The Sleeping Fool

I. Answer the following questions in one or two sentences:

1. The dreamer absconds with his dream.

2. He keeps his bride beside a stream, where he washes her, bathes her, and
gathers daisies for her.

3. When she refuses to be pleased, he runs, scampers, leaps and weeps and then
starts reciting his verses.

4. Finally he asks her what she wants.

5. The bride wants to be herself and not just seem to be herself. She wants to be
the dreamer and not just the dream.

II. Answer the following questions in a paragraph

1. The dreamer is the husband who tries to objectify his bride. He is a

representative of the patriarchal society which trivialises and demeans women
and their work. We can see here how foolishly and selfishly the husband acts. He
keeps his bride beside a stream, where he washes her, bathes her, and gathers
daisies for her. She does not like these things. He cannot please her because he is
doing all the things he wants without finding out what she wants. When she
shows her displeasure, he runs, scampers, leaps and weeps and he starts reciting
his verses. Finally he asks her what she wants but we know he won't give her
what she wants as he is a male chauvinist.

2. The bride us very unhappy at the things her husband is doing to her. He keeps
his bride beside a stream, where he washes her, bathes her, and gathers daisies
for her. She does not like these things. He cannot please her because he is doing
all the things he wants without finding out what she wants. When she shows her
displeasure, he runs, scampers, leaps and weeps and he starts reciting his verses.
Finally he asks her what she wants. She tells him that she wants to be herself and
not just seem to be herself. She wants to be the dreamer and not just the dream.
She does not want to be objectified and treated as an inanimate object. She has
her being, her personality, her individuality, her likings and dislikes.

3. The poem "The Sleeping Fool" by Suniti Namjoshi shows the sad plight of a
woman who is objectified by her husband. The poem shows the bride's
resentment at such mindless objectification. The bride in the poem is a
representative of the women in a patriarchal society. The husband keeps his
bride beside a stream, where he washes her, bathes her, and gathers daisies for
She does not like these things. He cannot please her because he is doing all the
things he wants without finding out what she wants. When he asks her she
bluntly tells him he won't give her what she wants. She wants to be treated like a
person with individuality and not just an object of his pleasure.

4. "The Sleeping Fool" by Suniti Namjoshi is very certainly a feminist poem. Suniti
Namjoshi was much influenced by the feminist writers like Virginia Woolf,
Adrienne Rich and Kate Millet. The bride in the poem does not want to be a
sleeping fool. She wants to be an active person with her own individuality,
personality and being, doing the things she likes and not what her husband likes.
In a patriarchal society, a woman is simply an object playing to the whims and
fancies of her man. In the poem we see what is happening. The husband keeps
his bride beside a stream, where he washes her, bathes her, and gathers daisies
for her. She does not like these things. She has her ideas about things. She is not
a doll, or a statue, to be washed and bathed. When she shows her displeasure we
see the reaction of the man, who runs, scampers, leaps and weeps and he starts
reciting his verses which obviously deny freedom to women.

5. In the poem "The Sleeping Fool" by Suniti Namjoshi the concepts of dream and
the dreamer are clearly defined. The dreamer in the poem is the husband and the
dream is the wife. The dreamer is the subject, or doer, and the dreams the object,
who suffers the actions of the doer. We see the subject here taking his bride, the
object, and keeping her beside a stream, where he washes her, bathes her, and
gathers daisies for her. She does not like these things. He cannot please her
because he is doing all the things he wants without finding out what she wants.
She is objectified here without her consent and liking. When she shows his
displeasure, he gets upset. She wants to be like him, the dreamer and do the
things she likes. just like he does the things she likes. She does not want to
remain the dream, the object, but wants to be the dreamer, the subject or the
doer of things.

III. Answer the following questions in about 300 words.

1. The title "The Sleeping Fool" for the feminist poem by Suniti Namjoshi is quite
an appropriate one. The poem highlights the trauma and the dream of women in
a patriarchal society where they are objectified. In most countries of the world
women are considered mainly as inferior to men and they are supposed to spend
their entire life within the four walls of the home, giving birth to children,
bringing them up and doing all the household chores. The patriarchs
conveniently forget that women are also persons with dreams of their own.

