Women’s Web is saying Goodbye! Please make sure you read this important notification.
What if you find a letter addressed to you, folded within the pages of a treasured novel? From one of the protagonists, too! How would that make you feel?
What if you were to find a letter addressed to you, folded within the pages of a treasured novel? From one of the protagonists, no less! How would that make you feel?
I ran my hand gently over the cover of Hardy’s The Return of the Native. Memories beckoned me, imploring me to travel with them down their lanes. I flipped through the pages. A piece of paper fell down. It had turned a tad yellow, but held a mesmerising allure. As I picked it up, my eyes were drawn towards the cursive handwriting. It was as if a ballet dancer had gracefully glided over it. ‘Who could have written it?’ I wondered. I decided to read it. It was inside my book after all, so it belonged to me. Armed with that reasoning, I curled up on the sofa.
“Dearest Narayani,” it began, making me sit up.
“Do you know how stifling it is in Egdon Heath? I apologise profusely if I startled you. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Eustacia Vye. I am sure it will ring a bell now! Since my childhood, I have roamed around this cursed place, yearning for company, for love, and yet, I felt intense hatred towards the Heath. Am I wrong? Is it unacceptable, especially for a woman, to not have an affinity towards the place she spent her years? I have a feeling the answer is in the affirmative. I haven’t seen Wildeve and Clym being questioned about their choices!
I had high hopes on my husband, and when I saw them turning into vapour, I despaired. Why was I being terrorised for this? Do you recollect that notorious incident with my mother-in-law, where my silence led to a chain of incidents, culminating in her death by snakebite? For days, I was consumed by guilt.
Guilt. How effortlessly women take refuge in this prison! Innumerable women have read this book, but I really do not see any betterment in their lives. Didn’t the meat turn out to be delectable? Did she come home late after a gruelling day at work? Did she catch a wink of sleep in broad daylight, while her child cried, for a tiny second? I regret to tell you, Narayani, that the answer to all these questions is a resounding YES.
I have the audacity to smirk. Please forgive me. It’s just that it is tinged with relief. I realise that eras later, there has been no change in your lives. I see you are allowed to wear pants, but irrespective of the attire, the all-pervasive guilt has only spread its tentacles deeper. I never thought I would say this, but I am glad I was not born in the allegedly modern age.
Nothing has changed. Absolutely nothing.
With that, I end my monologue. Egdon Heath and its pagan surroundings beckon me.
I seek your permission and bid you a goodbye.
Yours sincerely,Eustacia Vye
My hands trembled as I finished reading the letter. Was I dreaming? Unbeknownst to me, tears trickled down my cheeks.
Author’s notes: Eustacia Vye is the lead female character in The Return of the Native by Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy. The novel takes place in a fictional place called Egdon Heath. Eustacia is in love with Wildeve, but marries the foreign-returned Clym. A series of tragic incidents unfold, and she falls to her death, along with Wildeve, leaving Clym alone.
Photo by Joy Deb from Pexels
I am an IT professional, lost in the monotonous world of Excel. So, I seek refuge in Word, pun intended. I write for various literary platforms and have quite a few anthologies to my credit. read more...
This post has published with none or minimal editorial intervention. Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Dear Women’s Web Community Member,
You may have wondered at our being on the quieter side during the last couple of months. Thank you for your patience, and we wanted to come back to you with a detailed note on what’s been happening at our end of things.
When we first began Women’s Web, as a blog from one woman’s desk along with a few like-minded souls, little could we have imagined the heights that it would soar to. Over the years, Women’s Web has published over 20000 stories (almost all by women), empowered countless women with the ideas, community and resources to chase their dreams, employed hundreds of women in core and project-based roles, and in the process, emerged as the OG women’s community in India. It has also inspired many others to build communities of a similar nature, all enabling women (and other-underrepresented groups) in their own ways.
Please enter your email address