CBCS Sem-2 "Wife of Bath's Prologue": Wife of Bath’s character/ Alteration of medieval gender role/ Marriages and experiences/ Control and power

Wife of Bath’s character/ Alteration of medieval gender role/ Marriages and experiences/ Control and power

The Wife of Bath has sometimes been read as the epitome of a modern feminist, in the patriarchal world where the man accepted as a father, a master or ruler, and an owner, but here the protagonist alters her gender role and takes them as her own game.Wife of Bath is one the few characters who occupy our attention commandingly, she is curiously a modern woman in the Middle Ages, travelling the Middle East and Europe extensively, robust and independent in nature, preferred the autobiographical mode, deeply concerned with sexuality as much as she enjoys it.Chaucer begins her descriptions with “gap tooth, her wimple, her hat, her five husbands, her cover chiefs…her deafness and her remedies of love”.

A group of critics, feminists, post-structuralists and the Marxists too comment that in the Wife of Bath a woman image is portrayed who is against the misogyny and the misogamy which was prevalent in the medieval culture. Another group of critics comment Chaucer is not true to his age, otherwise he would not have created a character which is too some extent out of the world and the embodiment of superiority. She is uncontrollable in a way that crosses her limitations as in marrying for five times.The lady belongs from a petty bourgeoisie, she is a small-time entrepreneur in textile trade which had come to dominate England by the thirteenth century. Chaucer’s portrait is an acute awareness of a woman who is psychologically superior because she has her power to satisfy herself by the “sexual economy”, and the control and dominance over her husbands.

The Wife of Bath believes that experience is the greatest authority, and since she has been married five times, she certainly considers herself an authority on marriage: “Experience, though no authority Were in this world, were good enough for me, To speak of woe that is in all marriage; For, masters, since I was twelve years of age, Thanks be to God Who is for aye alive, Of husbands at church door have I had five.” In her lengthy Prologue, the Wife of Bath recites her autobiography, announcing in her very first word that “experience” will be her guide. Yet, despite her claim that experience is her sole authority, the Wife of Bath apparently feels the need to establish her authority in a more scholarly way. It is ironic to see the even though she is not religious but, she uses the Bible as justification to pardon her behavior. She imitates the ways of churchmen and scholars by backing up her claims with quotations from Scripture and works of antiquity.

Of her five husbands, three have been “good” and two have been “bad.” The first three were good, she admits, mostly because they were rich, old, and submissive. She also discusses about how she had control over four of her husbands saying “I governed hem so wel after my lawe”, which indicates that she governed them according to her law or her way.  She laughs to recall the torments that she put these men through and recounts a typical conversation that she had with her older husbands. She would accuse her -husband of having an affair, launching into a tirade in which she would charge him with a bewildering array of accusations. In the “Wife of Bath's Tale,” Alison is suggesting control that women should have. She is a strong-willed and dominant woman who herself gets what she wants when she wants it. She cannot accept defeat no matter what the cost. She feels that this is the way things should be and men should obey her. She should not be controlled or told what to do by others, especially by a man. She displays a very gluttonous and power-thirsty attitude in her marital relationships. Although she is argumentative and enjoys talking, the Wife is intelligent and commonsensical. Through her experiences with her husbands, she has learned how to provide for herself in a world where women had little independence or power. The chief manner in which she has gained control over her husbands has been in her control over their use of her body. The Wife uses her body as a bargaining tool, withholding sexual pleasure until her husbands give her what she demands. She is boldly saying that she wants to use her "instrument" or body as a weapon and that she owns her husband, who owes her. Since she is his wife she feels he should bow to her.

It upsets her when her fifth husband, a clerk, is more interested in books than he was in her.When she does not establish supremacy over her fifth husband it seems to excite her because she seems to like challenges. While he is reading a collection of stories about how bad women are she snatches the book and rips some pages out. This instantly heats up her husband, and he hits her. This is how she becomes deaf. She pretends to be dead trying to make him feel guilty. Her concern here is not to make him understand what he has done is wrong, but to use her helplessness as away of achieving power and authority over him, which she ultimately gains. In her discussion of her fourth and fifth husbands, the Wife of Bath begins to let her true feelings show through her argumentative rhetoric. Her sensitivity about her age begins to show through, and, as she reveals psychological depth, she becomes a more realistic, sympathetic, and compelling character

Thus the Wife of Bath is a rounded character who develops and changes. She has been married since her childhood when she was twelve. Her use of initiative and ambition serve to defy the typical feminine psychological characteristics of the time, simply reinforce any negative stereotypes about the feminine psyche that already existed within the audience.By taking the control in herhands, she challenges the patriarchal roles in marriage; therefore her actions can be acceptedas “feminist” but it is vital to remember that the text is considered “protofeminist”.

CBCS Sem-2 "Amoretti" Sonnet no. -75" :Critical appreciation/ Immortalization of love through poetry

Amoretti critical appreciation

“Amoretti”, Sonnet No. 75 “One day I wrote her name”; is one of the finest specimens of  Elizabethan love poetry which has for its theme the traditional conflict between the contradictory factors- love and mortality, transience and permanence, temporality and eternity, evanescence and timelessness. {Though we do not find in Spenser, Sidney’s unquietness or Shakespeare’s complaint against his fair friend or mistress, Spenser is unique in his amalgamation of the lyrical with the dramatic and shift from subjective experience to a universal celebration of poetic creation.

The surface narrative of the poem is about Spenser expressing his love towards Elizabeth Boyle whom he married later. However, the poem is actually about the conflict of all destructive time and death with love and beauty. The poem also encapsulates the power of language and the mastery of poets to manipulate language to make love and beauty eternal in an essentially transient world.

The sonnet begins in a perfectly romantic setting in dramatic manner where the poet and his beloved are chilling at the seashore in an amorous mood. The poet-lover gets all romantic and tries to make a worldly impact upon his beloved by inscribing her name upon the seashore but the waves come and washes it away. As the poet repeat his task: “Again I wrote with a second hand…”,the tides come and do the same. These lines showcase the poet’s pessimism and the meditative quality of humanity to counter mortality. The lover refers to his writings as “my pains”, which becomes the prey of the cruel waves. He imagines that the waves and the tide which are the agents of time are like a mean predator just waiting to pounce upon defenseless human activities. {The image of time as a merciless predator has found a similar memorable expression in Shakespeare’s “Troilus and Cressida”: “Time hath, my lord a wallet at his back/ Whereinhe puts alms for oblivion”.

The second quatrain highlights the dramatic tone when the beloved chides the poet for his childish, silly and futile activity. She raises a voice of protest that she is an ordinary, fragile and transitory creature and neither her name nor her persona can claim beyond death. in fact the lover’s  bid for immortality is an narcissistic activity out of vanity and self-satisfaction. “Vain man said she/… And eek my name be wiped out likewise”.

In the third quatrain the poem undergoes a classic ‘volte-face’ in which the poem suddenly changes its theme. Being romantic and idealist, the poet asserts that the gross, insignificant and sordid might be the part of the transient world but his beloved’s beauty and her personality is a subject of immortality: “Not so quod I, let base things devise/ To die in dust, but you shall live by fame”. Here the poet alludes to the Biblical message of “memento-mori” by his reference to the dust, as “Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt depart”, runs the Biblical adage. There no fallacy in the poets contention, for mortality might be the ‘cul-de-sac’ of the human world bringing inevitable catastrophe, but the world of poetic art has the way to permanence and eternity. The poet boldly and proudly declares that as a poet he has the faith in his own ability to immortalize the glorious name ans the spiritual loveliness of his beloved through his immortal verses. “My verse your virtues rare shall eternize/ And in the heavens write your glorious name”.

