great works ii – 2850 jta 12:25-2:05: love letters from the world

In Tagore’s “Punishment,” Tagore was trying to focus the readers attention on a particular problem, the betrayal of a spouse and their love. “When her husband asked her to admit to the murder, Chandara stared at him, stunned; her black eyes burnt him like fire. Then she shrunk back, as if to escape his devilish clutches.”(896) This describes the wife’s reaction to her husband when he betrays her by asking her to take the blame for his brothers doing. Chandara could not believe that her husband would risk her life to save his brothers, for something he did. She is so hurt inside from this betrayal, that she condemns herself to death by admitting that she had committed the murder of her sister-in-law. Her husband did not want her to die and quickly regrets asking such a thing from her but it is too late. The betrayal of loved ones always has a drastic reaction by the betrayed because of how hurt they are by the fact that they are even considered to be thought of in that way. In this case, I would say Chandara felt like she was disposable compared to her husband’s brother. This ultimately causes her to resent him enough to never want to see him again, she would rather die.