The Women of A Passage to India and Heat and Dust

A detailed Summary of The Women of A Passage to India and Heat and Dust

Literature throughout time has contained many similarities. These similarities become even more prevalent when authors share a similar style and inspirations. Two authors that have similar experiences are Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and E.M. Forster. Both these authors have written books that are in the modernism style. Jhabvala and Forster also were fascinated by India and choose the relationships between native Indians and English colonizers as one of their themes. These similarities helped produce books that have similar characters. The women, not native to India, in both Jhabvala' Heat and

Dust and Forster's A Passage to India, share many of the same attributes.

The most obvious similarities are those shared by Jhabvala's character Olivia and Forster's character Adela. Throughout the books, these two characters share many characteristics and experiences. The first experience they shared while in India is that both women are social with the native Indians. This was unacceptable to all Anglo-Indians. Olivia frequently visited the Nawab at his palace. She also entertained him and his companion, Harry at her home. For the majority of the book, Olivia's husband, Douglas is unaware of how frequently she visited the Nawab.

Another similar experience occurs near the end of both books. Both Olivia and Adela had relationships irreparably changed through the influence of India. If neither women was in India, their relationships probably would have remained intact. Olivia's marriage to Douglas was ruined because of her relationship with the Nawab. Olivia became very close with the Nawab. She eventually came to carry his child. Because Olivia did not believe the child she was carrying was her husband's, she decided to have an abortion. The abortion was discovered by the English doctor at the hospital she was taken to when she started to miscarry. After it was discovered that she had undergone an

Not only did Olivia and Adela share common experiences, they also shared

The Anglo-Indian women were discussing with Adela why she should not have wanted to see natives. All the women displayed a belief of superiority. This idea of superiority was also displayed at the Bridge Party thrown by Mr. Turton. The Bridge Party was an attempt to bridge the gap between the east and the west. It is very difficult to narrow a gap when one group feels they are significantly superior to the other group. Ronnie said to Mrs. Turton, "The great point to remember is that no one who's here matters; those who matter don't come. Isn't that so, Mrs. Turton?"8 Mrs. Turton went on to agree with

Forster, E.M. (1992). A Passage to India. New York: Everyman's Library, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Despite being written by different authors, the female characters in Jhabvala's Heat and Dust and Forster's A Passage to India are very similar. In spite of the similarities among characters the novels themselves are different. Not only do the novels have different themes, they were also written through different points of view. While A Passage to India is mainly written through the view of a narrator, the point of view in Heat and Dust changes from the narrator to a third person view developed through Olivia's letters. These are a few of the many differences between the novels that occur

like the changes that had taken place in Ronnie since his arrival in India. After the trial, Adela also expressed dissatisfaction with other Anglo-Indians. She "renounced her own people."6 She no longer desired to be around any of the Anglo-Indians. Adela and Olivia shared a common displeasure with the Anglo-Indians.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2083
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English