The bride in the poem does not want to be a sleeping fool. She wants to be
an active person with her own individuality, personality and being, doing the she
likes and not what her husband likes. In a patriarchal society, a woman is simply
an object playing to the whims and fancies of her man. In the poem see what is
happening. The husband keeps his bride beside a stream, where he washes her,
bathes her, and gathers daisies for her. She does not like these things. She has
her ideas about things. She is not a doll, or a statue, to be washed and bathed.
When she shows her displeasure we see the reaction of the man, who runs,
scampers, leaps and weeps and he starts reciting his verses which obviously deny
freedom to women.

The answer the bride gives to the husband who asks her what she wants is
very relevant. She boldly asserts that she wants to be like him, the dreamer and
do the things she likes, just like he does the things he likes. She does not want to
remain the dream, the object, but wants to be the dreamer, the subject or the
doer of things. She is not ready to remain a sleeping fool, but an active individual
who can do the things she wants in the way she likes.
2. A similar poem have read is "Daddy" by Sylvia Plath. "Daddy" was written in
1962 and it is a feminist poem. Although Sylvia's father died when she was very
young, he was very strict father. In her poem "Daddy" she shows her resentment
against him because of his highly strict nature. She describes her dad as, "marble-
heavy, a bag full of God". She says that her father looked like a scary statue with
one swollen grey toe, which has full power over her full life and calls for her entire
dedication. She claims that the toe is situated in northern California, while the
head is all the way in the Atlantic. She uses this imagery to show how huge the
statue was and how overpowering was authority.

She is so angry with him that she says "I have had to kill you". She wanted to
show how men used to treat their women and that the women should stand up
for themselves to put an end to the men's cruel treatment. She finally stands up
for herself, and she breaks out from the chains she was locked in all her life. She
even calls him a bastard showing how much she despises him for his autocratic
behaviour.

If "Daddy" is about a cruel and un-understanding father, the poem "The

Sleeping Fool" is about an inconsiderate husband. The husband treats the wife
like an object. We see what the man does to her. He keeps his bride beside a
stream, where he washes her, bathes her, and gathers daisies for her. She does
not like these things. She has her ideas about things. She is not a doll, or a statue,
to be washed and bathed. When she shows her displeasure we see the reaction of
the man, who runs, scampers, leaps and weeps and he starts reciting his verses
which obviously deny freedom to women. Then father in "Daddy" and the
husband in "The Sleeping Fool" represent men who are patriarchs who deny
freedom to their womenfolk.

3. The poem "The Sleeping Pool" by Suniti Namjoshi is a feminist poem with a
clear message. It is a short poem with just 10 lines. The language is very simple
and easy to understand. But it gives a powerful message. It has superb imagery
and we can see before our eyes the actions and the attitude of both the husband
and the
 We can see a clear picture of a man who is male chauvinist who gives no
consideration for the feelings of his bride. We can see him taking her to a stream,
propping her up beside it. To him she is a stone statue. He washes her, bathes
her, and gathers daisies for her. But we can see how she resents all these things.
She does not want him to wash her and bathe her. She has her likes and dislikes.

Then we see a bride who is resentful. She dislikes his actions. When she tells
her he can't please her, he gets upset. And then what does he do? He runs,
scampers, leaps and weeps and he starts reciting some verses which obviously
deny freedom to women and justify his thoughtless actions. Finally we see him
asking her what she wants. We see her answering boldly that he will never give
her what she wants. She wants to be like him, the dreamer and do the things she
likes, just like he does the things he likes. She does not want to remain the
dream, the object, but wants to be the dreamer, the subject or the doer of things.
She is not ready to remain a sleeping fool, but an active individual who can do the
things she wants the way she likes.

The use of the phrase "The Sleeping Fool" can be interpreted in two ways.
It can refer to the bride who does not want to be a sleeping fool doing all those
her husband tells her to do. It can also mean to the husband who is a sleeping fool
who does not understand the feelings of his bride and does things in a
thoughtless manner. The desire of the bride to be a dreamer and not a dream is
superb.