In the final couplet the poet-lover reaffirms that his beloved will live a deathless life being remembered by later lovers of poetry all over the world. Further, their love would serve as an epitome to be initiated and followed by later generations of lovers. “Where wheneas death shall all the world subdue/ Our love shall live and later life renew”.

Thus Spenser carves out a unique position in the realm of love sonnets in spite of following the age –old tradition of triumph of poetry over time, by virtue of his amalgamation of the lyrical with the dramatic and the subjective with the universal.

CBCS Sem-2 "The Guide":Narayan’s use of humour and irony

Narayan’s use of humour and irony in The Guide

Humour and irony, the essential frivolitiesthat enrich and sustain interest in a literary work, pervade the tragi-comic texture of Narayan’s novel The Guide. Unlike the comedy arising from a premeditated situation or an irksome characteras in Jerome. K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat, Narayan’s comedy arises from a close and realistic observation of the serious business of life. Further, Narayan’s comedy is an unveiling of the petty follies and foibles of ordinary life and not intended to hurt or harm, nor to mock and satirize. The vein of sympathetic humour runs through his presentation of the life and character of Raju, which is also generally present in the nature of the villagers of Mangal as well as the inhabitants of Malgudi town.

The childhood of Raju and his education is presented with hilarious effect. The first person narrative persona describes how as a child he would often swallow the extra peppermint in order to minimize complications. The idea of arithmetic that the young boy develops out of frustration is comic indeed: “Two and two four; four and three something else.” The father’s principle of a child’s psychology is ironically primitive: “The unbeaten brat will remain unlearned.”

Raju’s career as a guide is almost certain to evoke laughter. The age he ascribed to any particular architecture depended upon ‘his mood’ and ‘the type of person’ he was escorting. He often concocted ‘statistics’ out of his ‘head’. The description of the tourists is equally hilarious. Some of them were ‘passionate photographers’, who would never looked at any object except through their ‘view-finders’; some were hysterically historical and grew ‘ecstatic when they see cracked plaster, broken idols and crumbling bricks.’ There are poets who want to merely watch nature, there are some who want get to get ‘drunk’ in natureand others for whom nature serves asan ‘aphrodisiac’.

Ironic treatment is also meted out to the theme of sainthood, yet the situational irony is revealed by pure humour. Although at first Raju enjoys Velan’s conferring of sainthood upon him, soon he realizes that: “he had no alternative; he must play the role that Velan had given him.” It is in order to impress the villagers that Raju had told Velan’s moronic brother that he would not eat unless the villagers refrained from quarrelling. But by a strange irony of fate the speech is distorted to imply that he would not eat at all until rains arrived in the parched land. The irony is further emphasized by the fact that Raju had himself earlier given the villagers the idea that saints might bring rain by fasting and praying in knee-deep water. The irony develops to its most intense form when he is informed about the villagers’ new belief just when he is dreaming of his favourite dish ‘bonda’.

The fact that Raju remains a ‘lovable rogue’, and never forfeits the readers’ sympathy, in spite of his unreliability to the tourists, defrauding of the trusting Marco, his seducing of another man’s wife and his exploitation of the innocent villagers, is chiefly because of Raju’s sense of humour. One example of Raju’s humorous take on the incidents of life is when he describes his deliberate pretention of a dance master in front of his maternal uncle: “I observed my uncle peep out of the kitchen, and so I made myself more deliberately teacher like. I issued commands and directions to Rosie. My uncle watched my antiques from the kitchen.” Another instance of Raju’s humour is the manner in which he answers his mother’s queries about Rosie.

Humorous and ironic presentation is an essential tool for characterization. A sense of humour is something denied entirely to Marco, for Marco is presented as a comic character who does not have the inner humour to realize that he is the source of comedy. His dressing in the European manner, his excessive concern for billsand his love for the ‘cold, old walls’, as described by Rosie renders him comic. On the other hand one notices that Rosie is never made to appear comic, so that she retains a great degree of respect till the very end.

Thus, the humour and irony in “The Guide’ not only serve as entertainment ‘per-se’, but also as a potent tool for the revaluation of character, and in particular for the purpose of presenting Raju as tragi-comic figure who retains the audience’s sympathy in spite of his roguishness.

CBCS Sem-2 "The Guide": Importance of the Character of Marco

Importance of the Character of Marco

R.K Narayan, one of the most prominent Indian English novelists, has a nice imaginative skill and can weave the characters according to the realistic extents. His characters in Swami and his friends show his artistic skill in narrating the village customs, sentiments and innocence of the people, where as The Bachelor of Arts exhibits the theme of love,The English Teacher deals with the tragic story of a man who spends his remaining life in the memory of his dead beloved wife. In The Guide Narayan lays bare the situations in the life of his titular character Raju and also satirizes the tendency of Indian people being carried away and easily duped by a pretentious sage.

One cannot help suspecting that R.K Narayan was less interested in developing Marco. He used this character in developing the consistency of the plot. Compared to Rosie and Raju, the character of Marco is not sufficiently explored to reader and only comes across to the reader filtered through Raju’s perception, rather than as an independent character in his own right. The husband of Rosie, Marco is a serious, studious, reticent scholar of ancient civilizations, an academician and archaeologist whose only passion is for his work. His research into the sites of ancient civilization has turned him into a perpetual tourist, as evidenced by the traveler’s clothes that he always wears. Arriving in the town of Malgudi on the railway one day to examine cave paintings. Marco hires Raju to show him the sights. One can feel pity towards the characterof Marco because it was a name given by Raju at railway station “I have, of course, no idea of the original Marco Polo’s appearance, but I wanted to call this man Marco at first sight, and have not bothered to associate him with any other name since.” He is also described as a person with uncertain moods, on one hand he acts as a miser unwilling to spend lavishly on the other hand he can pay any amount on the production of bills for his expenses.

His insensitivity and callousness towards everything other than his work is reflected in his neglect of Rosie during their visit to Malgudi. Marco’s controlling and dominant nature is also reflected in the ban that he imposes on Rosie, forbidding her to pursue the passion for classical dance which she nurtures. Marco’s rigidity and cruelty become apparent when, upon discovering that his unhappy and dissatisfied young wife has commenced an affair with his tourist guide, he completely ignores her for three weeks, and then abandons her at the railway station of Malgudi as punishment.Rosie compares Marco to Shakespeare’s Othello-“I felt too hurt. I thought that Othello was kindlier to Desdemona”.

However the apparently serious and heartless type of character Marco has another side to consider. He is an archaeologist and doing research which requires a lot of concentration and his labour bear fruits when His book, The Cultural History of South India, attracted a good publisher and complimentary reviews.“Three days later Marco’s photograph appeared in the Illustrated Weekly of Bombay, on the middle page”, shows his achievement of fame and respect. He is generous enough to return Rosie’s jewellery in his possession and also pays thanks to Raju for being his guide in his book.

