RABINTHRANATH TAGORE AND SYMBOLISM: A STUDY Dissertation Submitted to Periyar EVR College (Autonomous), Tiruchi 23 (Affiliated to Bharathidasan University) in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Philosophy in English Submitted by V. KAMALAKANNAN Reg.No. 11MFEL01 Under the Guidance of Prof. A. WILLIAMS JOHN BOSCO M.A., M.Phil. Associate Professor PG & Research Department of English PERIYAR EVR COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS) TIRUCHI - 23. December 2012 V. Kamalakannan Reg.No. 11MFEL01 PG & Research Department of English Periyar EVR College (Autonomous) Tiruchi - 23.
Declaration I, V. Kamalakannan (Reg.No.11MFEL01), hereby declare that the Dissertation entitled Rabinthranath Tagore and Symbolism: A Study submitted to the Department of English, Periyar E.V.R. College, Tiruchi 23 affiliated to Bharathidasan University is my original work and the Dissertation has not formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, associate ship, fellowship or similar other titles. It has not been submitted to any other University or Institution for the award of any degree or diploma. Signature of the Candidate Place: Tiruchirappalli Date:
Prof. A. Williams John Bosco M.A., M.Phil., Associate Professor of English Periyar E.V.R. College (Autonomous) Tiruchirappalli-620 023. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Certificate This is to certify that the project work entitled Rabinthranath Tagore and Symbolism: A Study of His Select Plays submitted by V.Kamalakannan (Reg. No. 11MFEL01) in Partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Philosophy in English Literature course of Periyar E.V.R. College (Autonomous), Tiruchirappalli-23, for the academic period 2011-2012 in the subject English is the original work of the Candidate. Signature of the Candidate Signature of the Guide Signature of the Head of the Department
Acknowledgement I wish to record my deep sense of gratitude to my lovable guide Prof. A. William John Bosco M.A., M.Phil., Associate Professor, PG & Research Department of English, Periyar EVR College (Autonomous), Tiruchi 23 who meticulously steered this research work. I am thankful to him for sparing his time for guiding me. It is a privilege to acknowledge my sincere thanks to the Head of the Department of English Dr. A. Padmavathy, M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., and other faculty members for their counseling and co-operation. I express my deep sense of gratitude to Dr. T. Jayakumar, M.A., M.Phil., B.Ed., Ph.D., Associate Professor Department of English for giving me the required books for thesis writing. My thanks are due to my Friends and Classmates members for their encouragement and kind co-operation during the preparation of my thesis. I would like to thank Subashree Computer Centre, Trichy-20 for executing the typing work with perfection. Place: Tiruchirappalli Date: (V. Kamalakannan)
Contents Chapters Title Page No. I Introduction 1 II Symbolism in Chitra 14 III Symbolism in The Post Office 33 IV Symbolism in Tagore s Chandalika 48 V Conclusion 56 Works Cited 68
Chapter I Introduction English language is used as a link language between the natives and the foreigners. K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar has commented that an Indian writing in English was rather like an animal imitating the footprints of another. According to Naik, Indian English literature was not a Hesperian Hybrid nurtured in a Hindustani hot house (158). It was rather a slender twig of that Banyan tree termed Indian Literature, ancient and multi-faceted. Indian English literature has shown spring timer fervor and has attained autumnal ripeness (Preface VII) in the recent years. Although Hirankumar Sanyal has pointed out that drama is a literature that walks and talks (233), it was just a plant of meager growth in the house of Indian English Literature, but it has been advancing, rather limping during the last four decades. It was almost a non-entity and it could not be matched with other genres in this literature like fiction and poetry. There were several factors responsible for this stunned growth of drama and the foremost problem was the indissoluble relation between drama and the theatre. Drama, a mimetic representation of life is a composite art in which the written word attains artistic realization when spoken by the actor on the stage and reciprocated by the audience. A play in order to communicate fully must become a live dramatic experience and so it needs real theatre and alive audience. According to Naik, a true dramatist has to communicate or he will die (181). It was precisely the lack of these essentials that had hamstrung Indian drama in English all along. One silver lining was that in the recent Indian drama in English language had fared sumptuously and put on flesh (155). Drama was the fifth Veda for the ancient Hindus and
