Tagore,
Rabindranath. "Punishment." Lawall, Sarah. The Norton Anthology Of
World Literature. 2nd. Vol. f. New York City: W W Norton, 2001. 1693-1699.
Print.
Full text is available online at http://drhanan.com/comp/packet.pdf, pages 26-29
This perfectly
written fable, set in what is now Bengal at the turn of the nineteenth century,
tells the story of two brothers; the older brother who kills his wife in a fit
of rage, the younger who tries to convince his beautiful and willful wife to
take the blame for the murder in order to save his brother. In the middle of
the story we learn that the mistrust within their relationship leads them both
to react in ways that are not built on actual love, but a jealous possessive
nature that is individual to each of them. When Chidam receives attention from
other women in the village or comes home without extra earnings after being
gone several days, his wife Chandara takes action that ultimately makes him
jealous. He tries to lock her away as a possession, and she escapes to her
uncle’s house. Although she returns, he is forced to treat her as the kindred
spirit she truly is rather than a thing to be owned. “Ever-fearful love for his
elusive young wife racked him with intense pain” (Tagore 1696). He betrays her
true love yet again by placing her in mortal danger, in response “[s]he turned
her heart and soul away from him” (1697). Her love for the man squelched, she
sees death as a preferable alternative to living within the confines of his
false love. She does not deny the murder, and gives no excuse to her actions.
Only when she is sentenced to death and repels any visits to him does Chidam
understand the nature of his true love.
This final connection is an example of a love misunderstood, mistreated, and finally lost. The title aptly refers not only to Chandara’s fate, but to Chidam’s sentence of living on without ever being with his true mate, having realized too late the nature of true love. At his insistence on using her as a mere tool rather than honoring her soulful affection, she withdraws from him and his love found too late is unrequited.
This final connection is an example of a love misunderstood, mistreated, and finally lost. The title aptly refers not only to Chandara’s fate, but to Chidam’s sentence of living on without ever being with his true mate, having realized too late the nature of true love. At his insistence on using her as a mere tool rather than honoring her soulful affection, she withdraws from him and his love found too late is unrequited.