{{short description|Four-volume novel series by Paul Scott}} {{italic title}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}} {{Use British English|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox book series | name = ''The Raj Quartet'' | image = | caption = | books = {{Plainlist| *''[[The Jewel in the Crown (novel)|The Jewel in the Crown]]'' *''[[The Day of the Scorpion]]'' *''[[The Towers of Silence]]'' *''[[A Division of the Spoils]]''}} | author = [[Paul Scott (novelist)|Paul Scott]] | country = United Kingdom | language = English | genre = | publisher = [[Penguin Books]] | pub_date = |media_type = Print ([[Hardcover]] and [[Paperback]]) | preceded_by = | followed_by = }}
'''''The Raj Quartet''''' is a four-volume [[novel sequence]], written by [[Paul Scott (novelist)|Paul Scott]], about the concluding years of the [[British Raj]] in India. The series was written during the period 1965–75. ''[[The Times]]'' called it "one of the most important landmarks of post-war fiction."<ref>[http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/catalog/book.htm?command=Search&db=main.txt&eqisbndata=0099439964 Publisher's website]</ref>
==Plot== The story of ''The Raj Quartet'' begins in 1942. [[World War II]] is at its zenith, and in [[South East Asia]], the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]] have suffered great losses. [[British Burma|Burma]] has fallen, and the Japanese invasion of the [[Indian subcontinent]] from the east appears imminent. The year 1942 is also marked by Indian nationalist leader [[Mahatma Gandhi]]'s call for the [[Quit India|Quit India movement]] to the British rulers of India. ''The Raj Quartet'' is set in this tumultuous background for the British soldiers and civilians stationed in India who have a duty to manage this part of the [[British Empire]], known as the "jewel in the crown" of the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarch]]. One recurrent theme is the moral certainty of the older generation as contrasted with the [[anomie]] of the younger.<ref>For instance, in ''Day of the Scorpion'', Sarah Layton envies the "self-assurance" of her older aunt. See [https://books.google.com/books?id=S3K2JoacH24C&dq=%22virtues+of+self-assurance+and+moral+certainty%3B+what%22&pg=PT423 ''Day of the Scorpion'', Book Two Part Two ch. IV]</ref> Another theme is the treatment of Indians by Britons living in India.<ref>For example, in ''Day of the Scorpion'', Hari Kumar describes how a group of [[Anglo-Indians]] were shocked at the egalitarian attitude displayed by a recent English immigrant towards an Indian. See [https://books.google.com/books?id=rcDyGQ-2EngC&dq=%22Chatterjee+was+incapable+of+accepting+immediately%22&pg=PT183 ''Day of the Scorpion'' Book Two Part One Ch. I]</ref> As a reflection of these themes, the British characters let themselves be "trapped by codes and principles, which were in part to keep their own fears and doubts at bay."<ref>[http://www.spectator.co.uk/print/books/397731/when-the-sun-finally-set.thtml review of ''Raj Quartet''] in [[The Spectator]]</ref> Most of the major characters suffer difficulties, and some die, either because they try to follow codes which have become outmoded (Ahmed Kasim, Merrick, Teddie Bingham) or because they reject the codes and become outsiders (Kumar, Lady and Daphne Manners, Sarah Layton).<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=uWhsUiF8fbkC&dq=%22raj+quartet%22+layton&pg=PA153 P. Morey, ''Fictions of India: Narrative and Power'', p.153]</ref> Some critics have compared ''The Raj Quartet'' to the epic novels of Proust and Tolstoy.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z85YwWg4vCUC&dq=%22raj+quartet%22&pg=PA125 Steinberg, ''Twentieth Century Epic Novels'', p.125]</ref> Though some critics have thought the ''Quartet'' to be a straightforward example of nineteenth-century style [[Realism (art movement)|realism]], others have argued that its non-linear narrative style and occasional "outburst of dreams, hallucinations and spiritual revelations" give it an added dimension.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=uWhsUiF8fbkC&dq=%22the+towers+of+silence%22+batchelor&pg=PA158 Morey, ''Fictions of India'', p.158]</ref>
The main characters of the first novel are Daphne Manners, a young Englishwoman who has recently arrived in India, and her British-educated Indian paramour, Hari Kumar. Ronald Merrick, a British police officer belonging to the [[Indian Police Service]], is another main character. By the end of the series the narrative lead is taken by Guy Perron.
==Reception== [[Salman Rushdie]] wrote, "The ''Quartet''{{'}}s form, tells us, in effect, that the history of the end of the Raj was largely composed of the doings of the officer class and its wife. Indians get walk-ons, but remain, for the most part, bit-players in their own history."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://granta.com/outside-the-whale/|title=Outside the Whale|date=March 1984}}</ref> Conversely, [[Tariq Ali]] praised the books for providing a nuanced class analysis of the British in India and the Anglicized Indian upper classes who served the British during the Raj and later took control over [[India]] and [[Pakistan]] after the independence and the partition.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://newleftreview.org/issues/I136/articles/tariq-ali-midnight-s-children | title=Midnight's Children | journal=New Left Review | date=December 1982 | issue=I/136 | pages=87–95 | last1=Ali | first1=Tariq }}</ref>
==The novels== The manner of narration is, especially in the first volume, looping and elliptical, shifting from 1942 to 1964 and back again, with detours back to the early 1900s. The voices shift as well as the perspective, from a third-person narrative about the doomed schoolteacher Edwina Crane to a first-person narration by another character, Lady Chatterjee, to a tour of Mayapore one evening in 1964.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1984/12/16/arts/tv-view-jewel-in-the-crown-superb-drama.html ''New York Times'' review of TV series]</ref> This shifting chronology, while never confusing, has inspired much discussion.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=ZQvjM0C5UnkC&pg=PA63 N. Hale, ''Chronotopicity in Paul Scott's "The Raj Quartet"'']</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EPivynfWHbgC&dq=%22jewel+in+the+crown%22+%22paul+scott%22+chronology&pg=PA17 Lennard, ''The Raj Quartet and Staying On'', p.17]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=VCR3d2NY280C&dq=%22raj+quartet%22&pg=PA192 Eva Brann, ''Paul Scott's Raj Quintet'', p.192]</ref>
The four volumes are: *''[[The Jewel in the Crown (novel)|The Jewel in the Crown]]'' (1966) *''[[The Day of the Scorpion]]'' (1968) *''[[The Towers of Silence]]'' (1971) *''[[A Division of the Spoils]]'' (1975) Some of the characters are carried through to a further novel called *''[[Staying On]]'' (1977)
==Film, TV or theatrical adaptations== *1984:''[[The Jewel in the Crown (TV series)|The Jewel in the Crown]]'' is a television mini-series based upon parts of all four books. The selection of parts to be dramatised resulted in the series giving greater emphasis to the narrative as experienced and understood by the British characters as compared to the experiences of the Indian characters. The series was created by [[Granada Television]] for [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] and starred [[Susan Wooldridge]], [[Art Malik]], [[Om Puri]], [[Geraldine James]], [[Saeed Jaffrey]], [[Karan Kapoor]], [[Peggy Ashcroft]], [[Judy Parfitt]], [[Tim Pigott-Smith]] and [[Charles Dance]]. *2005: A 9-part [[BBC Radio 4]] adaptation under the original title, using the book titles as subtitles.
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
{{Raj Quartet}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raj Quartet, The}} [[Category:Novel series]] [[Category:Novels set in India]] [[Category:British novels adapted into television shows]]