(Novel set in Victorian Bengal, on social and religious is...)
Novel set in Victorian Bengal, on social and religious issues. issue of romantic love between an affluent Brahmo woman and an indigent but brilliant young Hindu.
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was a Bengali novelist and short story writer. He wrote such books as Charitraheen and Shrikanta. He also wrote a lot of stories and converted three of his works into plays.
Background
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was born on September 15, 1876, in West Bengal. He was a son of Motilal Chattopadhyay and Bhuvanmohini. His father held irregular jobs and could not finish novels and stories that he had started writing, but passed on his imagination and love of literature to Sarat Chandra. His wife, Bhuvanmohini, and their five children lived for many years in his father-in-law Kedarnath Gangopadhyay's house in Bhagalpur, Bihar.
Education
Most of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's schooling was in informal village schools called pathshalas. He was a good student and got a double promotion that enabled him to skip a grade. He passed his Entrance Examination but could not take his First Arts examination or attend college due to lack of funds.
Career
In 1893, Sarat Chandra moved to Burma. He got a temporary job in Burma Railway's audit office and later worked for many years in Burma's public works accounts office. Sarat Chandra began publishing his first short stories at the age of seventeen, and in 1903 traveled to Rangoon, Burma, after winning first prize in a competition. In 1907, Sarat Chandra submitted the manuscript of Baradidi to the literary journal Bharati. The title story was printed anonymously and became quite widely read.
In 1916, Sarat Chandra moved back to India and settled in Howrah, near Kolkata. Chattopadhyay stayed for 11 years there. Then he made a house in the village of Samtabere. He spent the later years of his life as a novelist in Samtabere and in another house in Kolkata. His writing became so popular that he was the first writer from Bengal who was able to support himself on his writing income alone.
One of the most remarkable aspects of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay work is his ability to create and define realistic characters of amazing depth. Instead of fleshing out a character fully as soon as he or she is introduced, Sarat Chandra unveils the aspects of the character throughout the entire tale, allowing readers to get to know the character much as they would become acquainted with someone in their own lives.
Sarat Chandra tried to show that both good and evil are present in most people. Chandra was one of the few Indian writers who has written stories with women as the main characters. He allowed his female characters to establish and maintain their place in Indian literature.
Personality
Quotes from others about the person
He [Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay] has achieved the best reward of a novelist: he has completely won the hearts of Bengali readers.
Connections
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's first wife was a woman called Shanti. She bore him a child but both mother an a son died from the plague. After that, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay married his second wife Mokshada. She outlived him by 23 years.