Downton Abbey, The Handmaid's Tale, and Jasmine

(Continued discussion of Violet Crawley's statement from Downton Abbey related to Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine; continued discussion of connections between Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine, a sequence)

Jane and Prakash work together to fix a VCR, causing Prakash to joke they should "'open our own store someday'" and call it "'Vijh & wife,'" a play on the store "'Jagtiani and Son'" that Prakash works at (89). "'Maybe even Vijh & Vijh,'" he adds, showing that he is willing to treat his wife equally, giving her freedom and independence (89). He does not own her; their store would not be run by Prakash Vijh and his wife but by Prakash Vijh and Jasmine Vijh, two separate individuals. This is Prakash's belief: that women should have an identity separate from that of their husband, that women should have independence.

Jane does not appear to agree with this, however. She says that she and Prakash "lived for our fantasy. Vijh & Wife," showing that she does not mind being owned (89). While her husband strongly believes in women's independence, she is content being grouped with him, not an individual person.

She goes on to call their hypothetical shop "Vijh & Sons," which shows her desire to have children (89). This craving for children is not shared with Prakash. When Jane expresses she wants "to get pregnant," Prakash always responds, "'We aren't going to spawn'" (77). He explains that "[i]t was up to the women to resist" the desire for pregnancy, with a tone very much resembling the idea of women empowerment that both Moira and Offred's mother share (77 - 78).

Pitaji, Jane's father, does not share this belief in women empowerment. He suggests all women are good for is bearing children when he says the only reason his daughter should continue her education "'is that bright ladies are bearing bright sons,'" explaining, "'that is nature's design'" (51). Jane retorts that she wants to be a doctor, causing her father to scream, "'The girl is mad,'" which suggests women do not deserve independence and individual identities - the opposite of what Prakash believes (51).  Dida suggests Pitaji "'[b]lame it on the mother. Insanity has to come from somewhere. It's the mother who is mad'" (51). This suggests just what those of The Handmaid's Tale's Gilead believe: that motherhood is a women's only role.

An additional parallel to Jasmine's illustration of India to The Handmaid's Tale's Gilead is that female fertility and pregnancy are very valued. Offred and Jane both buy into this idea. However, Prakash does not. This is another example in which, despite their recent marriage, Jane and Prakash do not agree despite Downton Abbey's Violet Crawley suggestion that they should.