In Rabindranath Tagore’s “Punishment”, the reason why Chidam accuses his own wife for the murder of Radha was because he couldn’t grasp the idea of letting Chandra have an independent life. Chandra had gone to a ghat by herself and was talking with some man after finding this out, Chidam had said “If I ever hear that you’ve been to the ghat on your own, I’ll break every bone in your body” which shows the patriarchal marriage between them. When Chidam Tagore uses the theme of power in a hierarchrial society when he says that the women would constantly quarrel and no one would pay attention. It symbolizes how little or no power these women had and made me think of a class structure in where the weaker ones were fighting among themselves to have a power each other without actually gaining anything. When Chandra had fled to her maternal uncle’s house it shows how highly she valued the idea of freedom and when she realizes that her husband accuses her instead of his brother, she is faced with a harsh reality of herself and her place in this marriage and the society. A character from another reading who faced a similar conflict was Hedda Gabler. Hedda and Radha are unable to find their individuality in the marriage and are trapped in a patriarchal society where only actions of men are valued or influenced. Rather than being satisfied with this position, they both seek escapism in death. Radha expressed “I shall give my youth to the gallows instead of to you. My final ties in this life will be with them” shows how she had sacrificed herself in order to find her own expression. Similarly, Hedda Gabler had shot herself in the temple to take control over her own destiny rather than being controlled by Judge Brack.
Sangey, Thanks for these insights. I think you mean Chandara when you are referring to Radha. (Radha is the dead older wife.). I love your suggestion that both women fail to “find their individuality” within marriage. We see here that, even in Hedda’s case where class and income are not an issue, powerful, strong women find themselves constrained and even oppressed by marriage.