Thus amidst the character transformations of the main characters including Raju and Rosie, Marco is a singular character who remains constant and dedicated to his strict disciplines and ideology. At the end one cannot but commend Marco for his dedication to his work and generosity towards a man and a wife who ditched him.

CBCS Sem-2 "The Guide": The Guru-shishya theme in The Guide / Role of Velan

The Guru-shishya theme in The Guide / Role of Velan

R. K. Narayan has been described in The Times Literary Supplement as "awriter having few equals among modern novelists." His novel The Guide is a fineexample of his talent at its mature best.Narayan, a writer of ordinary humanity and ordinary emotions, aims at a comprehensive view of humanity.In this novel, Narayan presents in his characteristically muted manner, the story of a radical spiritual conversion. It dramatizes one of Narayan's recurringthemes—self-renunciation as the means to spiritual peace. ‘The Guide’ tracing the growth of a corrupt tourist guide, Raju into a spiritual guide, focuses on the spiritual relationship between a Hindu Guru (Raju) and a Shishya (Velan). Narayan has tackled an invaluable relationship between the Guru and the Shishya with great interest.

The novel begins by Raju’s meeting with Velan, outside an abandoned temple in a village named Mangala on the bank of the river, Sarayu. Raju, unable to face the people of Malgudi, hides himself to live in secrecy. The relationship starts with ambiguity and uncertainty for Raju who is not sure of his future after his release from prison. For Velan, the relationship is certain as it is based on his faith that Raju as a swami and a saviour, will provide them peace and serenity. Velan is trusting and respectful. Upon setting eyes on Raju, he seems to identify something spiritual, and immediately puts his faith in him as a holy man.

The first meeting between Raju and Velan is significant. Raju welcomes Velan as he is lonely while Velan gazes at him reverently. Velan has a problem on his mind and Raju’s presence outside the temple makes him believe that he has been sent here to help him. Raju, ‘the guide and every man’s helper’, solves Velan’s problem and proves him a spiritual saint in the eyes of Velan and his sister. The news spreads fast and Raju becomes a swami overnight.Velan encourages other villagers to visit the Swami and soon Raju is rarely ever alone again. The ignorant and illiterate villagers bring him offerings and Velan becomes his staunchest disciple. Velan, his creator remains devoted and thus he plays an important role in shaping Raju’s destiny. After careful consideration, Raju realizes that ‘he has no alternative’ and he has to play the role given by Velan. 

It is Velan’s faith in Raju that precipitates the latter’s transformation into a holy man of renown as other villagers also begin to put their trust in his powers. Later, when Raju is being forced to fast, he makes a confession of his past life of lies and crime, but Velan is unmoved. The ‘sraddha’ of his rustic disciple, Velan towards him is so deep that he refuses to believe. The devoted ‘sraddha’ of the peasant brings about the transformation of the rogue, Raju into a saint.Velan’s trust is such that, even after Raju confesses to him his life of deceit and trickery, his faith remains unshaken: and it is this act of trust that motivates Raju to genuinely try to help the villagers by undertaking a fast to bring about rains to end the drought under which they suffer.

Thus the unshakeable faith of the people of Mangala transforms Raju into an instrument of their will and so he feels naturally inclined to fast for their survival. Here the guru-shishya relationship reaches its fulfillment and reveals the spiritual achievement of Raju. Raju’s martyrdom is a triumph of Velan’s faithful devotion and faith in Raju. Velan acts as Raju’s support to the very last, helping him down to the river to hold vigil on the final day of the fast.

CBCS Sem-2 "The Guide": The character of Rosie in R.K Narayan’s The Guide

The character of Rosie in R.K Narayan’s The Guide

The character of Rosie in R.K Narayan’s ‘The Guide’ is no less enchanting than the character and career of its picaresque hero Raju. The character of Rosie undergoes the strangest transformations in her socio-temporal status, in her companionship and distancing from Raju. If Raju undergoes a radical change from a virtually unknown railway vendor to a popular tourist guide, to a criminal charged of forgery and finally to a spiritual martyr, so does Rosie. From a nameless oppressed housewife, Rosie undertakes a journey to the heights of artistic fame, defies moral laws of the society, suffers sudden crisis first through her estrangement from her husband Marco and then from her lover Raju, from which she emerges a regenerated and revitalized woman deserving of admiration.

At the very outset Rosie is the embodiment of the post-independent educated Indian woman trapped in the compromising situation of her past and her present. She has an unpalatable background as hailing from the family of ‘Devadasis’ and Rosie herself has no illusions about her position in the society: “We are viewed as public women… we are not considered respectable; we are not considered civilized.” Although she has risen above her background to a certain extent by having an M.A in Economics, it is partly her awareness of the stigma attached to her background that compels her to take the first offer of marriage that comes her way. The consequence of the marriage is the traditional status accorded to Indian women after marriage. She lacks the freedom to practice her intrinsic love and talent in dancing. Her husband’s disapproval of her art is an insurmountable impediment to make her dreams come true.

It is from this captive existence that she finds a means to escape by Raju, a man who falls in love with her but tries to manipulate her. The innocent person that she is, Rosie is carried away by Raju’s praise of her beauty and her dance. She is gradually ensnared into an extramarital relationship, culminating in a break-up with her husband Marco when he realizes her infidelity. But this proves to be a boon in disguise for the realization of her dreams. Raju supports her dedication to her art and makes a successful attempt to uphold Rosie to the pinnacle of glory as a successful dancer.

The serpent woman has sloughed off her tangled skin twice in her struggle for existence. The first is when she gave up her “Devadasi’ background to apparently rise to a respectable social status, and later when she breaks free from her marital servitude to achieve fame as “the greatest dancer of the century”. She becomes Nalini, an appropriate symbol, of her rising from a clod of mud to the pristine lotus. Yet she gradually realizes that she has not attained true freedom but becomes a mere puppet to be manipulated by Raju. Even if she had been able to coax Raju in fostering her art, Raju now manipulates her to become a commercial performer who must perform to satisfy his lust for money. The third and final sloughing of skin occurs when Raju’s forgery leads to a regeneration. She faces the world alone, pays back the debts and emerges the truly free woman.

Rosie has been criticized for her infidelity to the two men in her life, a serpent woman who envenoms the lives of her menfolk. Yet it is only her efforts to break free from her fettered existence in a patriarchal world. Her husband Marco is undeniably selfish and indeed a hypocrite, who leads a satisfied life himself but represses and castigates her and further even doesn’t provide the carnal consummation which is the ‘sine-qua-non’ in a marital relationship. She neither finds fulfillment as a wife nor any prospect to her art from Marco. In such a situation it may not be a sin for Rosie to enter into a liaison with Raju. As for Raju, he only wanted to make monetary profits from Rosie’s dancing, and the sensitive Rosie is compelled to voice her unhappiness: “I felt like one of those parrots in a cage taken around the village fairs.” Raju not only keeps her in darkness about her own jewelry in order to conceal Marco’s generosity but also forges her signature. Indeed, the fact that she sells her existing jewelry to provide money for Raju’s case, proves her angelic role.

Thus while Raju is only a pretender and manipulator who is victimized by his own machinations, Rosie rises above all manipulations and soars high like a phoenix in lone splendor. She is not the satanic snake of Christian theology, but the snake of Hindu mythology, if snake is to be the dominant metaphor for her, who’s “ascent through the successive chakra in the kundalini creates a fresh manifestation of life.”

