Maitrey

The maitrey novel, published in 1933 is a part of the interwar literature il-
lustrates the pure epic which creates a lucid, dominated by the de-
sire for selfknowledge hero who who ordinates his life experiences. The novel is
a love story involving characters from different cultural and racial environments
making the novel fuller of mystery and pathos.
The narrative technique is the one of the confession which seems to rec-
ord real facts, the author is recalling the maitrey episode from his life by refer-
ence at a diary kept in that period. From here it results a certain authenticity of
the novel gave by the fact that eliade spent three years in indy. Also, the authen-
ticity of the novel ensues from the fact that the disorders, allan’s insides con-
cerns, worrys and disquiets are reflectated. Allan’s diary notes are filled with
doubt and auto-analysis of his feelings.
The narrative perspective is subjective and it belongs to the character, al-
lan, a textual hypostasis of the author. Therefore, the narrative speech involves
certain grammatical and semantic features of the text represented by verbs and
pronouns at first person, the frequency of the inside monologue, all of that argu-
ing the subjective character of the novel.
The epic substance of the novel is focusing on a couple: allan, european engeeni-
er and maitrey, doughter of his boss. After an hospitalization, allan is invited to
live in sen’s house where he meets maitrey, a teenager capable of intense feel-
ings. Between the two characters a love story with a tragic ending is recovering.
Allan, the main character is also the narrator of the autobigrafic events.
He represents the analytic intellect, lucid that confronts the mystery of the indi-
an civilization, dominated by eros. Allan describes in sergeant way the evolution
of his feelings from the first thrill to the apogee of their relationship but also the
irrevocable breake-up generate by the indian mindset.
The relationship between the evolves gradually revealing its charm from a
beautiful mutual discovery to a true frenships that reaches a passionate love.
Once allan tastes from ineffable love, he is hardly releasing himself from
this feeling. The lack of control over your own destiny is the tragedy of the en-
tire novel. Neither allan or maitrey can be masters on their lifes, over them act-
ing latent forces which entail them to follow different paths in the end.
The love story between allan and maitrey has as a real cause a confronta-
tion between the two words, the occidental one (that eliade acuses having a su-
perficial pragmatism) and the oriental one (filled with hardly understanfing
mysteries and difficult concepts).
The impact between the two life concepts can onlu be devastating, when
maitrey’s family finds out about the love of the two, he is banished, their love
ending.
In conclusion, in mircea eliade’s prose, the eros represents the narrative
substance of the novel maitrey.