Indian classical drama which flourished for ten centuries or more could now safely challenge comparison with other genres in Indian writhing. Drama in Indian writing has had and glorious tradition. The contemporary dramatist Girish Karnad has said in The Fire and the Rain that Brahma, the Lord of all creations extracted the requisite element from the four Vedas (Prologue 2). He culled out the text from Rig Veda, songs from Sama Veda, the art of acting from the Yajur Veda and Rasa (aesthetic experience) from the Atharvana Veda and combined them into a fifth Veda Natya Veda and thus gave birth to the art of drama. He then handed it over to his son, Lord Indra, the supreme God of Gods. But Indra, Lord of Gods realized that Gods were unfit to the new form and passed it on to the human preceptor Bharata who organizes a troupe with his hundred sons and twenty-five Apsaras. Narada and others were engaged as musicians. Gods and demons became the spectators; Nandhi and anukrati were the commentators. The first open air performance was held on the occasion of Banner festival, Indradhvaja festival, to celebrate Indra s victory in a battle over demons which is symbolic of the conflict between Gods and demons in the heave, good doer and evil doer on the earth. Indra Nath Choudhuri has pointed out that Bharata in his Natyashastra explained that theatre is a playing (Kridaniyakam) a kind of diversion from day-to-day drudgery of life. So it involves the conventions of the representational world (Lokadharmita). (173). It was highlighted that the audience were not watching real life, but only a theatre. Traditional Indian theatre through the presentational form created the reality of the theatric universe on the stage. The primary aim of drama was not only to entertain but also to arouse a personal response in the mind of the spectator. Saryug Yadav affirms that...all emotions
including grief, terror and disgust are depicted; the Sanskrit drama never allows a tragic catastrophe to cause a painful impression on the minds of the audience (3-4). Classical Sanskrit theatre, ritual theatre and folk theatre comprise the traditional Indian theatre. Classical Sanskrit theatre drew support from the works such as Natyashastra, Abinaya Darpana and Sangitha Rathakara; ritual theatre portrayed a wide range of casts and communities, while folk theatre was secular in spirit. Sanskrit literature is classified into Drishya (that can be seen or exhibited) and the Sravya (that can be heard or recited). Drama falls under the former category. Drama in Sanskrit literature belongs to the Umberalla of Rupaka which means depiction of life in its various aspects represented in form by actions assumed by various characters. The Rupaka has ten classifications and the prominent component is Nataka. Sanskrit drama develops around there primary constituents, namely Vaster (plot), Neta (hero) and Rava (sentiment). Each play consist of a prologue introduce by an invocation and a formal ushering in of the plot. This is followed by the theme presented in equally divided parts of five or ten acts. Every act is conclused by the exist of all the characters and the stage is left empty. The incidents like journey, killings and wars are never enacted but are only suggested. The surviving Sanskrit dramas are numerous and vary from short one act play to very long plays. The exponent dramatists were Asvaghose, Bhasa, Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti and Sudra. There are various kinds of dramatic presentation. Edward cites the concept of drama as defined by Bharata. As he observes drama has to deal with the imitation of things done in former times by Gods, and men, by Kings and the great ones of the world (88), and this was followed by the ancient playwrights and theorists. The dramatist draws on the subject matter from the epics and puranas. The actor is aware that he is enacting a drama, and it is the stage
presentation which distinguishes drama from premoderns western drama. The classical Indian drama is episodic and narrative is structure and it does not build up a climax as Aristotelian drama does. Indian English drama saw the first light of the day when Krishna Mohan Banerjee wrote The Persecuted in 1931. It is however, pertinent to note that the real journey of Indian English drama begins with Michael Madhusudan Dutt s Is this called Civilization? Published in 1981. In the Pre-independence phase, the major playwrights were Sri Aurobindo, Rabindranath Tagore, Kailasam, Harindranatha Chattopadhya and Bharati Sarabai. Among them Sri Aurobindo and Rabindranath Tagore, the two great divine poets, were the first Indian dramatists to become prominent in Indian English Literature. Sri Aurobindo, a born Lord of language was an outstanding writer in Indian English Literature. He wrote five complete blank verse plays besides his six incomplete plays. His incomplete verse play are Perseus the Deliverer (1943), Rodogune (1958), The Viziers of Bassora (1957), Eric (1960), and Vasavadutta (1957). The implied theme of Perseus the Deliverer is the evolution of man from the state of ignorance of that of enlightened humanism. The play also presents the dramatist s vision of an ideal world where man will be broadminded and kind in sprit which may lead him to perfection, so as to become one with God. The purification of the human soul through suffering is the theme of Rodogune. According to Aurobindo, suffering in the hands of the divine will is and instrument for perfecting the soul of mankind. In The Viziers of Bassora, the playwright reveals a bright future for mankind and the ultimate victory of the forces of good over the force of evil. Through this play, the dramatist visualizes the higher possibilities. In this new society lies the dramatist s vision of man s aspirations for establishing an ideal world in this mundane earth.
