presenting the argument. Themes Sitti Nurbaya is generally seen as having an anti-forced marriage theme or illustrating the conflict between Eastern and Western values. It has also been described as "a monument to the struggle of forward-thinking youth" against Minangkabau adat. However, Balfas writes that it is unjust to consider Sitti Nurbaya as only another forced marriage story, as the marriage of Nurbaya and Samsu would have been accepted by society. He instead writes that Sitti Nurbaya contrasts Western and traditional views of marriage, criticising the traditionally accepted dowry and polygamy. Reception Rusli's family was not pleased with the novel; his father condemned him in a letter, as a result of which Rusli never returned to Padang. His later novel, Anak dan Kemenakan (1958) was even more critical of older generation's inflexibility. Until at least 1930, Sitti Nurbaya was one of Balai Pustaka's most popular works, often being borrowed from lending libraries. After Indonesia's independence, Sitti Nurbaya was taught as a classic of Indonesian literature; this has led to it being "read more often in brief synopsis than as an original text by generation after generation of Indonesian high school students". , it has seen 44 printings. Sitti Nurbaya is generally considered one of the most important works of Indonesian literature, with its love story being compared to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and the Chinese legend of the Butterfly Lovers. Some Western critics, including Dutch critic A. Teeuw and writer A. H. Johns, consider it to be the first true Indonesian novel, as opposed to Azab dan Sengsara, which was less developed in its theme of forced marriage and the negative aspects of adat. Teeuw wrote that the moral messages and sentimentality in Sitti Nurbaya are overdone, similar to Azab dan Sengsara. However, he considers the plot of Sitti Nurbaya more interesting for a reader from a Western background than the older novel. Siregar wrote that Rusli "in many things acts as a dalang", or puppet master, occasionally removing the characters in order to speak directly to the reader, making the message too one-sided. He considered the plot to be forced in places, as if the author were preventing the story from flowing naturally. He considered Rusli a mouthpiece of the Dutch colonial government, who had controlled Indonesia since the early 17th century, for making Samsul, "the most sympathetic character", a member of the Dutch forces and Datuk Meringgih,