CBCS Sem-2 "The Guide" : Narayan’s use of humour and irony in The Guide

Narayan’s use of humour and irony in The Guide

Humour and irony, the essential frivolitiesthat enrich and sustain interest in a literary work, pervade the tragi-comic texture of Narayan’s novel The Guide. Unlike the comedy arising from a premeditated situation or an irksome characteras in Jerome. K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat, Narayan’s comedy arises from a close and realistic observation of the serious business of life. Further, Narayan’s comedy is an unveiling of the petty follies and foibles of ordinary life and not intended to hurt or harm, nor to mock and satirize. The vein of sympathetic humour runs through his presentation of the life and character of Raju, which is also generally present in the nature of the villagers of Mangal as well as the inhabitants of Malgudi town.

The childhood of Raju and his education is presented with hilarious effect. The first person narrative persona describes how as a child he would often swallow the extra peppermint in order to minimize complications. The idea of arithmetic that the young boy develops out of frustration is comic indeed: “Two and two four; four and three something else.” The father’s principle of a child’s psychology is ironically primitive: “The unbeaten brat will remain unlearned.”

Raju’s career as a guide is almost certain to evoke laughter. The age he ascribed to any particular architecture depended upon ‘his mood’ and ‘the type of person’ he was escorting. He often concocted ‘statistics’ out of his ‘head’. The description of the tourists is equally hilarious. Some of them were ‘passionate photographers’, who would never looked at any object except through their ‘view-finders’; some were hysterically historical and grew ‘ecstatic when they see cracked plaster, broken idols and crumbling bricks.’ There are poets who want to merely watch nature, there are some who want get to get ‘drunk’ in natureand others for whom nature serves asan ‘aphrodisiac’.

Ironic treatment is also meted out to the theme of sainthood, yet the situational irony is revealed by pure humour. Although at first Raju enjoys Velan’s conferring of sainthood upon him, soon he realizes that: “he had no alternative; he must play the role that Velan had given him.” It is in order to impress the villagers that Raju had told Velan’s moronic brother that he would not eat unless the villagers refrained from quarrelling. But by a strange irony of fate the speech is distorted to imply that he would not eat at all until rains arrived in the parched land. The irony is further emphasized by the fact that Raju had himself earlier given the villagers the idea that saints might bring rain by fasting and praying in knee-deep water. The irony develops to its most intense form when he is informed about the villagers’ new belief just when he is dreaming of his favourite dish ‘bonda’.

The fact that Raju remains a ‘lovable rogue’, and never forfeits the readers’ sympathy, in spite of his unreliability to the tourists, defrauding of the trusting Marco, his seducing of another man’s wife and his exploitation of the innocent villagers, is chiefly because of Raju’s sense of humour. One example of Raju’s humorous take on the incidents of life is when he describes his deliberate pretention of a dance master in front of his maternal uncle: “I observed my uncle peep out of the kitchen, and so I made myself more deliberately teacher like. I issued commands and directions to Rosie. My uncle watched my antiques from the kitchen.” Another instance of Raju’s humour is the manner in which he answers his mother’s queries about Rosie.

Humorous and ironic presentation is an essential tool for characterization. A sense of humour is something denied entirely to Marco, for Marco is presented as a comic character who does not have the inner humour to realize that he is the source of comedy. His dressing in the European manner, his excessive concern for billsand his love for the ‘cold, old walls’, as described by Rosie renders him comic. On the other hand one notices that Rosie is never made to appear comic, so that she retains a great degree of respect till the very end.

Thus, the humour and irony in “The Guide’ not only serve as entertainment ‘per-se’, but also as a potent tool for the revaluation of character, and in particular for the purpose of presenting Raju as tragi-comic figure who retains the audience’s sympathy in spite of his roguishness.

CBCS Sem-2 "The Guide" : Significance of title

Significance of the title of R.K Narayan's novel "The Guide"

In the realm of unidimensional characters developed by Narayan in the backdrop of his fictitious town of Malgudi, the character of ‘Railway Raju’ or ‘Raju Guide’ is the most complex and fascinating one owing to Raju’s ability to adapt himself to different roles that life offers him. In the novel we find the titular character Raju as a multifaceted personality whose character shows several self conflicting features. {In him we find the craftiness, dishonesty and credulity of Margayya, the flashy bomb-blast of Mr. Sampath, the adventurousness of Mali, the romantic excess of Sitaram and the mystical leaning of Chandran.} In “The Guide”, R.k. Narayan is like a stonemason labouring to make a goddess out of a stone, to make a saint out of a man of earth. The entire theme of the novel revolves around the titular character of Raju. {Narayan adopts an interesting dual narrative strategy to sketch the character of his picaresque hero- in order to give a third person objective point of view of his present, while gradually revealing Raju’s past in the 1^st person autobiographical mode.} The narrative point of view never shifts from Raju; Raju’s inner thoughts are presented while not those of other characters. The novel is aptly titled after Raju who is the Guide.

In ‘The Guide’ the conflict between modernisation and tradition brings about several transformations in the life of Raju. Some of these transformations are due to his own desire while others are thrust upon him by the circumstances of life. As the story goes on Raju appears before us in various forms- as a young boy, a railway vendor, a corrupt tourist guide, an adulterous lover, a dancer’s guide, a guide for jailbirds, and finally the true spiritual guide; a martyr who renounces his life for the sake of others.

Right in the 1^st chapter Raju admits that it is in his nature, “to get involved in other people’s interests”, “the old, old habit of affording guidance to others…” As to Velan’s inquiry why he chose the career of a guide, Raju replies, “…as one is a signaller, porter or guard. It was fated thus.” Indeed Raju was immensely successful as a guide. The tourists were impressed by him and often recommended him to others-“If you are lucky enough to be guided, you will know everything. He will not only show you all the worthwhile places, but also help you in every way.” However Raju was not a faithful guide in terms of his historical knowledge but this should not stop him from answering the queries of the tourists for he gave descriptions “right out of his head”. {In fact he tells Velan- “It was not because I wanted to utter falsehood, but only because I wanted to be pleasant.”}

Raju’s role as a tourist guide brings him close to Rosie, the wife of an archeologist and explorer whom he calls Marco. With mercenary flattery he gradually insinuates his way into the heart of the lonely wife. After Rosie’s estrangement from her husband, Raju not only shelters her against his mother’s wishes but his love for her motivates him to look after her physical and artistic needs, and finally sets Rosie as a successful dancer. But Raju’s mercenary instincts lead him to an over-exploitation of Rosie, for her performances brought him an unending supply of money to lavish with. Raju’s adaptability to new roles now brings him into the new role of a dancer’s guide. As a result of Rosie’s complete dedication to her profession Raju becomes her manager and arranges her stage performances and business affairs. But his possessive instincts finally betray him to criminal action. Raju not only tries to hide Marco’s book from Rosie but in an attempt to conceal Marco’s generosity, he forges Rosie’s signature in one of his documents for which he is convicted and sent to prison.

As a prisoner too, Raju proves himself to be a model prisoner, a guide for the jailbirds. He builds a good rapport even with the most dangerous criminals who listen to him with great respect. His high sounding talks earn him the title of ‘ustad’. His reputation in the jail is special. He even impressed the jail superintendent who employed him as his personal servant. Master of adapting to every situation Raju enjoyed his jail life fully and feels sad when released.

