M. M. Kaye’s Shadow of the Moon: A Study in Clash of Cultures and Religions in the British-India

Abstract

The content of the paper is an outcome of several years of thinking having lingered for a considerable period in the Researcher's mind. Since the Researcher had started dealing with the reading and with the problem of making of Historical Novel, there have been several facets and dimensions, that attracted the attention and ultimately resulted in this Interdisciplinary research paper, presented before the global readership to have more insights and views on the topic which is the backbone of creation of any historical novel.

(M)ary (M)argaret Kaye, through her bestselling historical novels namely Shadow of the Moon (1908), Far Pavilions (1962), and Trade Wind (1978) has successfully recreated the socio-cultural past of the then periods, focusing on the then area of the Globe with the then customs and traditions of the people along with the individual and community psyche towards an individual and community too. The wars for lands, wars for the spread of religion, wars out of hatred, wars between empires, the traditional rivalry between races and religions, their understanding of the term called humanity and their attitudes towards humanity, their tearing out between the self and community orientations, their definitions of life and achievements, their experience of pains and pleasures, agony and anxiety is the subject matter placed and presented by M. M. Kaye in all her three historical novels. The present paper deals with the psychological setup and mental makeup of Kaye's real-life characters portrayed in her Shadow of the Moon, with these emotions and issues presented artistically by the author with various types of feelings and kaleidoscopic situations, resulting in the 'never to end world' in reader's mind, having a fair combination of fact and fiction and finally making her novel plenty of this most important characteristic of any Historical Novel.