Sinha sums up the theme of the play Eric as the trinity of glorious manhood can be completed only when strength in nature and wisdom in the mind are combined with the love in the heart. (202). Love becomes the evolving force in Eric, and the vision that is portrayed by the dramatist is the vision of a blissful state not only for individuals like Eric, but for all those who experience the magic charm of love. If an individual is guided by his instincts, he will attain peace and perfection. This concept has formed the basis and theme of his play Vasavadutta. The plays of Aurobindo deal with the concept of love as its basis since love has become the greatest solvent of most forms of evil. Apart from all these, his incomplete plays are The Witch of Elni, Achab and Esarhaddon, The Maid in the Mill, The House of Brut, The birth of Sin and Prince of Edur. The length of these plays varies from one scene of fifty two lined to three acts. The most striking features of Sri Aurobindo s plays is that portray different culture and countries in different epochs with a variety of characters, moods and sentiments. As cited by Prema Nandakumar, K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar observes that Aurobindo s plays deal with the drama s of life and love, of conflict and change (33). This is true as Perseus the Deliver is grounded on the ancient Greek myth of Perseus Vasavadutta is a romantic tale of ancient India. The fable is from Somadeva s Kathasaritsagara and Sri Aurobindo has also followed Bhasa s Pratiyana Yavugandharvana in planning his dramatic action. Rodogune is the only tragedy attempted by Sri Aurobindo, and the source was Corneille s famous tragedy, Rodogune. In this tragedy, the alliance between poetry and tragedy is as ancient as Aeschylus. The dramatic romance Eric, the King of Norway, leads us to ancient Norway as
the dramatist has taken his fable from the lives of Old Norwegian sages. Through this play, the dramatist has glorified the supremacy of love as it overcomes bitterness and murderous revenge. All the characters in Aurobindo s plays realize the value of love which is the hoop of god s, hearts combine (Prema Nandakumar 36). The play Viziers of Bassora is mainly based on the Tale of the Beautiful Sweet Friend a delightful story by Shahrazed to king Sharayar during the thirty-second night in the Arabian night Entertainments. The drama has a fairy-tale ending eighth Haroun-AI-Rahsed, the legendary Caliph, setting matters tight. But whether the theme is ancient, medieval or modern, Sri Aurobindo weaves adroitly plots and characters and use language to a high creative purpose. Hence the dramatic world of Sri Aurobindo is a world of heroism and romance, of tears an smiles, of insights and epiphanies. There is almost a global coverage in the total content of Sri Aurobindo s dramatic literature and the method adopted by Aurobindo is to pick up only brief outline and relevant points out of the different sources so as to build up a unified and harmonious new structure that bears the stamp of his personality. Aurobindo through his imaginative skill has transformed the temporal materials into rich varied art forms. With respect to plot construction and characterization, Aurobindo s indebtedness to Elizabethan drama is undeniable. He has followed the footpath of Shakespeare by not adhering to the three unities of drama. The use of English blank verse was flawless in his plays. He was also motivated by the impact of Sanskrit playwrights. As a part of dramatic design, this multi-faced genius strove to present the exposition form exposition to the rise of crises is smooth, natural and logical. The dramatic has employed the principle of contrast, juxtaposition and suspense as chief structural forcese. In order to expose the inner recessed of the mind, the playwright effectively used soliloquy in Vasavandutta and in Perseus the deliverer, and asides in The Witch of Elni and Eric, the king of Norway.
The study of drama is half-literary and half-sociological because drama comedy strictly in contact with the people, literate as well as illiterate, through stage production. Though Aurobindo was a supreme artist, dramatic companies never staged his plays, because he has failed to evolve a language quite appropriate to the dramatic medium. Though this penetrating literary critic is known for his felicitous use of blank, his lengthy speech suppressed the action of his plays. Aurobindo s emphasis on the general principles of dramatic design is definitely a paramount achievement in the field of Indian English drama but it is a regrettable fact that he could not cater to the demands of the stage. Rabindranath Tagore, the epitome of Indian spiritual heritage, was a pioneer in the Indian dramatic scenario. Many cities have crowned him as the father of Indian stagecraft. He saved his fellowmen fruitfully and characteristically by assuming the roles of an interpreter and mediator between the civilizations of the east and the west. Tagore combined the Indian and western traditions to bring a synthesis between the east and the west. He has written abundantly and his plays encompass all the known categories- five act plays based on the Elizabethan models. One act plays, poignant tragedies and rollicking comedies, chards, farces, satires, dramatic dialogue in verse, lyrical dramas, symbolical plays and plays predominating in metaphysical and contemporary problems. He has written more than forty plays of all kinds using myths, legends, symbols and allegory in large proportion to express his views on love, religion and death. He wrote primarily in Bengali but he himself has translated almost all his plays into English. The protagonists in his plays realize the value of compassion and self-sacrifice. In all his plays, the heroes strive hard to relieve the sufferings of humanity from the clutches of the material world. His major plays are impregnated with the spirit of Buddhism and through his characters he has crystallized the meaning and substance of the play.
Rabindranath Tagore, son of Maharishi Devendranath Tagore was born on 6 th may 1861. The story of his early life has been vividly pictured by him in his Reminiscences. He writes somewhat critically and disapprovingly of his early life, even through he did not have much to complain of. His real education observes Edward Thompson, came from the circumstances of his life and from his environment (119). He lived in a palatial house in a crowded locality of Calcutta where he could witness, the bustling activities of the common people around him. His experiences with the external world motivated him to write his first long poem, The Poet s Story which was published in his brother s Bengali magazine called the Bharati. Tagore was so captivated by the dramatic genre, that he began his career as a dramatist in the early twenties; he composed the Opera, Valmiki-Prathiba and a full pledged drama Rudra-Chanda and Malini in verse form. But his first full blooded drama, Raja-O- Rani was published when he was twenty and the theme of his play is that of love and patriotism. His important plays are Sanyasi or Ascetic (1884), Nalini (1884), Mayarkhela or The Play of Illusions (1888), Raja-O-Rani or The King and the Queen (1990), Visarajan or Sacrifice (1890), Chitra (1894), Gandhari s prayer (1897), Karna and Kunti (1897), Bhashikaran or Captivation (1901), Vyangakautuk or Fun and Mockery (1907), Hasyautuk or Fun and Laughter (1909), Malini (1896), Raja or The King of the Dark Chamber (1910), Dakghar or The Post Office (1912), Mukta-Dhara (1922), Red Oleanders (1925), Natir Puja (1926), Seshvarshan (1926), Natraj (1927), Chandalika (1933) and The Way of Deliverance (1938), The plays are firmly rooted in the Indian ethos in theory character and treatment. The plays of Rabindranath Tagore may roughly be classified into two classed as nonsymbolic dramas such as Sacrifice and The King and the Queen and symbolic dramas such as
The post Office, The Cycle of Spring, Red O Leanders, King of the Dark Chamber, Chitra and Chandalika Rabindranath Tagore s four symbolist dramas, The Cycle of Spring and Red O Leanders are pre dominantly allegorical while the other two- The Post Office and King of the Dark Chamber belong to the genre of the symbolic drama proper. follows: Prof. K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar aptly comments on the nature of Tagore s dramas as When Tagore applied his mind to a current problem- social, political, economic the head agreed with the heart; and the heart in its turn, beat in response to abiding intuitions, not the restrictive formulas of creed, caste or custom. The light of the soul s illumination led him, not to the will-o-wisp of agonizing dialectics. Whatever may be the problem Tagore leapt from the circumference to the center and seized it in terms of universality. The Poet sees clear than others, further than others (26). Tagore s plays are plays of symbols than of characters and incidents. Most of the characters are shadowy featureless. They are important only is so far as they stand for an idea or a feeling. They symbolically express a philosophy. It is not the logic of careful plotting, but the music of ideas and symbols which is the soul of this drama ( K.R.S Iyenger 26). Even the titles of plays and names of characters are symbolic. The images employed by Tagore not only appeal to our eye, ear and heart they also touch the soul. On the other hand, a symbol expresses two levels of meaning. Primarily symbolic words refer to something which suggests a different range of reference beyond itself. Secondly a symbol works through association of suggestion.