In the opening chapter however, we find Raju, the titular character just released from jail, sitting bored and lonely near a dilapidated temple and contemplating about his future life. When the innocent villager Velan mistakes him for a swami and tells him the troubles of his life looking for advice and guidance, Raju is tempted- “the old, old habit of affording guidance to others asserting itself.” As an interpreter of maladies Raju satisfies the demands of the villagers of Mangal by finding fit words which the new role of a swami demands. The impersonation proves good enough for Raju to provide him free meals which the villagers bring in baskets “filled with bananas, cucumbers, pieces of sugarcanes…”. His circle of devotees inevitably widens as he is believed to have worked a miracle on Velan’s step-sister. Soon enough Raju begins to feel like an actor “who was always expected to utter the right sentence.” Everything worked well as Raju was getting accustomed into the new role of a swami uttering mystifying and perplexing statements but a season of long drought upsets everything. In critical circumstances of the drought not only did his visitors decline but to make the situation worse there occurs a riot among the villagers. To pacify the situation Raju declares that he would not take food until the villagers refrained from fighting, but a moronic brother of Velan reports to the villagers that the swami would not take food until the rains came. The unshakeable faith of the villagers transformed Raju into an instrument of their will so that he feels naturally inclined to fast for their survival. When his devotees call upon him in large numbers, he realizes that, “he had worked himself into a position from which he could not get out.” Finally, Raju becomes aware about the fact that something has changed within him: “If by avoiding food I should help the trees bloom, and the grass grow, why not do it thoroughly?” For the first time in his life he was making an earnest effort, for the first time he was learning thrill of full application outside money and love, for the first time he was doing something in which he was not personally interested.

Thus the self-centered and idiosyncratic Raju emerges as a true saviour, a martyr who sacrifices his life for others. A corrupt guide finally emerges as a true spiritual guide of entire mankind that the magnitude of spiritual gain lies not in self fulfillment but in renunciation.

CBCS Sem-2 "The Guide" : Raju's character

Raju’s character

In the realm of unidimensional characters developed by Narayan in the backdrop of his fictitious town of Malgudi, the character of ‘Railway Raju’ or ‘Raju Guide’ is the most complex and fascinating one owing to Raju’s ability to adapt himself to different roles that life offers him. In the novel we find the titular character Raju as a multifaceted personality whose character shows several self conflicting features. {In him we find the craftiness, dishonesty and credulity of Margayya, the flashy bomb-blast of Mr. Sampath, the adventurousness of Mali, the romantic excess of Sitaram and the mystical leaning of Chandran.} In “The Guide”, R.k. Narayan is like a stonemason labouring to make a goddess out of a stone, to make a saint out of a man of earth. The entire theme of the novel revolves around the titular character of Raju. {Narayan adopts an interesting dual narrative strategy to sketch the character of his picaresque hero- in order to give a third person objective point of view of his present, while gradually revealing Raju’s past in the 1^st person autobiographical mode.} The narrative point of view never shifts from Raju; Raju’s inner thoughts are presented while not those of other characters. The novel is aptly titled after Raju who is the Guide.

In ‘The Guide’ the conflict between modernisation and tradition brings about several transformations in the life of Raju. Some of these transformations are due to his own desire while others are thrust upon him by the circumstances of life. As the story goes on Raju appears before us in various forms- as a young boy, a railway vendor, a corrupt tourist guide, an adulterous lover, a dancer’s guide, a guide for jailbirds, and finally the true spiritual guide; a martyr who renounces his life for the sake of others.

Right in the 1^st chapter Raju admits that it is in his nature, “to get involved in other people’s interests”, “the old, old habit of affording guidance to others…” As to Velan’s inquiry why he chose the career of a guide, Raju replies, “…as one is a signaller, porter or guard. It was fated thus.” Indeed Raju was immensely successful as a guide. The tourists were impressed by him and often recommended him to others-“If you are lucky enough to be guided, you will know everything. He will not only show you all the worthwhile places, but also help you in every way.” However Raju was not a faithful guide in terms of his historical knowledge but this should not stop him from answering the queries of the tourists for he gave descriptions “right out of his head”. {In fact he tells Velan- “It was not because I wanted to utter falsehood, but only because I wanted to be pleasant.”}

Raju’s role as a tourist guide brings him close to Rosie, the wife of an archeologist and explorer whom he calls Marco. With mercenary flattery he gradually insinuates his way into the heart of the lonely wife. After Rosie’s estrangement from her husband, Raju not only shelters her against his mother’s wishes but his love for her motivates him to look after her physical and artistic needs, and finally sets Rosie as a successful dancer. But Raju’s mercenary instincts lead him to an over-exploitation of Rosie, for her performances brought him an unending supply of money to lavish with. Raju’s adaptability to new roles now brings him into the new role of a dancer’s guide. As a result of Rosie’s complete dedication to her profession Raju becomes her manager and arranges her stage performances and business affairs. But his possessive instincts finally betray him to criminal action. Raju not only tries to hide Marco’s book from Rosie but in an attempt to conceal Marco’s generosity, he forges Rosie’s signature in one of his documents for which he is convicted and sent to prison.

As a prisoner too, Raju proves himself to be a model prisoner, a guide for the jailbirds. He builds a good rapport even with the most dangerous criminals who listen to him with great respect. His high sounding talks earn him the title of ‘ustad’. His reputation in the jail is special. He even impressed the jail superintendent who employed him as his personal servant. Master of adapting to every situation Raju enjoyed his jail life fully and feels sad when released.

In the opening chapter however, we find Raju, the titular character just released from jail, sitting bored and lonely near a dilapidated temple and contemplating about his future life. When the innocent villager Velan mistakes him for a swami and tells him the troubles of his life looking for advice and guidance, Raju is tempted- “the old, old habit of affording guidance to others asserting itself.” As an interpreter of maladies Raju satisfies the demands of the villagers of Mangal by finding fit words which the new role of a swami demands. The impersonation proves good enough for Raju to provide him free meals which the villagers bring in baskets “filled with bananas, cucumbers, pieces of sugarcanes…”. His circle of devotees inevitably widens as he is believed to have worked a miracle on Velan’s step-sister. Soon enough Raju begins to feel like an actor “who was always expected to utter the right sentence.” Everything worked well as Raju was getting accustomed into the new role of a swami uttering mystifying and perplexing statements but a season of long drought upsets everything. In critical circumstances of the drought not only did his visitors decline but to make the situation worse there occurs a riot among the villagers. To pacify the situation Raju declares that he would not take food until the villagers refrained from fighting, but a moronic brother of Velan reports to the villagers that the swami would not take food until the rains came. The unshakeable faith of the villagers transformed Raju into an instrument of their will so that he feels naturally inclined to fast for their survival. When his devotees call upon him in large numbers, he realizes that, “he had worked himself into a position from which he could not get out.” Finally, Raju becomes aware about the fact that something has changed within him: “If by avoiding food I should help the trees bloom, and the grass grow, why not do it thoroughly?” For the first time in his life he was making an earnest effort, for the first time he was learning thrill of full application outside money and love, for the first time he was doing something in which he was not personally interested.

Thus the self-centered and idiosyncratic Raju emerges as a true saviour, a martyr who sacrifices his life for others. A corrupt guide finally emerges as a true spiritual guide of entire mankind that the magnitude of spiritual gain lies not in self fulfillment but in renunciation.

