THE WIDOW REMARRIAGE - 3

The Widow Remarriage is revised and reedited version of Col.P.M. Taylor’s work About the Tara –A Tale of Maratha Brahmin Widow is revised and reedited version of Col.P.M. Taylor’s work with same title published in 1879 in England. The original historical romance is of 93 chapters and 530 pages in crown-size print. The Widow Remarriage Act was passed in 1856 in spite of protests by the upper caste Brahmin caste people.   The long story is told  by the ‘omniscient’ narrator in Fieldingsque manner.  The two strands of the narrative are -one of Tara the high caste Brahmin widow and the other of Rajah Shivaji’s assassination of Afzul Khan the military officer serving the Adil Shah dynasty of Bijapur Kingdom. Of the two only Tara’s story is chosen and modified to suit the interest of the contemporary readers highlighting the progressive dimension of the widow remarriage of a Hindu widow and Fazil Khan an officer who falls in love with her and marries after the siege of Sholapur by the forces of Bijapur. After marriage she is renamed by groom’s party as ‘Ayesha’ but she chooses to remain Tara for him retaining her Hindu identity. It is great story of suffering anxiety sorrow frustration and love.