The Plays Chitra, The Post Office and Chandalika are highly symbolic. In these plays the unfolding of character and action is carried out through many symbols. The play Chandalika is the shortest but it is the most powerful play. It is poetic drama. Imagery and symbols play a vital role and all the conflict tales place in the theatre of the soul. The Buddhist monk Ananda awakens self-awareness and self respect in Prakriti by saying Give me water (I.148) and accepting it in his cupped hands. Prakriti is transformed. The simple words Give me water acquire an incantatory effect and run through the fabric of the play as a silver thread. They symbolize her awakening and freedom from bondage. When Prakriti says My birth is washed clean (I. 149) and the new birth she refers to is selfknowledge. In Chandalika, Prakriti stands for nature and her mother for earth-a symbol of patience, suffering and understanding. The primal spell may be taken as the force of attraction in nature particularly of sex. Ananda stands for spirit, the awakening and bliss. Even the word Chandals is made to represent people with mean spirits. The union of Ganga and Jamuna is the union of the white and the dark, of spirit and nature, of Ananda and Prakriti. Rabindranath Tagore s Chitra is a dramatic sermon on the theme of true love. This lyrical drama, written in 1913, the year when Tagore received the Nobel Prize, is based on the story of The Mahabharata. Chitra is the first clear exposition of feminism in India by Tagore. According to Rangan. This play is a work of supreme art, a dream of flawless beauty in and awakened state (15). Tagore s concept human love finds a beautiful expression in Chitra. Chitra is a lyrical drama of passionate love based on a puranic theme. Chitra, the princess of Manipur, brought up as a warrior feels for the first time that she is a woman when
Arjuna in his ascetic robes glances at her. She becomes conscious of the fact that she is not beautiful enough to win the heart of Arjuna. She vainly woos Arjuna but is rejected by him on grounds of his vow of celibacy. She does not give up her love. She is no the kind of woman who nourishes her despair in lonely silence. Chitra finds that it is the labor of lifetime to make one s true self fully known and honored. Therefore she chooses the easy path of illusion which is the first step to reality that is the acquired splendor of beauty bestowed upon her by the Gods Madana and Vasanta. This is the phase where Chitra fascinates and wins the heart of Arjuna. Thus loves is consummated in the union of Chitra and Arjuna. In Chitra, the central symbol is the offer of beauty to beauty to Chitra by the Gods, Madana and Vasanta for a span of a year. The mot remarkable thing is that there is no obvious exhibition of this symbols which grows naturally and spontaneously out of the story that it is not noticed as a symbol in the beginning at all. The success of symbolism in The Post Office could be similarly attributed to the fat that it is to a great extent subordinate to naturalism. Secondly, the contexts in which the symbols contribute to their success: in this play, the recognizable world of day-to-day life and the objects or phenomena belonging to real life are transformed into symbols through poetry. Tagroe s plays as opined by Dr. Krishnanand Joshi and Dr. B. Shymala Rao are not plays of action but plays of feeling, plays of carnival delight and eternal identity (79). They attempt to synthesize the rhythmic intensity of western tragedy with the mingling of Indian folk and classical drama. None of his plays are to be viewed objectively as a representation of a series of events. It is intended to produce an aesthetic and emotional experience. He was faithful to dramatic tradition and to the moral and spiritual values. He regarded drama or theatre only as a medium of self expression. No doubt, his plays are seldom meant for
arousing dramatic effect on the stage, but so far as the symbolic significance is concerned they are splendid and beyond description. As the dramatist has skillfully made use of various symbols, the present researcher has proposed to make a study of the selected plays of Tagore (Chitra, The Post Office and Chandalika) from this angle. A study from this point of view will help mankind to understand the inner significance of the plays of the Tagore. This study has been divided into five chapters including this introductory Chapter. Chapter II, III and IV are devoted to an analysis of symbolism in Chitra, The Post Office, and Chandalika respectively. In Chapter V, an attempt is made to sum up the findings of this dissertation.