CBCS Sem-1 "Mrichchhakatika": Character of Charudatta

Character of Charudatta

Sudraka was well versed in the art of characterization. In his prakarana play Mrichchhakatika he has presented all sorts of characters high and low and it was indeed a daring task for Sudraka to present onstage, in a rigid patriarchal ancient Indian society the consummation of a love affair between a respected Brahmin merchant Charudatta with the courtesan Vasantasena. According to the ‘Natyashastra’, the hero of the Prakarana must be brave, a Brahmana or a minister of a king or a merchant. A hero must always engage himself in performing Dharma, attaining Kama and wealth. He must face some problems when he is performing these things which he must overcome virtuously.

Although Charudatta is not a typical ‘dhirodhatta; type of hero, he possess rare characteristics which makes him the most appealing one to Vasantasena, the most beautiful and rich courtesan of Ujjayini, in spite of his impoverished condition.The protagonist of the play Charudatta does not belong to the noble class or royal lineage.He is a Brahmana youth of Ujjayini’ but he led his life like a Vaisya.His ancestors had amassed a large fortune in trade, which subsequently disappeared and left him penniless. He was the follower of Dharma. In the first act he enters being engaged in worshipping god. He has belief in Dharma, Karma and the result of Karma. He had deep belief in the omens also like that of fate. His belief was that the omens show the good or bad happenings in future.Charudatta was handsome to look at and his physique such that the people just by looking at him remembers the good deeds done by him. The author has attempted to characterize a real man with his defects as well as virtues. He has spent a greater portion of his wealth on charities and his name is having the significant meaning "he who gives nobly".Bountifulness was a habit, which has become a second nature with him, so that when he has nothing valuable things to give he gives the cloak which is wearing, his high sense of honour make him to replace the stolen ornaments by a costly - necklace; and do such deeds of nobleness as could win him the love of a courtesan who is young, beautiful and rich.

The play opens with Charudatta in an extremely impoverished situation.Poverty is not simply a social state in which Charudatta finds himself, rather it becomes the very force that derives Charudatta's thought and ideas because in the entire play he is seen coming back to the fact that he is poor; for everything that happens to him, he blames his poor condition. Charudatta rues the effect of poverty because of which everyone, including those that had received his benevolence and patronage in the past, avoid him like plague. After experiencing utmost poverty, Charudatta describes it as the sixth sin, after the ‘panchamahapatakas’. However poverty did not do anything to reduce the wisdom and kindness.He is kind even towards the animals and birds and plants.He is fond of music and extremely sympathetic towards others.He felt sorry for the thief Sharvilaka who went out bare handed even after breaking the house and is so forgiving that he easily forgives Sakara the arch villain and the prime mentor of his destruction. Mandanika compares him to the moon. Chandanaka describes him as ‘Gunarvinda’. The judges treat him with great respect and even the Chandalas call him as ‘Gunaratnanidhi’. Although he is poor he does not forfeit the honour of the people of his society.

Some critics find Charudatta as a passive character.His passiveness in love is also illusive. Though he himself does not go to see his beloved as Vasantasena does, yet he is always ready to undergo any risk for the sake of his love. At first sight, it seems that he fails to control the situation, he becomes a fatalist and helplessly accepts the authority of ruthless fate upon him. But when we go deeper in his character, he proves himself at the centre of all the events in the play. Most of the important events develop round his character. He indirectly plays a very important role in the political revolution. Charudatta’s death sentence works as a spark to fuel and results in the dethronement of the unjust king Palaka.

Towards the end when Charudatta comes to know that he has lost Vasantasena for ever he is not in a condition to shed tears for her. It is the climax of Charudatta’s pitiable and pathetic condition. Ironically the introvert man shamed at confessing his love for a courtesan in public can only utter: “Why should I exist without Vasantasena?”

Thus the character of Charudatta is a rare creation by Sudraka marked by humility, generosity, selfless love, sympathy and forgiveness, a most befitting for his prakarana play.

CBCS Sem-1 "Mrichchhakatika": Character of Vasantasena

Character of Vasantasena

No other heroine in Sanskrit literature can produce such a lasting effect on the mind of the reader as does this beautiful, young jewel of a courtesan Vasantasena. Sakuntala, Sita, Draupadi and others are undoubtedly ideal women and worthy patterns for the woman-kind, but their self-sacrifice and self denial do not produce any sensational wonder. Sudraka was well versed in the art of characterization. In his prakarana play Mrichchhakatika he has presented all sorts of characters high and low and it was indeed a daring task for Sudraka to present onstage, in a rigid patriarchal ancient Indian society the consummation of a love affair between a respected Brahmin merchant Charudatta with the courtesan Vasantasena. In the ancient Indian society women were classified into three classes, viz. ‘Prakasanari’ or ganika, ‘Aprakasanari’ or Kulavadhu and ‘Bhujisya’ or slave girls. Vasantasena a ganika of Ujjayini has been elevated to the rank of a lady by Sudraka owing to her rare virtues which distinguishes her from a typical courtesan.

Vasantasena is the most beautiful and the wealthiest courtesan of Ujjayini. A host of young handsome men woo her with presents of ornaments and gold coins. Even Sakara, the King’s brother-in-law falls madly in love with her. But Vasantasena, has fallen in love with Charudatta after seeing him in the Garden of Lord Kama. The love in her heart is further triggered when pursued by the King’s lusty brother-in-law, she secretly slips into Charudatta’s dilapidated old house by extinguishing the lamp “with the hem of her garment.” On meeting Charudatta, whose poverty does not allow her to stay with him as a courtesan, she asks for the favour of leaving her ornaments “as a deposit” in his house. When he protests that his house is not fit for keeping deposits she reminds him that deposits are entrusted not to houses but to persons. In the second act, in conversation with her maid Madanika, Vasantsena reveals how she is love sick. She tells her that she deposited the ornaments so as to have a reason to visit Charudatta again, and so, in a sense, what she deposits with Charudatta are not her ornaments but her love. Vasantasena's boldness is also highlighted when she is seen talking comfortably to her maid about how she wants to enjoy the pleasure of youth and true love instead of serving some king who needs to be served for the sake of his money. Charudatta opens before her an impossible chasm, a chasm that can only be leapt over by the radical and excessive emotion of love. It is as if the courtesan, the traditional gold-digger, has found an opportunity to discover a heart of gold within her; and it is only by letting go of her greedy ways that she can make the liberating leap of unconditional love.

Vasantasena has all the qualities of an ideal noble lady- her nobility of heart, her fondness for children and above all her immortal love for the poor Brahmana Charudatta. Her love for Charudatta is a sort of religion to her. She loves him so intensely that she considers any object associated with him as most sacred and holy. She is eager to get the ‘Parvaraka’ only because it was worn by Charudatta. She gives a warm welcome to Samavakha and pays off his debt only because he was a former employee of Charudatta. When Sakara insults her lover and calls him poor and wretched she becomes almost mad with anger and kicks him away. She even faces death with the sacred name of her lover on her lips.

