Woman Unknown-Critical Summary

Woman unknown – Rabindranath Tagore Genre : Traditional realistic fiction This story, written from the point of view of a first person narrator, tells of a 27 year – old man immersed in Indian tradition. The story exposes the readers to Indian culture of the period when cultural practices, especially arranged marriage and dowry system, were more common. Part of the appeal of the story is portrayal of the woman unknown who struggles to break out her stereotypical role. Theme: Standing up for one’s right Tagore handles the theme in the form of standing up for one’s rights with subtlety and understatement. His treatments of the themes can be compared to that of M.G. Vassanji’s in ‘Marriage is a private Affair and Dahl’s ‘Lamb to slaughter”. Technique: There are elements in the form he has used which one should know, namely, prologue, flashback and epilogue, so that we can understand how the author is able to use the first person narrator to tell the events of the story and still comment on the significance. Prologue: Opening or introductory section of a text. Epilogue: A closing or concluding part of a text. Flashback: 1. A device that shifts the narrative from the present to the past, usually to reveal a change in character or illustrate an important point. 2. A device that allows the writer to present events that happened before the time of the current narration or the current events in the fiction. Flashback techniques include memories, dreams, stories of the past told by characters, or even authorial sovereignty. (That is, the author might simply say, "But back in Tom's youth. . . .") Flashback is useful for exposition, to fill in the reader about a character or place, or about the background to a conflict. Advantages:  Shows a change in character or situation  Builds suspense  Exemplifies an important point  Makes the story interesting Disadvantages:  Makes the scenes in the story unclear  Creates confusion in the minds of the readers. The readers may lose track. Point of view: First person narrator Conflict: Man vs Man, Man vs society etc. Setting: Calcutta, Kanpur, in the train. Questions to Ask When Writing in First Person Is this the character who is best qualified to tell this story? Sometimes, the central character is best qualified. Sometimes, it's another character; for example, the Sherlock Holmes stories are narrated by Watson. Holmes wouldn't seem nearly so clever or impressive if the reader could see exactly what he was thinking. On the other hand, a mystery narrative that gets away with first person focusing on the central character, and yet doesn't reveal the train of thought, would be Raymond Chandler's novels, which follow the detective Philip Marlowe. Chandler mostly does a very good job of concealing Marlowe's inner thoughts by making Marlowe the kind of tough guy who doesn't go in for a lot of introspective, touchy-feely stuff; however, his SRHSS/For reference only

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writing has still been criticized for a few instances of hiding what should have been obvious to the reader. In general, be sure to show all of the relevant details the character's senses reveal. Thoughts and feelings can be hidden for later revelation – for example, Bob looks at a picture of his father and feels sad, but only in the next chapter do we understand whether this is because Bob's father is dead, dying, estranged or simply because he recently insulted Bob's accomplishments. However, when using first person, trying too hard to imply one of these options and then revealing a different story later is not playing fair. If using misdirection, be subtle. What kind of character is the narrator? How emotional is this person; how thoughtful and introspective? The character's narrative voice will reveal very different things depending on these factors. Let's take the same situation – Jane loves Bob and hasn't told him – viewed through the eyes of three different Janes. The first Jane, who is neither very emotional nor very introspective, might tell the reader that Bob was a great guy, strong and smart and loyal, and she'd always want him around to go to bat for her when problems come up in her life. She isn't talking about her own feelings: rather, she tells the reader what she knows about Bob, and leads them to draw their own conclusions. The second Jane, who is very emotional but not very introspective, might tell the reader that she felt butterflies in her stomach when Bob was around; that when Bob complimented her dress, her whole mood improved; that she thought Bob had a great smile and it made her think of children with that smile. She wouldn't linger on the implications of these feelings. The third Jane, who is introspective about her emotions, might tell the reader her thoughts about Bob: would she want to marry Bob? Why or why not? What kind of person does she think he is, and does she think her own personality traits are compatible? Advantages and Disadvantages of Writing in First Person POV The above kind of internal monologue is both a great advantage and a great disadvantage of writing in first person point of view. A writer can tell stories this way that can't be told in any other way: when a character puts together complex thoughts and feelings, or puzzles out a situation, it can be quite exciting – but on the other hand, if that character is just mooning on about their baser emotions, it can bore the reader. And in any case, a writer should always make sure to alternate scenes of introspection and action. A character's inner thoughts can be rewarding, but only if they're about something that the reader has seen, felt, or experienced through the character's perceptions. Philosophizing about a boring life just bogs down the story. Switching Viewpoints One final note on first person: switching viewpoints can liven up a story, or weaken it, so consider carefully when deciding to write more than one viewpoint. The strength of having multiple viewpoints in a first-person story is that it shows more information and more perspective to the reader. The weakness is that the story may not need all of this information – and that when character viewpoints are added just to provide information, it can come off as dry and boring. The antidote is to make certain all viewpoint characters are interesting people in their own right. Summary and critical analysis Anupam, a 27 year old man reflects on the incident which has changed his life. Tagore through Anupam exposes the immersed Indian culture and tradition, especially the arranged marriage and the dowry system prevailing then. Tagore handles the theme of standing up for one’s right through the character of the unknown woman. The theme of the story can also be compared to the story ‘Lamb to slaughter” where, women are subjected and deprived of their choice and opinion, however, like Mary, Kalyani, the Unknown woman, too breaks out of her stereotypical role. The author uses descriptive images and similes to give us vivid image on the character and incidents in the story. SRHSS/For reference only

