The Peacock Spring by Rumer Godden
"The Peacock Spring" by Rumer Godden is a compelling narrative set in postcolonial India, exploring themes of love, social class, and cultural identity. The story follows Una and her half-sister Halcyon, who are abruptly taken from their educational pursuits in England back to their father's estate in Delhi. Here, they encounter the complexities of a rigid social hierarchy that persists despite political independence, particularly as their father, Sir Edward, navigates his relationship with Alix Lamont, their Eurasian governess. As Una struggles with her educational disruptions and her father's infatuation with Alix, she forms a bond with Ravi, a young gardener who shares her frustrations about societal constraints.
The plot thickens as their connection deepens, leading to a passionate but fraught romance that culminates in a life-altering pregnancy. The narrative exposes the challenges faced by young lovers constrained by familial and societal expectations, culminating in tragic separation and loss. Godden's work resonates particularly with young adult readers, as it bridges cultural differences while addressing universal themes of adolescence, personal growth, and the consequences of choices made under social pressures. Through "The Peacock Spring," Godden invites readers to reflect on the nuances of multicultural interactions and the enduring struggles of youth across diverse backgrounds.
The Peacock Spring by Rumer Godden
First published: 1975
Subjects: Coming-of-age, family, love and romance, race and ethnicity, and sexual issues
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Psychological realism
Time of work: The early 1970’s
Recommended Ages: 13-18
Locale: Delhi, India
Principal Characters:
Una Gwithiam , a bright, sensitive fifteen-year-old schoolgirl whose goal is to study mathematics at an English universityHalcyon “Hal” Gwithiam , Una’s pretty, carefree, twelve-year-old half sisterSir Edward Gwithiam , their father, a United Nations official in IndiaAlix Lamont , his beautiful, manipulative Eurasian mistress and future wifeRavi Bhattacharya , a handsome young Indian student and poet, who is temporarily working as a gardener on Sir Edward’s estate
Form and Content
The Peacock Spring is a poignant story of love and loss set in postcolonial India, where a rigid social system has not been markedly altered by political independence. In selecting their associates, both Indians and British residents are still very much aware of class and, when it comes to marriage, of ethnicity as well. If even so powerful a person as Sir Edward Gwithiam meets with resistance when he crosses the established lines, it is obvious that two young lovers, still financially dependent, cannot hope to marry, no matter how sincere their feelings for each other. Rumer Godden’s novel is of special interest to young Western readers because it shows them what life can be like in an exotic world very different from their own and at the same time emphasizes the fact that, wherever they live, young adults have the same problems with teachers, parents, and their own emotions.
The story begins with a mystery. Two days into the term at their expensive school in England, Una Gwithiam and her younger half sister, Halcyon (or “Hal”), are told that their father, Sir Edward, has sent for them and that they must return to India immediately. While Hal accepts the news with equanimity, Una is appalled, since she is preparing for the examinations that will ensure her admission to an English university. She is even more disturbed when, on arriving in Delhi, she finds that the girls will be taught by a beautiful Eurasian woman, Alix Lamont, who Una soon discovers is only half-educated, incapable of teaching her mathematics or much else. Soon, Una and Hal realize that Edward has brought them home not because he was lonely for them, as he claimed, but because if the girls are in the house, Alix can live with him, under the pretext of being their governess.
Hal is soon enjoying the lavish social life in which, as Edward’s daughters, the girls are automatically involved, but Una resents Alix both because of her influence over Edward and because of her ineptness as a teacher. Edward is too infatuated to listen to Una. The estate’s young gardener, Ravi Bhattacharya, sympathizes with her, however, because he too has had his education interrupted. A college student from a good family, Ravi had to drop out of school and is working a menial job until the authorities forget about his rash involvement in a political movement. At first, Ravi and Una are only friends. Ravi arranges for Una to be tutored in mathematics, Una listens to the poems Ravi has written, and they talk about life. The two are more attracted to each other, however, than they realize. After Alix whips her for disobedience, Una turns to Ravi for comfort, and, almost inevitably, they make love.
During the next few weeks, Una is too happy to worry about her future, but then she becomes pregnant. Ravi and Una decide to run away and hide at the home of Ravi’s grandmother until they can be married. Edward tracks them down, however, and informs Ravi’s father as to what has happened. Both parents agree that the young lovers must be separated. Alix forces Una to drink something that causes her to miscarry, and Una is sent back to school in England, while Hal is dispatched to America, to live with her mother. Later, Una learns that Ravi has won India’s most prestigious award for poetry. Sir Edward makes Alix his wife, thereby assuring her of wealth, prestige, and social acceptance.
Critical Context
An award-winning author of books for children, Rumer Godden has also seen many of the novels that she wrote with adults in mind find a place on the shelves in school libraries and even on textbook lists. In addition to The Peacock Spring, especially popular with young adults are An Episode of Sparrows (1955), a story of war-ravaged London, and Greengage Summer (1958), a semiautobiographical account of adventures in France’s wine country. Like her novels The River (1946) and The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1963), these are coming-of-age stories, with appealing young protagonists, told with Godden’s characteristic sensitivity and understanding.
Increasingly, however, Godden is recognized as a writer about multicultural issues. Her love of India, where she spent the first twelve years of her life, and of the people who live there is evident in all of her works with an Indian setting. These works include books for children, such as The Valiant Chatti-Maker (1983); novels whose protagonists are young adults, such as The River, The Peacock Spring, and Breakfast with the Nikolides (1942); and works focusing more specifically on adults, such as Black Narcissus (1939), which concerns a group of nuns in the Himalayas, and Kingfishers Catch Fire (1953), whose central character is a widow living in Kashmir. In her autobiography A Time to Dance, No Time to Weep (1987), Godden describes her Indian childhood as a wonderful period in her life, when she and her sisters lived happily within a close and loving family, stimulated by the beauty and the richness of the alien culture that flourished just outside their door. Although Godden recognizes that Indian society had rules as rigid as those of the British subjects, it is significant that she herself did not feel repressed until, at twelve, she found herself immured in a boarding school in England, nor did she feel alienated until she was, in expatriate terms, “at home.” It is appropriate that, as young adults learn to appreciate cultures other than their own, they turn to Godden who, while recognizing the problems that are inevitable when one lives in a multicultural society, believes that they are far outweighed by the rewards.
Sources for Further Study
Booklist. LXXII, January 1, 1976, p. 613.
Contemporary Review. CCXXVIII, January, 1976, p. 45.
Library Journal. CI, July, 1976, p. 1555.
Observer. November 23, 1976, p. 31.
Publisher’s Weekly. CCIX, February 2, 1976, p. 89.
Times Literary Supplement. January 30, 1976, p. 100.