ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Q.1. Comment on the title of Abhijyanamshakuntalam.[ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS]
Ans. The title of any work of literary art acts like an early hint to the work. The title often acts like the signpost for an area which gives us things to expect from it. the more associated the theme and the title is the more will the title be considered better but contrastive titles are no less attractive either. It is important to note that the title does not have Dhusyanta in it but Shakuntala. Thus, emphasizing on the role of the female protagonist.
However, we must remember that it was Dhusyanta that forgot Shakuntala and not the other way round. Thus even if the name of Shakuntala features, she is not the subject of the action but only the passive recipient of the mnemonic fault of the king. Yet naming a probable tragedy on the name of female protagonist could not be seen even in the renaissance but in the ancient Indian culture.
There is yet another aspect to the title. Since, the marriage was done in secrecy the emphasis on remembering was important. Sarngarva aptly comments in Act V:
Therefore, a marriage, specially one made in secret Should be contracted after careful scrutiny Affection quickly turns to hate in hearts That have known each other but slenderly. (Act V)
It was convenient for the king to forget and equally painful for Shakuntala to prove her honesty. Thus even through the title we can understand the force of patriarchy upon such institutions of social importance as marriage.
The word ‘abhijyana’ as the title signifies ‘a token of recognition’ (here a ring), which is instrumental in bringing about the final recognition of Shakuntala by the ring.
The play commences with king Dushyanta on a hunt. He soon finds himself in the presence of three women at an asharam of Kanva. One of these women at the ashrama of kanva is Shakuntala, whom Dushyanta immediately falls in love with. Their mutual attraction eventually blossoms into a romance, but one day after Dushyanta has to leave in a hurry to meet his mother. A hermit (Durvasa) puts a curse on Shakuntala. She was too busy thinking of Dushyanta, the hermit told her friends that if Dushyanta was presented with a meaningful object (a souvenir) representing their relationship, he would regain his memory of her
. Unfortunately as Shakuntala greeted Dushyanta once more he did not remember her. She remembers that he had given her a ring while they were together but as she looked down to give it to him she realized it had slipped off her finger, probably while she was in the Ganges river. Later on a fisherman (who was taken a prisoner for theft) returned to the king the ring he had found in the belly of a fish.
All of a sudden Dushyanta remembers everything by seeing the ring. Even then it is not he who actively searches for Shakuntala but the dues ex machine had to intervene to make Dushyanta come to Shakuntala. He is led to the ashrama and finds his long forgotten love Shakuntala and his son.
One can understand that pivotal plot of the play is incorporated very beautifully into the title of the play. The play is resolved when Shankuntala was recognised and the climax came when she wasn’t by her husband. Mnemonic remembrance thus plays a vital role in the play. It is important to note that ancient Indian culture and most of its scripts were mnemonic. To forget something could mean the destruction of a part of the culture. It was a rather stern error on the part of the king to forget.
It will not be out of context to bring in the issue of Phaedrus. In that text Socretes tells an anecdote to the king regarding the gift that a god brings for the Egyptian king. The king rejects the gift calling it poison. The gift was of ‘writing’ which was supposed to aid memory. The king rejected the gift saying that rather than aiding memory it will destroy it because form now onwards people won’t bother to remember anything if they get addicted to writing.
The ‘abhijayana’ occurs due to the ring. Had Dusyhanta not given the ring to shakuntala as a token of love, had the ring been never found, then the actual structure of the play would have been a trivial tale of love. But the ring binds the episodes of the play in such a manner that the play becomes a legendary tale of love beyond the ephemeral claws of time.
Thus we find that the title is short and appropriate for the play. It reflects the main theme of the play and the reason for the whole misunderstanding. It also carries a lot of significances which go outside the text of the play. Besides the title itself is graced with a lyrical charm.
Q.2. Comment on the first scene of Avijyanamshakuntalam./ABHIJYANAMSHAKUNTALAM MARKS 10
ABHIJYANAMSHAKUNTALAM MARKS 10
Ans. According to Coleridge the first scene is said to strike the keynote of the character of the whole drama. While this could not be more true for Macbeth for which Coleridge has said so; the same could be true for the play. Perhaps the universality of the play is, along with, other devices, gained from the fact that the king enters the scene as a hunter and is soon hunted by the feelings of love for Shakuntala……
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INDIAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE
VYASA:
- MAHABHARATA MARKS-10
- THE TEMPTATION OF KARNA MARKS-10
- THE TEMPTATION OF KARNA MARKS-05
SUDRAKA:
- MRICHHAKATIKA MARKS-02
- MRICHHAKATIKA MARKS-05
- MRICHHAKATIKA MARKS-10
BANBHATTA:
- KADAMBARI MARKS-10
KALIDASA :
- ABHIJYANAMSHAKUNTALAM MARKS-02
- ABHIJYANAMSHAKUNTALAM MARKS-05
- ABHIJYANAMSHAKUNTALAM MARKS-10
ILANGO ADIGAL :
- THE BOOK OF VANCI MARKS-02
- THE BOOK OF VANCI MARKS-05
EUROPEAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE
HOMER : THE ILIAD MARKS-10
SOPHOCLES : OEDIPUS THE KING MARKS-10
OVID : METAMORPHOSIS BOOK-III , BOOK-IV, BOOK-VI— MARKS- 02, 05 & 10
PLAUTUS : THE POT OF GOLD MARKS-02
THE POT OF GOLD MARKS-05
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ABHIJYANAMSHAKUNTALAM MARKS 10
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ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABHIJYANAM SHAKUNTALAM QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
ABHIJYANAMSHAKUNTALAM MARKS 10
ABHIJYANAMSHAKUNTALAM MARKS 10