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The story opens with Anupam, the narrator, a young eligible bachelor, who has completed his university examination and achieved his Master’s degree. The narrator has attained the marriage age and is now waiting to get married. Though he is physically grown up to look for a bride, yet he has never grown up as a man because he was pampered and fussed by his mother, Anupam is a typical example for Indian sort. He has good manners, does not smoke and is very obedient son, following the orders as trained, not looking into whether it was wise or not. Now that he is ready for marriage, he requests his friend Harish to talk it over with his uncle, who was barely six years older to him. After Harish eloquently persuaded the uncle about Anupam’s marriage, they, the elders follow the custom of looking for a suitable bride for Anupam. Marriages formed out of love, “Love Marriage” do happen in India, but it is not the norm. So Tagore exposes the accepted the fact of the families; picking up the partners and the method of exchanging their photos with their bio data, until then they are not allowed to see each other till the day of their marriage. Unfortunately, Anupam has been even deprived of seeing the woman he was, to wed, thus Tagore keeps up the suspense of title unknown, woman till the end. The uncle is surprised to hear that the girl has already turned fifteen; he finds it hard to believe what took her so long to get married. It’s here that Tagore shocks us with conventional and accepted practices of child marriages, who carry on their lives, as their parents and grandparents have done before them. “The first time Shambunath Babu meets the uncle, we find a great difference in their character. Shambunath, the bride’s father like all the parents of daughter is submissive, silent and doesn’t take part in the discussion, where as the uncle talks incessantly to prove that in wealth and rank their family is not inferior to anyone in the country. He wants to make Shambunath grateful to him for accepting his daughter as their bride in this so called “cultured family”. He has even accepted to give a substantial dowry and meets the demands of the groom’s family. The uncle represents the proud and greedy patrician society, who has fixed notion about marriage. He is against daughters of rich family, yet he has ingrained love for money. He wanted a Father-inlaw for Anupam, who had no money, yet would not fail to provide it. Someone who could be squeezed, but need not be respected and the Daughter-in-law as bride who enters the house with her head bowed with humility. Seeing the low-spirited man the uncle then takes control over it by ruining the marriage occasion right before the marriage. Anupam then narrates the incident that took place few hours before marriage. Unlike the other Indian marriage, his marriage was different. It wasn’t the groom who walked out of the wedding, but it was the bride and her family who rejected the marriage. The uncle’s miserliness and greed is clearly portrayed here. The uncle who is determined never to be deceived by the bride’s parents insists to examine the jewelries. He wasn’t sure of the father’s honesty, because he is aware of the true stories where the bride’s family not being able to pay the dowry even after the marriage- once the wedding is over, there wouldn’t be anyway of undoing the fraud. With this doubtful nature, he proceeds with his thought and thus creates a twist in the life of the narrator. Shambunath Babu as a changed father does not see any good future for his daughter in the so called “cultured family”. He is no way going to make any sort of relation with a family that considered him capable of stealing his own daughter’s jewelleries (relate the incident, of the family gold smith checking on the gold content) Shambunath represents the modern outlook of a concerned father, who doesn’t care about what the society might say after the broken marriage, but is confident enough to believe that his daughter will suffer because of this marriage. As years passed, none of the family members mentioned about Anupam’s marriage. His uncle too was embarrassed to talk about marriage again. His mother wanted to defer fresh negotiation until the memory of his humiliation had faded. But, the thought of unknown woman haunted him. Anupam began imagining weird things and connecting thought about her, who remained indistinct. He could not possess her in reality or in his imagination, because he missed the opportunity to see her picture. The conflict he experiences is too tough for him to go through with his life. Binu Da has described her beautiful. Anupam’s heart felt for the unknown girl, who remained the walls he couldn’t cross: with news of this never to marry sends a strong feeling inside him. The black tide of his thought, which flowed, created vengeance, for the humiliation they have done. But on the other hand, the other stream, clear as tear, assumes the shape of swan and tells him, to fly to her and be there with her imagining the story to end happily. SRHSS/For reference only

