Title: Chandira
Author: Brian Mooney
Date of First Publication: 1994
Place of Publication: The Mammoth Book of Frankenstein
Type: Short story
Characters: No Characters
Themes: BYRONIC HERO; SYMPATHETIC MONSTER; WOMEN WRITING MONSTERS; ANDROID
Critical Summary: The short story Chandira is about a man who takes a long journey to meet a holy man, or Rishi, who is known to have unique and potent powers. The Rishi claims to have lived over 300 years. The man meets the Rishi’s wife, Chandira, looking like a typical Indian woman, wearing a burkha and completely covered from head to foot. The only visible openings in Chandira’s dress show her beautiful eyes and elegant hands, and the main character is overcome with her intoxicating and seemingly excessive perfume. Once the man meets the Rishi, they discuss how he stays alive for so long. The Rishi claims it is because he is in total control of death and sexual desire. To explain, the Rishi then continues to talk about each of his favorite sexual experiences with his favorite wives in front of his current wife, Chandira. This makes the man extremely uncomfortable and he eventually convinces the Rishi to stop. In order to show his power over death, the Rishi, seemingly, with magical powers, brings a rancid dead dog back to life, resulting in the man running away to find peace of mind. Later on, he finds out the Rishi has died, and he goes to visit his home, only to find out Chandira was a monster made of the compilation of all of his wives. The Rishi has used his power over death to bring her life and used her as he wished, her sole purpose of existence was to be perfect in every way and to pleasure him. Being an abomination and feeling like wasteful trash, the only thing Chandira asks for is death, but suicide is frowned upon and therefore an unlikely option. The town becomes so outraged by her situation that they decide to burn her on a pyre, meaning she would not receive proper burial or respect. The story ends with the man burning her on the pyre, finally allowing her and the town some peace.
This story relates to the original Frankenstein because in both stories a monster was created. Equally, in both of these stories the monster endures internal conflict or pain caused by his or her creator. Aside from this, another similarity is that both monsters seek peace, though through different means. In Frankenstein, the creature seeks companionship in order to extinguish his inner turmoil. In Chandira, she seeks peace of mind, one that seems to only be solved by death.
Administrative Notes: Sarah Vitug, CSUF; GC Philipp, CSUF (editing)