Introduction of the Poem
"The Sunshine Cat," a poem from the collection Summer in Calcutta (1965), delves into the stark contrast between lust and love, offering a compelling exploration of their consequences. This personal yet universally resonant poem portrays the tragic outcomes of a life consumed by lust, devoid of emotional and spiritual fulfillment. The poet, adopting a female perspective, sheds light on the plight of a helpless and frustrated woman in a modern, male-dominated society.
Critical Analysis of the Poem:
In the initial lines of The Sunshine Cat, the poet underscores the destructive outcomes of a lust-driven life, emphasizing that only genuine love can provide emotional and spiritual satisfaction. The poem realistically portrays the distress of a woman who, failing to find authentic love, endures sexual mistreatment and exploitation from those she loves. Despite her affections, particularly towards one individual, she receives nothing in return.
The woman's lustful husband, selfish and cowardly, overlooks her emotional needs, limiting their relationship to mere physical gratification. The poem explores the one-sided nature of lust, neglecting the emotional requirements of the other partner in a sexual relationship. Kamala Das contends that lust is a fleeting, momentary connection, while love constitutes a timeless spiritual bond.
The female persona in the poem undergoes physical and mental suffering at the hands of her unloving husband. Her genuine attempts at finding love with other men prove futile, as they turn out to be cynical and selfish, mirroring the traits of her husband. Despite clinging to them in a search for genuine love, these men offer nothing more than lust, leaving the protagonist emotionally unfulfilled.
Disillusioned by both her husband and other lovers, the woman seeks solace in isolation. She sheds tears due to the cynical and hostile attitudes of her lustful companions, fearing she might lose her sanity. The poem portrays her conscious detachment from mainstream life, constructing walls of tears around herself.
Frustration in love becomes the catalyst for disaster, destabilizing the woman's life and leading to intense emotional and intellectual suffering. Her marital and extramarital relationships leave her in a state of alienation, devoid of interest in life. This autobiographical passage reflects Kamala Das's personal experiences.
As the female persona's frustrations and disillusionment mount, her life becomes destabilized, with a profound impact on her mental well-being. Her realization that her self-styled loves were mere cynics, devoid of genuine affection, reinforces her sense of irrelevance as a woman.
Locked in a room full of books by her husband, the woman finds a brief respite in sunlight resembling a yellow cat. However, the onset of winter marks a tragic turn. The streak of light, likened to a cat, diminishes to a thin line, symbolizing the woman's deteriorating condition. Confined and humiliated, she loses her youth, freshness, and sexual allure.
Isolation and humiliation lead to premature destruction and death. Confined and dehumanized, the woman severs ties with the external world, rendering herself unfit for sexual exploitation. All forms of lustful relationships, whether marital or extramarital, share a common tragic fate in this poignant narrative.
Critical Summary of the Poem:
Though the poetess had loved her husband in the hope that he too loved her, she no longer loves him because he proved to be a selfish person and a coward. He did not respond to her love properly and proved to be an inadequate partner in the sex act. He showed himself to be a keen and observant lover when they had sex when, in sheer desperation, she acquired other lovers and went to bed with them.
It was her disgust and frustration with her husband that drove the poet to look for sex in all her extra - marital affairs. But even these other men were disappointing because of their selfish attitude as they made love to her. She tried her best to excite some genuine feeling of love in them by clinging to their bosoms which had a thick growth of hair as if wanting to hide their faces in her hair. These lovers were younger than the poet; she tried to make them forget everything except lovemaking. But each of them said that he could not “love” her; he could only be “kind” to her. Thus they were not able to provide her any real satisfaction; she could only shed tears over her disappointment; and she was not able to enjoy sound sleep after the sex act with them. She wept so profusely that she could have built walls with her tears- walls to hold her a prisoner.
The poetess’ husband was so cruel to her that he used to lock her up in a room containing books; he would unlock the room in the evening when he returned home from work. A ray of sunshine was the only companion she had during the day. That ray of sunshine looked like a yellow - coloured cat. When winter came, the sun's ray lost its brightness because of the cloudy skies; it was reduced to a thin line, as thin as a ray of hair. The poet became so emaciated and thin because of her chronic depression and despondency that she felt half - dead; she was no longer an object that a man could sexually desire.
