Customer Reviews

The Missionary: An Indian Tale (Broadview Literary Texts)

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This book is so insanely over-the-top that I think it has been written off, but I highly recommend it. I think it was much better than Owenson's Wild Irish Girl and much more radical (in some ways) than its counterpart. An Oriental tale set in India with a Portuguese missionary and a Hindu woman-goddess, it doesn't get any better than that! Owenson's convoluted plot could be critiqued from a literary standpoint, but I think its value as a mirror of confused cultural and political values more than makes up for it.

I read the novel, and found myself immersed in an amazing love story of almost unbearable emotional and sexual tension. I then read the introduction, and discovered an equally amazing subtext. Sydney Owenson, half Irish and half English, was a bit of a revolutionary. Her characters at some level are suggestive of England dominating Ireland, Spain subjugating Portugal, West colonizing East.

The Missionary is a Portuguese noble of royal descent and a Franciscan monk. Although only in his twenties, his whole life has been dedicated to religious practices. His zeal, self-denial and eloquence in preaching are so extraordinary that he's sent to India as a missionary.

The Hindu people turn out to be stubbornly attached to their own colorful gods and indifferent to the austere God of seventeenth-century Christianity. A learned Hindu Pundit suggests to the Missionary that if he can convert the young Prophetess of Cashmire, a divine emanation, the people will follow her en masse.

And so, in the lush woods of Cashmire the formidable Catholic priest seeks out the beautiful Hindu priestess by the stream where she performs her private rituals. These two saintly virgins, steeped in the life of the spirit, feel an instant and disturbing attraction to each other. What happens next is the substance of the plot.

Sydney Owenson, despite the frequent disapproval of reviewers, was one of the most popular writers of her day. Her literary admirers included Shelley, Byron and Walter Scott. This book is a sly attack on colonial attitudes and religious intolerance - as well as a wonderful example of early nineteenth century sentimental fiction.

I had to work at enjoying the novel at times, overwhelmed by the gorgeous prose and evocative landscapes. But ultimately the experience was worth the effort. I recommend the book to adventurous readers.