In Punishment, Tagore is rather fair to both genders. There is a sympathetic character for both genders, but also the ones that you can't really feel sorry for. Radha, sort of deserves my pity, I mean, she may have been a smart ass, but hey, everyone has their moments. I'm not going to lie, if I got stabbed in the head every time I said something sarcastic, I would have been killed millions of times over. Chandara, she did have a dry sense of humor, but it was different. Chandara liked to pick many times rather than blow up like Radha did.
Chandara didn't deal with stress well; she cried all afternoon and had a tendency to tease her husband. Her coping mechanism was probably the best of the four, however. Radha and her husband Dukhiram both explode, which, as shown in the story, leads to bad things. There is a difference between the two of them though. Radha uses words and emotions while Dukhiram is violent. Chandara is manipulative, and Chidam is just kind of there. It is mentioned that he picks at Chandara like she does, but it is in a loving way. I see Chidam as a sort of giant teddy bear. He could act cross with Chandara, but she had him wrapped around her finger.
Chidam is easily manipulated I think, which is probably why he and Chandara weren't at odds like Dukhiram and Radha were. Dukhiram and Radha were both headstrong, rambunctious people, who would have done well in relationships that weren't with each other. Chidam proves he is manipulated easily by the ease with which Dukhiram convinces him to turn in Chandara. It's his wife for goodness sakes, can't he figure that out? But then she has him so wrapped up around her, she makes him feel horrible for even trying to back stab her.
Moral of the story is, make sure that you are a good match for your partner and don't be Dukhiram or Radha, who are loud and obnoxious, but if you love your partner, you darned well try to keep them.
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