Exhibit:

4. Gallery for "The Skeleton" (Tagore, 1892)

Preview of images

Picture of a Female Skeleton
A picture of a room in a Zenana.
Exterior of a Zenana
Young Girl Wearing a Bengali Sari
Woman in Mourning Robes
Example of Bridal-Robes
Image of a Champaka Flower

Parent Resource

Shades of Meaning: A Haunted Victorians Anthology

This gallery includes images and information to supplement the 1892 narrative “The Skeleton,” by Rabindranath Tagore, in the collection Shades of Meaning: A Haunted Victorians Anthology.

Images in this Exhibit

The Skeleton
Picture of a Female Skeleton

The entire duration of the text is spent with the Spirit searching for her skeleton. However, her skeleton has been lost to time and even if she found it, it would no longer contain any sign of the beauty she once had.

A female skeleton grave, Biskupin. Mar. 2020. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_female_skeleton_grave,_Biskupi...
A Room in a Zenana
A picture of a room in a Zenana.

After the death of the Spirit’s husband, the Spirit spent her days at the Zenana in isolation.  Depicted is a glimpse of what a room in a Zenana may have looked like. 

Kapur, Varun Shiv. Zenana Room. 5 Oct. 2008. https://www.flickr.com/photos/72155957@N00/3009472299
Zenana Exterior
Exterior of a Zenana

This image provides a visual on what the Zenana the Spirit resided in may have looked like. In the text, the Spirit frequently mentions spending time in the gardens or beneath the trees – the location of her inevitable death. Although the location itself appears beautiful, one can imagine how lonely it would be to reside here in solitude. 

Palace at Makarpura, Zenana Porch - Baroda in the 1890s. 1890. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palace_at_Makarpura,_Zenana_Porc...
Young Girl Wearing a Bengali Sari
Young Girl Wearing a Bengali Sari

In the text, the Spirit recalls having “dress[ed] herself secretly in a canary-coloured Sari” (para. 28), even though she was supposed to be wearing white robes of mourning. This image provides an idea of how this Sari may have looked. Furthermore, with the Sari being on a young girl we can reflect on how young the Spirit herself had been in the events of the story, as she was a child bride.  

Singh, Sawai Ram. Untitled portrait of a ‘pāswan. 1870. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:...
Mourning Robes
Woman in Mourning Robes

After the death of her husband, the Spirit is expected to dress only in white robes, the color of mourning. One can note the contrast between the vibrant orange Sari the Skeleton secretly dressed herself in, and the plain white clothes in which she is forced to wear. 

Singh II, Sawai Ram. Untitled portrait of a ‘pāswan'. Modern print from collodion negative. Jaipur, c. 1860-1880. City Palace Museum, Jaipur, Negative No. 1436. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...
Bridal-Robes
Example of Bridal-Robes

The Spirit’s final human act is suicide, for which she “‘dresse[s] [her]self in bridal-robes of silk and gold’” (para. 53). The image provided is a wedding painting of H.H Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV and Rana Prathap Kumari of Kathiawar. The robes of Rana Prathap Kumari of Kathiawar are similar to Bengali bridal-robes. Visually noting the lofty adornment of the bridal-robes here portrays the Spirit’s act of suicide as bolder and more powerful.  

Varma, Raja Ravi. Portrait of H.H Sri Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV and Rana Prathap Kumari of Kathiawar (oil on canvas).1904. ...
A Champak Blossom
Image of a Champaka Flower

In the text, the Spirit states she was compared to a “golden Champak blossom” by Shekhar–a “flower of beauty” (para. 16). The flower is used as a metaphor for the Spirit’s value being equated to her beauty. As stated, “Does any one think of the skeleton of a champak flower?” (para. 16). No one considers the inside of the flower, just as no one considers the deeper personality of the Spirit. 

Sharma, Kedar. Champak flower. Feb. 2013. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Champak_flower.JPG