the wrong. Matangini, like the new India, is willing to strive in new ways and to assert her independence.

One of the novel’s villains, Mathur is a cruel, vulgar man who is the originator of the plot against Madhav. Rajmohan too, opposes Matangini and Madhav and is involved in the plot.

Rajmohan’s Wife provides an image of a traditional Indian society and all its intricate ideological, political, social and cultural aspects. The novelist presents Matangini’s courage, passion and righteousness against the limiting and socially judgmental society of old India.

This explains the difference between conforming Indian society of that time and the newly emerging modern Indian society. Each character represents social conditions and ideological configurations rather than merely the portrayal of an individual.

Rajmohan’s Wife is quite realistic in its representation of Bengali middle class life of nineteenth century.

The novel’s plots and characters symbolically illustrate the birth of modern India that was struggling for independence and dignity as well as the story of a modern Indian woman’s struggle to become independent through political, cultural and social contexts of that era.

The novel reflects on the positive and negative issues of society through the characters. The novelist projects how women long for freedom in a male dominated society.

The simple writing style of the novel is one of the best things about the novel. The story is gripping as it has its historic significance and it has a well-knit plot. Bankim’s writing changed and influenced the history of the realist fiction as well as the historical novel.

The age in which Bankim Chandra wrote was a transitional age- in many ways foreign rule accelerated the transformation of Indian society from medieval to modern. An English educated middle class created a new literature in different from that of Indian languages in the 19th century. Bankim writes English as if he is transliterating Bengali, his native language.

He chooses not to copy the style of the Western writings. The language used in the novel was a mix of the colloquial and proverbial styles.
The novel has melodramatic style of writing. The word “melodrama” has Greek origins, which is highly emotional while being presented on the stage.
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“The flourishing of melodrama in the 19th century produced a kind of naively sensational entertainment in which the main characters were either excessively virtuous or excessively evil.

There are melodramatic elements such as an abundance of blood, thunder, thrills and violent action. Realism is introduced in the shape of
“extravagant tales of the wickedness of drinking, gambling and murdering “ says a critic.

About Matangini- “The dainty limbs of the woman of eighteen were not burdened with such abundance of ornaments, nor did her speech betray any trace of the East Bengal accent, which clearly showed that this perfect flower of beauty was no daughter of the banks of the Madhumati, but was born and brought up on the Bhagirathi in some place near the capital.”

“Her long locks were tied up in a careless knot on her shoulder, but some tresses had thrown away that bondage and were straying over her forehead and cheeks.”

In the beginning she is contrasted with her companion Kanakmayee – she is reluctant to even part with her veil.
“Kanak laughed and said, ‘come now, my proud girl, let’s go and show beauty’s splendor to the gaping idiots.”

“Hang you, monkey!” cried the other and hid her blushing face in her veil.”

When her face is revealed, accidentally because of wind, she was punished by her cruel husband and she didn’t fight back. This can place her in the tradition of good Hindu wives- submissive, modest and long suffering.

“Only tears were streaming down her face. At the sight of her silent suffering, the cruel man softened a little. He no longer tried to beat her, but continued his abuse.”

But the story later progresses in quite another way. She runs away from home at night.
About Matangini- “The dainty limbs of the woman of eighteen were not burdened with such abundance of ornaments,"

But the story later progresses in quite another way . She runs away from home at night in order to save her sister and brother-in-law putting life and everything in risk.

“Then summoning all her resolutions, she made rapid but noiseless steps. Her heart beat as she walked through the jungle path.
The dreary silence and the dark shadows appalled her.”

Matangini confesses her passion for Madhav Ghosh: “‘Ah, hate me not, despise me not,’ cried she with an intensity of feeling which