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The Epilogue of the story takes us to the situation where we find Anupam defying his uncle’s order and mother’s command. And insisting on proposing to the woman he loves: The unknown woman who changed and renewed his life. He recounts the point in the train incident where it becomes endless. The voice of the Bengali girl in the dark fascinated him. He found it mesmerizing because he is a person who has always been interested in human voice, his voice that really makes him imagine what is in the innermost soul of the person. Though she remained beyond his reach; the destiny somehow supported him in the train, where he sees her, calling his mother and offering her a place. The narrator was too carried away with the tone in her voice that created a magic and turned every word into gold to him. He was also astonished beyond belief to find her confident. When the station master commanded all of them to vacate the seat for the two Sahibs, Anupam stayed quiet and was even ready to leave, but the girl reproached the station manager tearing off the name tags and threw it on them. On knowing that unknown woman was the woman he was to wed; he feels a sense of regret for having lost her. He then makes up his mind and changes, from the typical obedient son to an independent man. The change in Anupam is an epitome of his outlook to see through the goodness of an action and not be blinded by the age old orthodox traditions. Though Kalyani has rejected his proposal, the faith that an unknown woman instilled in him on the dark night has now made him find a room there. He makes him useful to her whenever he could. Anupam’s cowardice and timidity is something Kalyani doesn’t possess. She embodies a nature so bold and confident to fit in a society where women are looked down. Hence, the author creates personality so different from typical Indian woman. With this, the readers are made to reflect about a change in the culture, a cultural re-thinking on the status of women, which can be achieved only through education. Thus, we see Kalyani, dedicating her life to the motherland educating women. Study questions  From what point of view is the story written?  List the characters encountered in the story? Write two or three lines about what you know about their character.  What simile does Anupam use to describe his uncle’s miserliness?  Who is Shambunath?  How does uncle treat Shambunath when he comes with the marriage proposal?  Mention the arrangements made by Anupam’s family for the marriage.  What happens to Anupam’s marriage? Why?  What was the reaction of Anupam when the marriage ceremony did not take place?  What are the reasons you think Shambunath was right in doing what he did?  What do each of the characters Shambunath, the Uncle and Kalyani symbolize?  Decide in what ways the title is appropriate to the story?  Explain: Prologue, Epilogue and Flashback.  Contrast Anupam’s timid ness with the courage and tenacity of Kalyani.  Mention Kalyani’s encounter with the officials who tried to occupy their compartment in the train?  Write a brief note on the character of Kalyani.  Show external conflict between the Uncle and Shambunath?  What kind of father-in-law uncle wants to get for his nephew? SRHSS/For reference only

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 Shambunath refused to give his daughter in marriage to Anupam? Why?  Why does the marriage of Anupam and Kalyani end in a fiasco? How far is his uncle responsible for this?

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