The story “Punishment” by Rabindranath Tagore made me think of the play that we just read, “Hedda Gabler” by Henrick Ibsen. It could be because it was the most recent in my mind, but the character of Chandara in “Punishment” reminded me so much of Hedda in “Hedda Gabler.” I saw similar qualities in the two of them, as well as their tragic situations. In “Punishment”, Chandara is the wife of Chidam, a “compact and sturdy” woman who was “trim in her movements” with “restless, deep black eyes that missed nothing.” She was more put together than Radha, who was described as more “unkempt, sloppy”. She had a very strong willed personality – during one instance, her husband threatened to break every bone in her body if she went to the ghat by herself, yet she carelessly replied “The bones will mend.” In the story, Chandara’s husband asks her to take the blame for the murder of Radha, his brother’s wife, even though his brother was the one who did it. When Chandara is on trial, her husband tells her to say that it was an accident, that Radha attacked her first and it was self-defense. Instead, Chandara reacts bluntly to all of it, answering “No” to whether she was ill-treated or attacked first. “She seemed absolutely bent on going to the gallows…such fierce, passionate pride!”. Up to the very end she remains defiant, even when the doctor comes in and tells her that her husband wants to see her, she replies “To hell with him.”

Chandara’s strong-willed character reminded me so much of Hedda in “Hedda Gabler.” Like Chandara, Hedda had a more put together appearance, with an “aristocratic and elegant” figure, and eyes that were “steel-grey, cold and clear.” She too was restless in the story, restless of her settled down life with George Tesman. Like Chandara, Hedda was stubborn to the end, her defiance resonating even in how she died. After it was discovered that Eilert was killed by one of Hedda’s pistols, Judge Barack made it seem as though he was doing Hedda a favor by not saying anything. However, it came at a cost. Even Hedda realized, “So I’m in your power now, Judge. You have a hold over me from now on…Totally subject to your demands – and your will. Not free. Not free at all.” In the end, as her husband and Mrs. Elvsted got closer and the judge tried to exercise his control over her – saying “Oh, we’re going to have some good times together, the two of us” – Hedda took one of her pistols and shot herself in the temple, in her greatest act of defiance yet.

Both the women protagonists in “Punishment” and “Hedda Gabler” were strong willed and stubborn, even up to their own death. And while Chandara was executed, she still made the conscious decision (through her answers to the police) to die, as did Hedda when she directly killed herself. Both seemed to struggle with feeling restless on the inside, and trapped under the control of men. They were defiant in their words and actions, but more than that they had a true desire for freedom. Tragically, they found that freedom through death, both using their deaths as one last act of defiance.