Description
This story is told by an unnamed narrator to a woman he calls “Madam.” The narrator begins by explaining that Rodomond is the child of his longtime friend, whose untimely death left his three children, including Rodomond, penniless. Consequently, the narrator took the boys under his care, and Rodomond grew into a successful interpreter for the East India Company in Bombay. While there, Rodomond eventually became an enemy of the natives because he demanded fair business practices. One day, Rodomond was kidnapped by five mercenaries for “the banyan,” a powerful local. Luckily, the Banyan’s daughter, Zoa, heard of her father’s plot, and she freed Rodomond in exchange for his promise to leave India and take her with him, and to never exact revenge on her father. Rodomond complies, and he and Zoa left India on the next boat. They fell in love on the voyage to England, where Rodomond taught Zoa English and Christianity. Upon arriving in England, Rodomond went to the narrator, seeking his approval in marrying Zoa. Once Zoa’s conversion to Christianity was secured, the narrator approved of the union, and Rodomond and Zoa were married. As the narrator concludes, he assures the listener that Rodomond and Zoa are living under his roof, and that everyone is very happy with the union.
Publication Date
1805
Publisher
Sabine & Son
City
London
Disciplines
Literature in English, British Isles
Themes
Recommended Citation
Unknown, "The History of Zoa, the Beautiful Indian, Daughter of Henrietta de Bellgrave; and of Rodomond, Whom Zoa Releases from Confinement, and with Him Makes Her Escape from Her Father, Who Was the Occasion of Rodomond's Imprisonment and Dreadful Sufferings. To Which is Added the Memoirs of Lucy Harris, a Foundling, Who, at Sixteen Years of Age Was Discovered to be Daughter to the Countess of B- A True Story" (1805). Gothic Archive Chapbooks. 30.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/english_gothic/30
Comments
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