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The Widow Of Malabar: A Digital Edition, Mariana Starke

OER Student Projects

Mariana Starke’s The Widow of Malabar (1791) is a tragedy set on India’s Malabar Coast. The play depicts a widow reluctantly preparing to commit sati (the practice of a widow immolating herself on her husband’s funeral pyre). She becomes the point of contention in a conflict between a Hindu Brahmin and her former lover, the general leading an invading British force. Throughout the play, the Brahmins are portrayed as vicious barbarians, the British as noble harbingers of a more civilized way of life. The Widow of Malabar thus provides a valuable look into British views of India (and of its …