Chapter II Symbolism in Chitra Symbolism is the practice of representing things by symbols. The letters of the alphabet are symbols, the numerals are symbols, and science as it advances to discover intricate laws begins to rely increasingly on the use of symbols. A symbol works through association or suggestion. Cross is associated with Jesus and His suffering; white is associated with purity and dove with peace and hawk with cruelty and war. Hence they suggest these different things in the proper context. Symbols are of two types-conventional or Public, and Private or personal. A symbol is an integral part of a context, whereas an image can exist without a context. An image has only one meaning, whereas a symbol is an irreplaceable literary device. Each and every writer is prone to use symbols. As Gordan Craig points out Symbolism is at the root not only of art but also o fife (35). Like image, symbols appear in widely different contexts. It appears as a term in logic, in mathematics, in semantics and semiotics and epistemology; it has also had a long history in the worlds of theology, liturgy, the fine arts and poetry. The shared element in all these current uses is probably something that stands for and represents or denotes something else. (Madhusudana Rao 35) Although we are using symbols in every moment of our lives, most of us are not aware of it. The symbol becomes important on its own account and we forget that it stands for or represents something else. In literary theory it seems desirable that the word should be used as an object which refers to another object. Gordon Craig further points out Not only do poets and painter constantly use symbols but music becomes intelligible only through the employment of them. (35)
The word symbolism came from the Greek Symballein meaning to throw together. The serious use of symbols in works represents or suggests ideas and thoughts. The term symbolism sometimes refers to the later part of the 19 th century in France and the symbolists rebelled against to the literary Realism. They have the idea that writers should create subjective symbols to convey personal and intense emotional experience. The symbolists are of the view that the symbols alone will produce the real essence in the hearts of the readers while reading a literary work. They are more subjective in using symbols. Though the movement has its roots in France, it has its impact and influence beyond French borders and the 20 th century European and American writers like T.S. Eliot, W.B.Yeats and Hemingway owe debt to symbolism. It is the duty of the poet and the dramatist to make readers and spectators aware of the hidden significance behind external symbols. Of all forms of art, drama is particularly adapted to symbolist treatment because it make use of visible action; the actors and he stage forts represent person and places in a play and them the artist s sense of values. The symbols employed by an artist are definite and concrete, but they are made suggestive by indirect hints. Sen Gupta observes there is a difference between a beautiful woman s features and the general impression of loveliness projected by them (Madhusdana Rao 30). This impression o loveliness is projected by the features but it is extrinsic to them. In a symbolic work we find that there are two planes of meaning: the surface meaning which is directly expressed and the over-arching meaning which is indirectly suggested. The surface meaning becomes incomplete unless it leads to the overhanging meaning must spring spontaneously out of the surface meaning.
What merits our attention much in Chitra is Tagore s deep and profound use o symbolism suffused with music rhythm. As a matter of fact, however rich one s philosophy may be, it has a very little significance in the realm of are and literature unless it is woven into fabric of art. A true art calls for a unified sensibility that is feeling and thinking together. It must have both poetic truth and poetic beauty. Sometimes, it so happens that an artist presents his vision of live beautifully that the feeling it self becomes a form. This is exactly what we notice in most of the works of Tagore especially on Chitra. Tagore s plays are basically expressions of the soul s quest for beauty and truth. A close study of his play reveals that Tagore probed deep into the mind of women and presented a wide range of female characters. He drew the attention of his readers to the prevailing social injustice especially to women. Besides this, he placed before the whole world the world the ideal of self-reliance in Indian women fighting not only their own rights and desires but also for those of the subjugated nationality and downtrodden humanity. By his well known play Chitra he has presented a very sensible and revolutionary picture of a common woman. Chitra is a dramatic sermon on the theme of true love. This lyrical drama, written in 1913, the year when Tagore received the Nobel Prize is based on the story of The Mahabharata. Chitra is the first clear exposition of feminism in India by Tagore this play is a work of supreme art, a dream of flawless beauty in an awakened state. Tagore s concept of human love finds a beautiful expression in Chitra. Tagore being an inheritor of the great literary tradition of Bengal, regarded women as the primordial energy of the universe. Tagore s heroines can be classified into two broad categories, the type of feminine charm and the type of feminine grace, serene in her selfassurance and radiating a tranquil charm and possessing silent power over the human
characters display remarkable vivacity and dazzling variety. They are not abstract entities, but creations of flesh and blood, pulsating, with convincing liveliness. In his works women appear as mother, daughter, wife, beloved, and woman symbolizes the Jivatma who seeks union with the Parmaatma. There are also mythical, historical, religious, social, realistic and romantic characters, placed in his dramas, short stories and novels. He represents them as facing typical Indian problems and he explores deep into their hearts, with his keen psychological insight. His women characters are dynamic and are not the products of mere artistic manipulation. Tagore s heroines are both feminine and masculine. They belong to the earth but they undergo tremendous changes in their encounter with harsh reality. Sometimes the two typesthe emotional and the tranquilizing get fused as in Chitra. The diverse types of his women are basically human. They are enthroned as queens of the house, full of self-respect and selfconfidence, exhibiting various moods. Chitra is based on The Mahabharata legend of Chitranganda and Arjuna. The play is punctuated into nine well balanced Scenes: four Scenes are dedicated to portraying the atmosphere of Chitra s meetings with the Gods (Madana, the God of Love, and Vasanta, the god of Seasons); alternating with each one of these four Scenes is the development of the theme-there are four scenes to convey the other atmosphere, in which we see the hero, Arjuna, and the heroine, Chitra, together; and the final scene is the Climax. Arjuna came to Manipur during the course of his wanderings to fulfill a vow of penance. He saw Chitranganda, the beautiful daughter of Chitravahana, the king of the country and was captivated by her charming beauty. He then asked the king for the hand of his daughter in marriage. The king asked him to reveal his identity. On learning that he was Arjuna, the Pandava prince, the King told him that one of his ancestors in the kingly line,
