A Wife's Story by Bharati Mukherjee - Summary

The narrator is an Indian female. She plans to write to playwright David Mamet about the content of his plays that are offensive to Indian women. His plays are also racist, portraying Indians as stingy and ugly. In India, she thinks, this would not have been accepted. She is at the play with Imre, a Hungarian refugee whose English is not very good. He is very protective of women. He is married with two children and is petitioning for their emigration. She too is married- her husband is in India. Imre does not understand why she is so upset and advises her to relax. He breaks into a dance, and since she is too embarrassed to dance in public she hugs him, taking him by surprise. She notes that her family members, educated in English facilities, would never do anything so silly.

She mentions that her son has died. Her marriage was arranged.

She feels light, almost free. She is in New York getting a Ph.D. in special ed. She has a small scholarship. She has a family history of beatings. She feels a small victory for Indian Americans- that they must have "made it", since American art is no longer condescending to Indians.

Her roommate Charity Chin, an Asian girl who is a hands model, is quite a character.

She exchanges partners frequently. Charity asks her for advice regarding Eric, Charity's estranged husband's asking Charity for money. Charity's current boyfriend Phil is a very nervous flutist. When Phil comes over, he bakes and cleans, and seems feminine to the narrator. The narrator notes that Charity has ambitions that would not have been realistic in India. Charity lives extravagantly, whereas the narrator lives modestly.

We learn a little about Charity's uncle, who does well for himself despite not knowing much English. He was shot at in the Wuchang Uprising in China and when she feels sad she consoles herself with thoughts of him.

That night her husband calls her. He tells him about a firebombing of a truck that belongs to his business, which resulted in the death of three people. She knows how he feels but cannot entirely sympathize- she feels detached from life in India. He tells her he misses her, and she tells him the same, somewhat mechanically. He tells her he is coming to visit her in New York. Her husband acts a little needy.

We find out her name is Panna.

She changes out of pants into a sari and jewelry to greet her husband at the airport. He notices immediately that she is not wearing a ring given to Panna by his mother. He is upset that she doesn't comment on his new glasses, and that she handles the money.

Her husband becomes seduced by commercialism and consumerism, buying extravagantly. He is delighted, and Panna hardly recognizes him. She is surprised and a little critical. However, she feels love in his tenderness for her.

They go on a tour of New York and her husband is appalled by the free manner in which she speaks to men. He is also irritated by the tour guide, who sings instead of providing sightseeing information. When a European tourist snaps pictures of her as an artifact, she feels lost and embarrassed that she is behaving like a tourist herself.

Her husband, however, is thrilled with the cityscapes. She thinks a lot about Imre, in a non-romantic way, while she is with her husband.

Her husband implores her to come back to India- he does not like the way men look at her. They go back to the apartment. He leaves tomorrow, and she wants to pretend, for his sake, that nothing has changed. She however feels changed and liberated, and independent.