Vasantasena’s actions towards Charudatta’s wife Dhuta till the end is praise worthy. She does not hesitate to consider herself the servant of Dhuta, she loves Rohasena the son of Charudatta as a mother loves her own child. She gives all her ornaments to Radanika to console the child who is crying just for the sake of a golden cart. Vasantasena is skilled artist, intelligent and learned woman. She has the sharpness of understanding even the symbolic words. She understood the words of Rohasena and removes all her ornaments so as to become the mother of Rohasena.She releases Madanika from the services only because of her wisdom and love for Sarvilaka. She is so kind hearted that she is ready to release all the servants without any ransom. The picture which Vasantasena shows to Madanika was drawn by herself. She explains the rain inthe poem which she has written. She has the knowledge ofSanskrit, the language of the scholarly people, apart from the colloquial Prakrit. She talked with Maitreya in Sanskrit only. She is full of humour and playfulness which make her all the more attractive. For instance while returning the same ornaments giver to her by Sharvilaka, she humorously repeats Charudatta’s own words; “Please accept these ornaments as substitute to those which I have lost in gambling.” Vasantasena’s frank and jovial nature wins the heart of almost all the characters in the play as well as that of the audience.

Thus, Vasantasena is beyond comparison in the midst of the singing and languishing heroines of Sanskrit plays. She is neither a beautiful doll like Bhavbhuta’sMalati, nor a mere idol of innocence like Kalidasa’sSakuntala, but one that possesses force and strength of character. Vasantasena emerges as one whose life blazes into heroic glory in the face of death, her noble nature and selfless love gets rewarded by being elevated to the status of a ‘vadhu’ from a ‘ganika’.

CBCS Sem-1 "Mrichchhakatika": character and function of the Villain Sakara/Samsthanaka

Comment on the character and function of the Villain Sakara/Samsthanaka

No literary work is complete without a conflict between good and evil, and for this purpose Sudraka introduces the unjust king Palaka and his evil brother-in-law Sakara. According to Dasaroopaka a villain is always greedy brave but haughty, lazy natured, sinful and extremely devoted to bad action. He is filled with foolishness, deceiving nature, cruelty and he is a coward. Sakara is unique personality in the whole range of Sanskrit dramatic literature. Heis introduced to us as a co-suitor seeking Vasantasena's hand by force besides Carudatta and thus presents a good contrast to him.

At first sight his quaint appearance and mannerisms and the peculiar absurdities of his speech appeal to us as pleasing and humorous to some extent. Particularly are his ignorance in the fields of mythology and dandy like boasts coupled with a timidity peculiar to himself. Gradually however, as we get more disgusted with him, till at last we cannot but shudder at such a villainous knave. Thus we come to know of the vanity and his contempt of Carudatta for his poverty, and his pride of wealth and his connection with the king which hewould for any purpose fair or foul  misuses to bludgeon others even for their lives. Lust, meanness and envyleads him to strangle Vasantasena and put the blame of his crime on Carudatta.His absence of integrities and abjectness - all those as they come out one by one make him a repulsive figure so much so that even the humour that arises out of his speech and mannerisms becomes grim and shuddering. His humorous exchange of questions and answers in Act I for example, ispleasing enough; but that in Act VIII is far from it.

He displays the lowest level of modesty when he seeks protection from those very persons whom he has injured and insulted most. Only Carudatta would forgive him, not even Vasantasena, If Carudatta is praised and respected by all except Sakara, Sakara himself is condemned and hated by all including his own servants.

CBCS Sem-1 "Mrichchhakatika": Character and role of the Vidushaka, Maitreya

Comment on the character and function of Maitreya in Mrichchhakatika

Maitreya the vidusaka of Mrichchhakatikais not the conventional vidusaka of the Sanskrit drama. He has a peculiar appearance and a peculiar manner of taking upon events and circumstances. His references to and partiality for eatables and receiving gifts, his block headedness for some extent, his quaint similes often referring to himself, his caste and creed his peculiar mannerisms and jokes at his own cost in several cases and his usual timidity are some of the characteristics he has in common with the Vidusaka of other plays. He is also a friend and confident of the hero. But there are many points in which he differs from the conventional Vidusaka.

Maitreya is first of all a staunch friend of the hero Carudatta and stands by him in his bad days when all other friends have forsaken him. He is proud of his friend Carudatta to such an extent that he would take cudgels for him as soon as he finds any one giving him the slightest insult. He is ready to do anything for his friend, particularly to give him relief. At times he is very simple and with his queer questions creates humour. His general knowledge and common sense is however very scanty and is habituated to receiving gifts. He is however, too practical almost to the point of selfishness. But sometimes his love and regards for his friend evokes from him some sound counsels for the overtly noble sentimental Carudatta, which however he wouldnot press too far. Like a practical man of the world, he does not care much for integrity and is prepared for any falsehoodif that would save him from some calamity.

As a vidusaka Maitreya has also a knack for creating humourand relieve the tension of a situation. His method of looking at matters is rather superficial. He can hardly gobehind appearances. Naturally therefore he is hasty in hisjudgements and at the sametime very prompt and outspoken inexpressing them. Though easily irritable he is yet easy tocool down. But the most notable of all is his fidelity tohis friend which he has proved by offering his own life to save Carudatta.

Thus Sudraka presents him as a good foil to Carudatta’s character whosevirtues of piety and integrity stand out brightly on theback ground of the counsels offered to him by Maitreya on several occasions.

CBCS Sem-1 "Mrichchhakatika": Prologue

Comment briefly on the prologue of Mrichchhakatika

Prologue, is a preface or introduction to a literary work. In a dramatic work, the term describes a speech, often in verse, addressed to the audience by one or more of the actors at the opening of a play. The prologue in Mrichchhakatika begins with a brief description about the author.From the prologue we deduce that Sudraka was a Kshatriya king of some country, brave and handsome in appearance knowing Rigveda, Samaveda and mathematics. He knew the art of regarding courtesans and the science of training elephants; was a devotee of Lord Siva and had performed the Asvamedha sacrifice. After establishing his son in his place, he entered the fire and died at the age of a hundred years and ten days. However, it must be remembered that it was the practice for the poet himself to write the prologue and it is queer for Sudraka to be commenting upon his death unless the passage was composed by some other author.

A prologue is also important from the perspective of offering an introduction to the plot of the play. The Sutradhara makes an announcement of the day’s play which is a prakarana entitled Mrichchhakatika and deals about the romance between Charudatta and Vasantasena, and the course of life based on pleasures of love, corruptness of legal procedure, the nature of villains and the workings of destiny. The Prologue of the play captures the strange and complex way this theme unfolds in everyday life. It takes place in a house unsettled by preparations for a festival. A feast is being prepared but the master of the house, the Sutradhara, is dying of hunger while his wife, the Nati, is observing a fast so that she may have the Sutradhara as her husband even in her next life. The same experience of lack of food, of starvation, is being experienced differently by the husband and the wife: the starvation of the husband, induced from outside, is hunger and wants to be satisfied, while the wife’s starvation is voluntary which seeks a reward in the next life.

The prologue is a playful conversation between a hungry and distressed Sutradhara and a fasting but fully-in-control Nati. This conversation, then connects to the story when Sutradhara invites Maitreya, the bramhana for a feast who laments Carudatta’s loss of fortune. Finally introducing the audience to Charudatta who bemoans his poverty and Vasantasena who sees in his poverty an opportunity for a new life.

