Award Date

1-1-2005

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

First Committee Member

Douglas Unger

Number of Pages

285

Abstract

"Urvashi" is based on the universal theme of an obsessive love of a young man for a young woman. It's a story that's repeated in every age and culture, in the lives of countless young men and women. Porus Chaturvedi, a young "upper-caste" corporate executive in India, decides to pursue, as his "perfect match," a "lower-caste" girl (named Urvashi) not yet out of high school. Complicating this "love affair" are Porus's endless, bookish attempts to theorize life; his recruitment of a disparate band of sympathizers to act as "go betweens" and to help him "strategize"; his erotic fantasies followed by his torturous self-indictment; his inability to face the girl of his dreams outside of those dreams; and, finally, obstructing Porus at every step, the intractable social milieu whose foundation was laid by Porus's own ancestors---the Vedic Brahmins; The story is told in the first person, by Porus himself, recalling events from his life occurring between 1992 and 1997. Eventually, Porus marries a Brahmin girl, the daughter of an ex-soldier and his young second wife.

Keywords

Novel; Original writing; Urvashi

Controlled Subject

Asia; Literature

File Format

pdf

File Size

6799.36 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

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Rights

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