Kamala
What do you think were some of Satthianadhan’s purposes in writing this book? How would these have been affected by her life situation as an educated Brahmin woman? By her family’s minority Christian status?
To what extent would you describe this novel as realist? Romantic or sentimental? To what 19th century British or American novels might it be compared?
How does the author present conditions for a child wife, even in the Brahmin caste? Would these conditions apply to older wives?
How would you describe the heroine’s character? What may have motivated Satthianadhan to portray a young girl who has lived in the countryside until her marriage? To present a heroine who is sweeting-tempered, intelligent, diligent, and eager to please?
How are the controversies over the desirability of female education significant to the plot?
How would the novel’s effect have been altered had Kamala been a bolder or more discontented heroine?
How are marriages arranged, and with what purpose? What do we learn about the hierarchy in a Hindu family? To what do you attribute the jealousies described?
What do we learn about Kamala’s husband? What are his views of women’s education? How are they reflected in his romantic impulses? In what ways are his actions inconsistent?
What roles do jewels play in the culture described in the novel? How do we know the author’s response to an emphasis on female jewelry?
How is Sai described? Why is she a threat? Why may the author have chosen an educated woman as antagonist? Are there ironies inherent in so doing?
What do we learn about Sai’s past? What has driven her to a life others consider immoral?
What seems Satthianadhan’s views on native religious-based medical practices? (66)
How are Indian Hindu rituals described? (69, 8)What aspects of them does Satthianadhan present favorably? Negatively? What are some of the negative features of night-time religious practices?
What forms of religious belief does the narrator present most favorably? (84, 98, 105, 106)
What point does the novel make of female friendship? How do Kamala and her friends help one another?
What motivates the heroine to continue living despite depression and loss? (birth of child, 140) Would this have been an unusual ending for a British novel of the period?
What kind of closure is provided by the ending? Are there equivalents to a tale of two lovers living apart and devoting themselves to charity in the British tradition? To what extent does this ending resolve the conflicts and problems raised within the novel?
What do you make of Garesh’s sudden death? How does this affect Kamala’s status?
To what extent does the writer’s view coincide with the approaches of modern post-colonial critics? In some cases, may there be differences?
Was this a good novel? Would its British audience have found it enlightening?