A Passage to India Contrasting Regions Quotes
How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
India a nation! What an apotheosis! Last comer to the drab nineteenth-century sisterhood! Waddling in at this hour of the world to take her seat! She, whose only peer was the Holy Roman Empire, she shall rank with Guatemala and Belgium perhaps! (3.35.27)
This quote expresses Fielding's opinion of Indian nationalism. It's sort of a backhanded compliment. He's basically saying that the whole idea of nationhood is a recent invention (thus his examples of Guatemala and Belgium), which seems inappropriate for a country with as rich a history as India. But if India is not a nation, how is it supposed to be taken seriously by modern nations such as Britain?