named Prabhanjana, was childless for a quite a long time. In order to obtain a successor, he performed severe penance. Lord Shiva, pleased with his austerities, granted him a boon that he and his successors would each have one child. It so happened that the promised child had invariably been a son. But Chitravahana was an exception, as he was the first to have only a daughter to continue his race whom he named as Chitranganda. He, therefore, treated her always as a son and had also made her as his successor. Chitra, the princess of Manipur, brought up as a warrior feels for the first time that she is a woman when Arjuna in his ascetic robes glances at her. She becomes conscious of the fact that she was not beautiful enough to win the heart of Arjuna. She vainly woos Arjuna but it is rejected by him on grounds of his vow of celibacy. She does not give up her love. She is not the kind of woman who nourishes her despair in lonely silence. Chitra finds that it is the labor of lifetime to make one s true self fully known and honored. Therefore she chooses the easy path of illusion which is the first step of reality that is she acquires splendorous beauty bestowed upon her by the Gods Madana and Vasanta. This is the phase where Chitra fascinates and wins the heart of Arjuna. Thus love is consummated in the union of Chitra and Arjuna. Krishna Kripalani comments as follows: Chitra is doubtless the most fascinating and the most satisfying of Tagore s Plays (139). It is his loveliest drama, a lyrical feast, it is beautiful, touching... there is clarity of vision and maturity of art. (Edward Thompson 125) Chitra is not a play of feeling, but a play of carnival delight and external identity. The central theme of the play is love. The drama evolves around the fullness of love which is shared by man and woman equally. The play is marked by a subtle interplay of mood within mood. It is a genuine symbolic play, yielding more meaning at every successive reading. The
world of Chitra is the world of mythology and tradition. It is a drama of youth, a drama of growth. Tagore represents the symbolism of human psyche, of youth and growth in Chitra. He refers to the symbols-the organic world of flowers, fruits, plants and creatures. There are also the symbols of metaphysical passion of illusion and reality. Again he has also stated the symbols of mythological consciousness of Madana and Vananta and the beloved elves. The whole point of the play is that itself is a sudden spring time miracle, for it comes as it were suddenly and fades away suddenly and unaccountably. In Chitra the central symbol is the offering of beauty by the Gods Madana and Vasanta for a span of a year. What is most remarkable is that there is no obvious exhibition of this symbol, which grows so naturally and spontaneously out of the story that it is not notices as a symbol in the beginning at all. Chitra who is brought up as a son falls in love with Arjuna who sends her away saying I have the vow of celibacy, I am not fit for thy husband (2.33). So, she seeks the helps of the Gods-Madana and Vasanta to whom she says: Had I the time needed, I could win his heart by slow degrees and ask no help of the Gods. But it is the labor of lifetime to make one s true self fully known and honored (2.35). Her strong desire prompts her to cry impatiently for instant satisfaction. She requests the Goddesses as follows: For a single day make me superbly beautiful...give me but one brief day of perfect beauty (2.35). Her prayer is granted but with a significant difference Vasanta says Not for a span of a day, but for one whole year the charm of spring blossoms shall nestle round thy limbs. (2.36). Commenting on the significance of symbolism Chitra, Ketki observes as follows:
The play begins and moves the action in a poetic-realistic mode, presenting Arjuna s infatuation, their Gandarva marriage, their living together, Chitra s sorrow, Arjuna s boredom and his holding for the other Chitra, the falling of Chitra s beauty-mask at the end of the year, Arjuna s happy acceptance of real Chitra and the final spiritual consummation presenting to these in a delightfully smooth way, offers no clash between the surface-poetic-realistic level and the deeper symbolic meaning. (168). The significance of time is first indicated in Chitra s words: had I but the time needed... it is the labor of lifetime to make one s true self known and honored (2.34). The time element is significantly dipped into the play in the form of the God s offer of beauty to Chitra for a span of a year. This central symbol so beautifully and organically lodged in the play is assisted by the symbolic Gods: Madana, the bodiless of God of abiding love; and Vasanta, the time-bound God of Spring without whose assistance Madana cannot function. In the beginning of scene III Chitra shows her pain and pleasure in a very symbolic way to the Gods. She imagines herself to be a beautiful flower of spring and Arjuna a butterfly sipping the honey, drop by drop, which the flower has stored during long day. She says: I felt a flower which has but few fleeting hours to listen to all the humming flatteries and whispered murmurs of the woodlands and then lower its eyes from the sky, bend its head and at a breath give itself up to the dust without a cry, thus ending the short story of a perfect moment that has neither past nor future. (1.24). Here the author a great craftsman, mingles pleasure with pathos. The pangs of temporary borrowed beauty of Chitra are compares to a beautiful flower which is a guest of
