Veiled Women · Chapter
XVIII explained
Barakah returns from Paris to Cairo, re-embraces harem life, and reveals her pregnancy to the household, leading to widespread celebration and her eventual delivery of a son.
What happens
Barakah returns from Paris to Cairo, re-embraces harem life, and reveals her pregnancy to the household, leading to widespread celebration and her eventual delivery of a son.
Themes in this chapter
Female Friendship and Solidarity
The harem women form a close-knit society, sharing possessions and children, and Barakah is embraced by them.
Motherhood and Legacy
Barakah's pregnancy and birth of a son are celebrated as a blessing, securing her place in the household.
Cultural Clash and Identity
Barakah rejects Frankish talk, embraces Oriental habits, and the women contrast Parisian and Egyptian customs.
Characters to notice
- Barakah
Returns from Paris, conceals then reveals her pregnancy, gives birth to a son.
- Yûsuf Bey
Vaunts Paris to Ghandûr, circulates news of Barakah's pregnancy, regains Barakah's good opinion.
- Fitnah Khânum
Overjoyed at Barakah's pregnancy, sends messengers to Yûsuf and the Pasha.
- Bedr-ul-Budûr
Also pregnant, visits Barakah, plans to purify herself after Paris.
- Gulbeyzah
Married and in the country, later visits Barakah, extols fellow-wives.
- Amînah Khânum
Brings Bedr-ul-Budûr to Barakah, advises on pregnancy, procures Frankish doctor and Mufti's judgment.
- Murjânah Khânum
Sends a robe of honour and invites Barakah to supper; has been unwell.
- Ghandûr
Weeps with joy at return, intones a song for twin boys, looks after the women.
Key passages
“She would have been completely happy in those days but for embarrassment arising from a secret which she longed yet feared to tell. She was with child.”
Barakah's happiness is shadowed by her secret pregnancy, which she hesitates to reveal.
Highlights Barakah's internal conflict between joy and shame.
“From the cries of jubilation filling all the house, from the blessings showered on her within the chamber, she knew that she had borne a son.”
The household's joyful cries and blessings confirm to Barakah that she has given birth to a son.
Emphasizes the communal celebration of the birth.
“The four together formed a charming small society, quite independent of the husband’s humours and the outside world. All their possessions they enjoyed in common, even children.”
The four co-wives create a self-sufficient, harmonious community, sharing everything including children.
Illustrates the theme of female solidarity in polygamy.