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It feels strange to accuse Devdas, who has become our symbol of love as an advocate of hate! The more I think about Devdas the more his character starts to unveil his real nature. What I thought to be a beautiful truth appears to be an ugly lie. Parvati was never the great love of Devdas, she was rather a beautiful means towards his pathological goal.
Why would Parvati love Devdas so much, who has only written her 3 letters in 10 years. How gracefully she returns his ‘generous’ favor, by burning an oil lamp for 10 years in his long expectations. Is she not living in a fantasy by denying the reality in front of her? Holding to a picture of time long ago, barricading growth and waiting to be rescued.
How have they become symbols for love?
10 years have passed, the world has changed, everything has changed but they keep on holding to this blurry image of their youth.
The immature character of Devdas and Parvati manifest in many ways in their life. Parvati who is living under the psychological slavery of Devdas with her own consent and Devdas who has lived his whole live under the tyranny of his father. Like father like sun, Devdas enjoys tyrannizing the people who love him. When it comes to important decisions taking he withdraws himself from every form of responsibility. In the end he destroys a dream which was a fantasy which could have become a reality.
Despite Parvati’s childish behavior I can live with her, I have a deep respect for her patience and devotion towards Devdas. But with Devdas I cannot be so forgiving I have a personal vendetta with him. After deserting Parvati, his true nature comes in being. A pathological being craving for attention from others by inflicting pain to himself, a masochist of the highest degree. I would have been happy if he had left the scene after abandoning Parvati and never returning back. The innocence of Devdas is burning with desire to see his love ones in agony. Devdas has taken two vows, 1st vow “to drink till death separates him from life” and 2nd vow to visit Parvati’s house one time before dying. One vow is to make his own life miserable and other to ruin happiness of Parvati.
The entrance of Chandramukhi in Devdas live is again a confirmation of his tyranny. Chandramukhi who has accepted the misery of life, has accepted self-hate as love, has accepted love as means to power. Who chooses Devdas as her lover as her worshipper, because in Devdas she sees a person with greater self-hate then her own.
I don’t think that Devdas ever loved Parvati or cared about Chandramukhi, he loved pity he craved for attention which was nourished by a deep self-hate. He enjoyed every bit of that misery, every bit of pain and torment towards himself till the very end of his life.
The love of a masochist.
End note: Then a question arises, why I would care to write about Deva and Paro?