very few hours. As long as the flower contains nectar, the bees remain glued to it; and soon after, the flowers bend its head and droops down to the dust. But one should keep in mind that though the beauty of the flower is short lived, yet it is perfect, always praised and gazed; ever ready to diffuse its aroma to everybody without distinction, sometimes culled immature for making a garland for the almighty God. observes: Regarding the beautiful presentation of symbols and images J.C. Rollo rightly Although it is not equal to the Gitanjali in profundity or strength or to The Gardener in its varied emotions, or to the delicate and exquisite suggestiveness of the Crescent Moon, yet there is the same beauty of phrasing, the same flowing rhythm, and in its thought, there is the same firm hold upon reality, the same truth of feeling and of sympathy and the same arresting power of symbolism. (49). The sleeping Arjuna stands for the wintry old age which symbolizes the death of the fertility demon. Subjected to the attack of the spring-god, he becomes a love inspired young man. The entry of Arjuna and Chitra into the temple of Shiva symbolizes the quest of the hero and the heroine into the inner most order of nature or the prescience of the womb of nature. What Arjuna and Chitra worship at the Shiva temple as a frozen image is symbolic of what they are going to be in the bower of bliss. The bower of bliss is earthly and succumbs to the cyclical changes of birth and death. It is denoted by the falling of flowers on Chitra, each choosing a bed to die on (1.24). They are the symbols of amore limited range of creatures those passively participle through normal sexual career. The sleeping consciousness of the romantic mood is contrasted with the waking consciousness. Chitra wakes up in the morning to realize consciously what has happened in
the night. Tagore describes that with the first gleam of light and the first twitter of birds, she rose up and sat leaning on her left arm and Arjuna was asleep with a vague smile about his lips like the crescent moon in the morning. The morning moon symbolizes the evading consciousness and the farewell to it the broad daylight. Chitra retains the dreamland atmospheres of the prelapsarian bower by making the noon bed in the massy fountanous dark cavern. In short, Chitra stands for human desire, Arjuna stand as the seeker of love; the Gods Madana and Vasanta stands for love and youth and beauty respectively. The symbols in Chitra are an organic part of the theme-chitra combine the flower of spring with the fruits of autumn. It also combines heaven and earth. Chitra is a significant fusion of the two kinds of women characters- the emotional and the tranquilizing type. She has not received formal education, but well versed in archery. She advances from the paradise of sensual rapture of the ecstasy of illumination and the sustaining delight of wisdom. Arjuna accepts her in bliss when she casts a tranquilizing spell on him. Rabindranath Tagore s concept of human love finds a beautiful expression in Chitra. The play promotes the very concept of equality of women even in the field specially reserved for men; she is not the woman who aroused her despair in lonely silence, she is not the Goddess to be worshipped, not yet the object of common pity to be brushed aside like a moth with indifference. She has certainly lost one paradise but she has gained another instead. Which is the real paradise where woman holds undisputed sovereignty as devoted wife and mother.
Through the character of Chitra, Tagore has forcefully portrayed the picture of modern Indian woman promoting higher spiritual and psychological sensibilities. On the one hand Chitra is a very promising princess and bears all the responsibilities towards kingdom. On the other hand she is a devoted of Arjuna, and becomes the victim of love and emotions. Arjuna thinks of her as a Goddess of victory and says: Like a watchful lioness she protects the litter at her dugs with a fierce love. Woman s arms though adorned with nought, but unfettered strength, the beautiful! My heart is restless, fair one, like a serpent, reviving from his long winter s sleep. Come, let us both race on swift horses side by side, like twin orbs of light sweeping through space. (22). Chitra in bold, courageous, daring, determined and she is filled with feeling s of dedication and devotion towards her duties. She had all the capabilities, which a king should have. If she lacks in something, it is womanly grace, tenderness and over all physical charm. In Chitra Tagore has revealed two aspects of woman through the play. She is portrayed as a person who possesses strength enough to win the biggest battle of the world and the other one that easily gets shattered by one flow of emotion. She is a complete personality of a woman, who has commendable patience, sacrifice and dedication. Tagore has beautifully symbolized her as a great person undergoing mental conflict on the one hand, and the symbol of strength determination on the other. Chitra has a tender heart within her strong body and she willfully changes her personality for the sake of love. She suffered a great mental conflict while presenting her false endeavor before Arjuna and says:
My body has become my own rival. It is my hateful task to deck her everyday, to send to my beloved and see her caressed by him. (14). This attitude reveals the reality about the very nature of the woman- that for the sake of love and true relationship, she will do any thing to any extern and will sacrifice her life too. She is ready to lose the most precious thing of her life. She says: I will reveal my true self to him, a nobler thing than this disguise. If he rejects it, if he spurn me and break my heart, I will bear even that in silence. (15). She gets success in winning the heart of Arjuna by her borrowed sublime grace but she fails before her own self. Chitra very soon realizes the misdeed she had done and wants to deprive from that falsehood which unfortunately becomes the base of that pious feeling. She is ready to come out of her illusive face and want her true self loves by Arjuna which is capable enough to participate in his every brave action. She says to Arjuna: If you design to keep me by your side, in the path of danger and daring, if you allow mw to share the great duties of your life then you will know my self. (24). This is what the new feminist movement in India stands for as it was heralded by Tagore and these words of Chitra are undoubtedly a great source of inspiration to the young educated females of India in twentieth century. Tagore s representation of human love finds a beautiful exposition in Chitra. Tagore is both an idealist and a realist. He accepts the physical attraction between man and woman as true. It is equally true that if love is centered on the body and cannot impinge it, it degenerates into lust. The physical relationship between man and woman is the groundwork of love and the spiritual relation between them is its composition and the structure of love would remain incomplete without this composition.
