Devdas Mukherjee is the son of a wealthy zamindar in the Bengal village of Talshonapur, and Parvati, called Paro, is the daughter of a modest neighbouring family. They grow up inseparable, quarrelling and making up by the village pond. When Devdas is sent to Calcutta to study, Paro assumes that their bond will one day become marriage, but caste rank, money and family pride stand in the way.
Devdas proves unable to defy his parents at the decisive moment, and his hesitation sets off a chain of regret. In Calcutta a worldly friend introduces him to drink and to Chandramukhi, a courtesan who comes to love him with a devotion he can hardly accept. The novel moves between the village and the city, between the two women and the man who cannot choose a life.
Written in 1900 and published in 1917, the book is brief, plain in style and unsentimental about its hero's weakness, even though later film versions turned him into a tragic romantic icon. It is a critique of feudal family authority and social hierarchy as much as a love story, and its pull on Indian popular imagination has lasted more than a century.
Book details
| Author | Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay |
|---|---|
| First published | 1917 |
| Original language | Bengali |
| Translated by | Sreejata Guha |
| Genre | Classic |
| Type | Fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 140 |
| Setting | Talshonapur village and Calcutta, Bengal, early twentieth century |
Themes
- Unrequited love
- Class and family pride
- Self-destruction
- Alcoholism
- Social hierarchy
Who should read it
Anyone who knows the film versions and wants the spare, original story behind them.