CBCS Sem-1 "Mrichchhakatika": Theme of poverty and its effects

Mrichchhakatika: Theme of poverty and its effects

Mrichchhakatika, which in the canons of Sanskrit dramaturgy is known as ‘Prakarana’, ‘a play of invention,’ having drawn the plot from ‘real life,’ depicts classical Indian culture in its varied richness. Mrichchhakatika offers deeper insights into the sociocultural fabric of the contemporary society as defined by its politico-economic conditions. Unlike other playwrights; Sudraka preferred to describe poverty in his play. The hero Charudatta, the gambler Samvahaka, Sarvilaka the Brahmin who commits burglary, the police officer who lets Aryaka escape are all poor people. Since the royal patronage nourished the poets of antiquity, they were unaware of poverty and so they ignored it and extolled the life of the elite and their luxurious life. Sudraka draws his major characters in the Mrichchhakatika from the lower strata of society.

Poverty and the effect it has on the psyche of man is a central theme in Shudraka’s play Mrichchhakatika. Poverty forces the characters to explore three main life-paths: of being oriented towards this world, where everything is mediated through power and money; towards the other world, where the spirit reigns supreme; and towards another world that can emerge out of this world, through love and politics. Maitreya mentions the days when Charudatta was wealthy, and then he compares it with the days when he is not. Poverty is not simply a social state in which Charudatta finds himself, rather it becomes the very force that derives Charudatta's thought and ideas because in the entire play he is seen coming back to the fact that he is poor; for everything that happens to him, he blames his poor condition.Charudatta rues the effect of poverty because of which everyone, including those that had received his benevolence and patronage in the past, avoid him like plague. After experiencing utmost poverty, Charudatta describes it as the sixth sin, after the ‘panchamahapatakas’. Because of poverty even the crime of ‘killing’ Vasantasena, was thrust on him saying that he did it for her ornaments.

However, poverty is the bane of the best of individuals and though their innate goodness wants to triumph over the conspiracy of circumstances it puts them through an ordeal.As for Charudatta, the impoverished situation did not do anything to reduce his wisdom and kindness. Charudatta’s meditation on poverty, his stoic acceptance of it, and the way he is rewarded for it eventually is the point of importance that the play makes.

CBCS Sem-1 "Mrichchakatika": As a prakarana play

Mrichchhakatika as a prakarana play

Although Nataka is considered to be the most ideal of the ‘Rupakas’,the prakarana appears to be deeply rooted in the life of common people and social reality in contrast with the nataka.While the nataka presents a monotonous type of society, the palace, the court and the harem, the society presented in a prakarana is more flexible, the sentiments are also more relaxed. Prakarana is a realistic type of play which derives its theme from the society and the life of ordinary folk. Since, nataka takes its theme from ancient stories and legends and the hero and heroine belong to the elite class there is no scope for depicting the life, problems and living standards of the ordinary people. Prakarana gives enough scope for the dramatist to analyse the social life of the people, customs and morals current in the society and evil practices etc. and suggest remedial measures for solving the complicated problems and shows the right path to be followed. This shows that Sanskrit literature has kept pace with social problems and changes.

Mrichchhakatika is quite different from all other Sanskrit plays. It is said to have been written by a Kshatriya king named Sudraka sometime between third century and the fifth century BC.. Unlike the many Sanskrit dramas that have borrowed their themes either from mythology or history, Mrichchhakatika, which in the canons of Sanskrit dramaturgy is known as Prakarana, ‘a play of invention,’ having drawn the plot from ‘real life,’ depicts classical Indian culture in its varied richness. It is atypical Sanskrit play offering deeper insights into the sociocultural fabric of the contemporary society as defined by its politico-economic conditions.Mrichchhakatika is a play in ten acts based on the love-story of the male protagonist Charudatta, an honest but poor inhabitant of Ujjayini and Vasantasena, a beautiful and pure-minded courtesan of the same city. The play is completely based on the imagination of Sudraka and does not take its material from epics. Mrichchhakatika is unique in many ways within the entire corpus of classical Sanskrit literature. The play is one of the best examples of Prakarana, one of the ten types of ‘rupakas’.

Mrichchhakatika satisfies all the requirements of a prakarana in which the hero is a Brahmin merchant, heroine being a courtesan and the principal sentiment being Srngara. The plot is imaginary and it consists of ten acts. Sincethe heroine is a ganika the play belongs to the category of mixed type of prakarana. The sentiment of pathos is well developed and subordinated to the main sentiment srngara. Its style is sweet and simple.The prologue of the play tells that Sudraka was a scholar was a scholar whohad deep knowledge  in the vedas and other branches of learningsuch as Mathematics, Fine arts and the Art of training elephants. Hehad a special leaning towards prakarana. He had little respect forthe established traditions of his time. He dared to break the barriersput by the tradition and the regulations imposed by the ruling and upper class people. The outcome was the emergence of a play which is most human and in which one can see the beautiful portrayal of life, love, emotion and sentiments of ordinary man.

The characters arc drawn from the lower strata of society.Vasantasena a ganika of Ujjayini has been elevated to the rank of a lady. Unlike other playwrights; Sudraka preferred to describe poverty in his play. The hero, the gambler, the Brahmin who commits burglary, the police officer who lets Aryaka escape are all poorpeople. Since the royal patronage nourished the poets of antiquity, they were unaware of poverty and so they ignored it and extolled the life of the elite and their luxurious life.It sheds light on the social and political conditionof the country. Everyday life of ancient India and the kind of luxury they enjoyed are shown in an interesting manner. Life is a blending of sorrow and happiness.Comic situations and tragic scenes in the same measure attractthe common man.

The touch of humanism makes the play dearer and acceptable to spectators of all times.Caste-system was prevalent in those days. Brahmanas occupied a unique place, and they had certain privileges.They were educated and were employed to worship idols or chant mantras.They were not given capital punishment. As regards to marriage there is no caste restriction. A Brahmana can marry even a courtesan. Absence of untouchability deserves special mention. The judiciary and the police department were functioningwell. Speedy trial and impartial administration of justice are worth mentioning.Women were classified into three classes, viz. ‘Prakasanari’ or ganika, ‘Aprakasanari’ or Kulavadhu and ‘Bhujisya’ or slave girls. The women got a fair treatment. The king was the head of the state, social evils like gambling, prostitution, robbery, slavery were prevalent in those days. Poverty was depicted as the root cause of all these evils

Sudraka was very much particular in presenting the hardlife of the people and solutions to the problems.He raises his voice against the rulers whose activities are harmful to the people.Many humorous situations make the play interesting. The Vidusaka makes the people laugh and think. Many of his remarks throw light on the evils of the society and act as a corrective measure.The political story which stands as a platform to the union of Vasantasena and Charudatta and causes the happy ending of the drama adds much significance to the play. It presented to posterity, the sense that misgoverning should always be questioned.Finally,the Natyashastra prescribes wider use of Prakrits and dialects in prakaranas. InMrichchhakatikaDifferent characters are assigned different dialects of Prakrit on the basis of their gender and social stature which throw some light on societal practices or at least on socio linguistic perceptions of the times.

Thus Sudraka’s Mrichchhakatika is the most perfect form of the ‘prakarana’ mingling rife with romance, comedy, intrigue and a political subplot detailing the overthrow of the city's despotic ruler by a shepherd, the play is notable among extant Sanskrit drama for its focus on a fictional scenario rather than on a classical tale or legend.