Lihaf (“The Quilt”)

Title: The Quilt

Author: Ismat Chugtai

Genre: A short story

Background of the story

Ismat Chughtai is a famous Urdu short story progressive writer who caused an uproar in

her times. She was a writer in the realist tradition and didn't just capture the essence of the story,

but the ethos of an entire social landscape at a particular time in history. "The Quilt," or "Lihaaf,"

is a short story originally written in Urdu in 1942. This story led to much controversy due to the

fact that it dealt with themes like homosexuality. In fact, the author was asked to apologize for

having written this text, something that she refused to do.

Characters

 Nawab Sahab: A well reputed Nawab and a homosexual

 Begum Jaan: wife of Nawab Sahab and our story protagonist

 Amiran: A little girl who is niece of Begum Jaan and she is narrating the story

 Rabbu : Servant in Begum Jaan house

 Some other servants, some children and mother of Amiran

Plot Summary

The story proceeds with the perspective of a small, innocent girl, and deals with certain

themes considered "obscene." However, due to the age of the narrator, these themes manifest
themselves subtly and the story is merely suggestive. The young girl is the niece of an important

character in the story, namely Begum Jan. While the story is told from the point of view of the

niece, it is essentially about the life of Begum Jan, who is caught up in domestic drudgery and is

a victim of patriarchal oppression within the setup of her household. There is a substantial age

difference between the begum and her husband, the Nawab. The husband commands much

respect for a number of reasons, among which, one is the fact that he has a reputation for not

visiting prostitutes. However, it is subtly revealed that this may be because of his sexual

orientation.The lonely Begum is "installed" in one corner of the house and left to live a

meaningless life. However, things change with Rabbo's entrance. Rabbo is the Begum's

masseuse and companion. Every night, quite a few secrets lie under the quilt, which symbolizes

oppression in the context of this story.

Setting

Neither time nor place is indicated, it is only obvious that it took place somewhere in the

East, in a country where Islam predominates; it is a story that might happen in any time at any

place

Theme

1. Marriage - A very important theme in this work is that of marriage. Chughtai portrays

marriage as an oppressive institution that validates female subservience. Marriage plays a

very important role in this story. Begum Jan is trapped in the domestic setup due to her

marriage with the Nawab, and is unable to free herself. However, Begum Jan becomes a

transgressive woman who explores the lengths of her sexuality from within parameters of

patriarchy, without giving up the married life.

about the evils of oppression of women as well as of desire in general. Both, the Begum

and the Nawab are victims of oppression in their own ways. Nawab has to marry Begum

despite his sexual orientation because of the social dogmas that are thrust upon him. He is

oppressed by the social norms and is unable to reveal his identity to the outsider. Begum

undergoes double oppression. She herself is oppressed because of her gender and her

sexuality is oppressed due to one-dimensional ideas of what is acceptable.

3. Female sexuality and desire - This is another theme that is seminal not just to this story,

but to most of Chughtai's works. A potent idea that is propagated in this story is the idea

of subjugation of female sexuality and desire. Begum has no choice but to get married off

and "installed" in Nawab's house. She has been given no space to explore her identity or

sexuality. This is perhaps why that her expression of sexuality manifests itself in an

unconventional way, with her having a relationship with her servant.

Narrator and Point of View

It is first-person narration; the narrator is a girl who tells of her one-week experience at

the house of her aunt.

Tone and Mood

Both tone and mood are rather ironic, but at the same time is it frivolous, depicting

homosexual traits of a wife and a husband.

Major Conflict
 The main conflict stands in sexual orientation, but also home oppression and patriarchal

prejudices.

Climax

The climax happens when the girl turns on the light in the night and sees that the quilt has

risen by almost a foot, she does not say what she sees but it is obvious that Begum Jaan and

Rabbu were making love under that quilt

Foreshadowing

The narrator’s comparison of the quilt and memories about it with a a blacksmith’s brand

foreshadows that those memories are not good and pleasant.

Literary Techniques used in the story

1) Metaphor

 A magic oil - With the appearance of Rabbu, Begum Jaan was returned to life in full

flourish. It was “a special oil message that brought life back to the half-dead Begum

Jaan”.

 Very aggressive - As a prisoner in her husband’s house, Begum Jaan was depressed

because she saw nobody; she had no one to talk with. Some relatives of hers came to visit

but theirs visits only “made her blood boil” as they cared only for themselves while she

“was stiffened with cold despite the new cotton in her quilt”.

2) Simile
 A scar in the memory - The narrator remembers the quilt she was seeing every night at

the Begum Jaan’s house and says it “is etched in my memory like the scar left by a

blacksmith’s brand”. Such a sharp comparison shows that that time had a great

impression and influence on the narrator, and not very positive and good ones

 Tucked away - Begum Jaan was unhappy and miserable in the marriage, and especially

when her husband had opened the house for those “slender-waisted boys”, it made her

suffer to realize that her husband does not want her and every time she saw those students

she felt “as though she was being raked over burning embers!”

 A drum - When describing Begum Jaan, the narrator is generous in details, and when

describing her body she says “her skin was white and smooth and seemed as though

someone had stitched it tightly over her body”. And for a woman of forty this looks

pretty nice.

3) Irony

 The narrator ironically says that that “the recipe for this oil massage” that had produced

such a fantastic effect on Begum Jaa, cannot be found “even in the most exclusive

magazines”. With this she hints that it was not so much the oil to appreciate, but Rebbu,

and her magic hands which made far more than such a massage.

 The narrator returns in the memories to the time when she was a girl, and says that she

liked the most to fight with her brothers and sisters, and when her mother left her in the

house of her aunt for a week it was a disaster for her, as “there was no one in that house,
 with which I could get into a fight”. The ironic description of a girl's aggression is

obvious.

4) Allegory

 Massage, touching - Throughout the entire story, very specific details of the

massaging process are given; this motif of touching another person and at the

same time giving her physical satisfaction is an allegory of sex itself. Through the

massage, the writer provides an image of sexual relationships.