Love finds its attainment when the mind and the heart of the lover are synchronized with the mind and the heart of the beloved. Arjuna stands for the average man and Chitra for the average woman. Love between man and woman has a corporal basis. The attainment of love in Chitra takes place in the last scene of the play when Arjuna meets the real Chitra with all her physical imperfections and exclaims in delight, that his life is satisfied. The play is not designed to convey the meaning that sexual wantonness is an act of adoration. This is clear from the beginning when Arjuna offers his love to Chitra and is ready to break his vow of celibacy for the sake of love. Chitra is not thrilled with joy. On the other hand she says: Whom do you seek in these dark eyes, in these milk white arms, if you are ready to pay for her the price of your probity? Not my true self, I know. Surely this cannot be love; this is not man s highest homage to woman! Alas, that this frail disguise, the body, should make one blind to the light of the deathless spirit! Yes, now indeed, Arjuna, the fame of your heroic manhood is false. (37). This passage conceives the body as the disguise and that the real self of a woman becomes gradually stronger. Then Chitra speaks to Arjuna: Would it please your heroic soul if the playmate of the night to be the helpmate of the day, if the left arm learnt to share the burden of the proud right arm? (37). In reply Arjuna states his apprehension to know the real self of Chitra in the following words: I cannot pay you my dues in return for your priceless gifts. Thus my love is incomplete. Illusion is the first appearance of Truth (38). Consequently, he lovingly accepts Chitra in her original form. And when they are about to part there is a feeling, maturity,
satisfaction and understanding. In essence, the theme Chitra is the evolution of human love. This idea is best illustrated in the words of K.R.S. Iyengar: Beauty and youth, although they may be transmit, are yet a part of our experience. Wisdom lies in neither looking upon the body and its beauty as ends in themselves, nor in imagining that our life could wholly be separated from the physical base. Tagore rejected both negations -the ascetic s denial of life as well as the sensualist s denial of the sprit. The blinding maddening ecstasy of the physical union is not only denied in Chitra but its transience is also recognized. Even as illusion is but the first appearance of truth the fever and the throb of the senses are but a prelude to the less evanescent more subdued, joys of holy wedded love. There are two unions in Chitra. The first union takes place in the second scene. And the next union takes place in the ninth scene of the play. This play was not meant for dealing with a particular passion but for translating the whole subject from one world to another; to elevate love from the sphere of physical beauty to the external heaven of moral beauty. The central symbol in Chitra the offering of beauty to Chitra by the Gods, Madana and Vasanta, for the span of a year grows naturally and spontaneously out of the story. There is no conflict between the surface-realistic level and the deeper symbolic meaning. The symbolic meaning is related to the essential duality of love. There is no contradiction between Infinite and Finite, Truth and Illusion, Sprit and Body, Love and desire, Joy and Pain, peace and Restlessness, True self and False self, but what is most remarkable in the play is that the latter i.e., Finite, Illusion, Body, Desire, Pain Restlessness, False self are transmitted into the former. i.e., Infinite, Truth, Spirit, Love, Joy, Peace and True self. This
transformation occurs primarily because of Time, which plays, a crucial part in the entire play. The symbol is assisted by images of flower and fruit and by the image of flame, which symbolizes the upward, restless, and burning process of love. Chitra is Tagore s deep and profound use of symbolism suffused with music and rhythm. Here, it is not the bare information or the history of a particular period that matters but the way of presentation, the poetic exuberance, the metaphoric structure, the imaginative flight of the poet on the viewless wings of poesy. Tagore is of the opinion that Bare information on facts is not literature, because it gives us Merely the facts which are independent of ourselves. Repetition of the facts that the sun is round, water is liquid, fire is hot, would be intolerable. But a description of the beauty of the sunrise has its eternal interest for us,-because there it is not the fact of the sunrise, but is relation to ourselves, which is the object of perennial interest. (57) It is also interesting to note here that most of the images and symbols employed by Tagore have come out from nature, and the day-to-day life of common man. They seem to be richly influenced by Wordsworth and Keats, Shelley and Tennyson. In the very opening of the drama, Tagore shows his deft mastery of Nature images through the retrospective vision of the protagonist: I found a narrow sinuous path meandering through the dusk of the entangled boughs, the foliage vibrated with the chirping of crickets, when of a sudden I came upon a man lying on a bed of dried leaves, across my path. (58) The female protagonist of the book, Chitra, behaves like a boy, and so when she sees Arjuna in the forest, all of a sudden she feels like a woman. This scene reminds us of