Group 5 – Sakuntala
Jessica Ruiz
Close Reading Tw0
The Recognition of Sakuntala is a Sankskrit play and love story written by the poet Kalidasa. It was set in the countryside of India and plays a large role in Indian culture, much like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet does in Western culture. Though both plays are love stories, The Recognition of Sakuntala combines the love story with the cultural and religious practices from India at the time. One of the main themes in the play is the concept of Rasa. Rasa is described as an emotion or urge the creator writes for the audience to feel but “… they feel these urges not as real urges but as symbols, charged by meanings” by the Indian aesthetician Pravas Jivan Chaudhury. Chaudhury is saying that Rasa is a combination of the emotions of the creator as well as the emotions the readers feel and interpret when reading the play. Rasa is most often shown when reading and analyzing the interactions between Sakuntala and King Dusyanta.
Sakuntala is a young woman living in an ascetic hermitage when she is discovered by King Dusyanta. The King was hunting a deer when he was informed the deer belonged to the hermitage. In order to perform his duties as a King and pay his respects to the ascetics he enters the hermitage. He immediately falls in love with Sakuntala after spotting her and watching her from the shadows of the surrounding trees. Once he reveals himself, Sakuntala is shown to be feeling love for the King as well but tries to keep it contained within herself as a secret love and desire.
Rasa is first truly shown during Act Three when Sakuntala and King Dusyanta are affected profoundly by their love for one another. The King is lovesick and cannot stop thinking of Sakuntala. As he Goes to find his love he describes the wind as being able to “soothe my love burnt limbs” (pg 33). The description shows the suffering the King is feeling as well as his passion for his love. It easily transcends the page to the audience as if they themselves were the lovesick party. When the King finally get to Sankuntala, it is discovered Sakuntala has become ill and is dying because she is hiding her love for the King. The King describes her as “A beauty sad as spring’s young leaves, shrivelled in the furnace of the summer’s breeze”(pg 35). Kalidasa is showing in this moment that the King is afflicted by Sakuntala being so ill and easily allows the audience to truly identify with their love and feel the same affliction they are feeling. Sakuntala is conflicted about what to do when confronted with the possibility of being with the King. She tells him “I too may be consumed by love, but I’m not free to give myself to you” (pg 46). In this moment, it is as if you were conflicted over love yourself. At this moment you know that she cannot be with him, but you feel like they are meant to be and become invested in the course of their love story and lives together as well as apart from one another.
Your introduction was very grasping and included a lot of details about what you are going to address, good job! Explaining what rasa is was very helpful. I also found it helpful that you gave a background into the characters and how they met. Just try to explain how rasa pertains to them a bit more in your last paragraph. Try to incorporate more examples and definitely incorporate a conclusion for your final draft 🙂