The Reception
Etude du texte : The reception
This text is an excerpt taken from the book Dishonored, written by Maria Barrett. In this excerpt, Indrajit welcomes Colonel Mills and his wife at a party and he introduces him to his son, Jagat. The latter has a very defying attitude and starts a verbal fight ith the colonel, who is left speechless at the end of the passage.
So as to study this text, we will study first a picture of the atmosphere between the Indians and the British during the colonization in India in the late 19Th century. Thenwe will study the verbal fight between Jagat and colonel Mills
I- A picture of india in the late 19th century
A- The picture
1- The drawing accompanying the text shows a domestic scene in the 19th century. We can see a family of 5 on the veranda of a vast b ungalow, living an existence that seems both contented and luxurious. Judging by the way these people are dressed and the number of servants we can suppose that the father is an important civil servant. They are surrounded by servants who are at their beck and call
2- What is striking in this picture is the feeling the family’s life seems a replica of the life the upper middle class in England lived at the time. As a matter of fact the family has made a pont at being well-dressed, as if they wanted to give a faultless image of themselves. Also the way the servants perform their tasks. No hostility can be felt between masters and servants as if the roles are defined and accepted.
B- The British
The two characters embodying the British are Colonel Mills and his wife
1- Colonel Mills is in a way a caricature of the stiff necked British senior officer who regards natives as inferior. First the colonel refuses to acknowledge the Indian royalty, through indrajit’s family. No matter what their status is in the Indian society , Colonel Mills thinks that all natives are inferior and it is with utmost reluctance that he alks in this party. It
This text is an excerpt taken from the book Dishonored, written by Maria Barrett. In this excerpt, Indrajit welcomes Colonel Mills and his wife at a party and he introduces him to his son, Jagat. The latter has a very defying attitude and starts a verbal fight ith the colonel, who is left speechless at the end of the passage.
So as to study this text, we will study first a picture of the atmosphere between the Indians and the British during the colonization in India in the late 19Th century. Thenwe will study the verbal fight between Jagat and colonel Mills
I- A picture of india in the late 19th century
A- The picture
1- The drawing accompanying the text shows a domestic scene in the 19th century. We can see a family of 5 on the veranda of a vast b ungalow, living an existence that seems both contented and luxurious. Judging by the way these people are dressed and the number of servants we can suppose that the father is an important civil servant. They are surrounded by servants who are at their beck and call
2- What is striking in this picture is the feeling the family’s life seems a replica of the life the upper middle class in England lived at the time. As a matter of fact the family has made a pont at being well-dressed, as if they wanted to give a faultless image of themselves. Also the way the servants perform their tasks. No hostility can be felt between masters and servants as if the roles are defined and accepted.
B- The British
The two characters embodying the British are Colonel Mills and his wife
1- Colonel Mills is in a way a caricature of the stiff necked British senior officer who regards natives as inferior. First the colonel refuses to acknowledge the Indian royalty, through indrajit’s family. No matter what their status is in the Indian society , Colonel Mills thinks that all natives are inferior and it is with utmost reluctance that he alks in this party. It