Chitra

                        -Rabindranath
Tagore

Introduction:

          Rabindranath
Tagore was a versatile writer in India. He was a voluminous writer. He was
basically a Bengali poet who won the coveted Nobel Prize for literature in
1913 for his poetry collection “Gitanjali”. Tagore has tried his
hand at all the types of literary genres. His novel entitled “Gora” is well-known. His short stories
also are read with great literary taste. Tagore was a musician and very
skillful in drawing. His knowledge of music and painting has reflected in his
writings. He was a great lyricist. A mere perusal of his poetry indicates that
a musician in Tagore is perfectly reflected in his poetry. Similarly, the
artist in painting in Tagore also is greatly reflected in his stories and
plays. He was well-versed in human psychology. Therefore, he draws his
characters perfectly. His characters like Vasanti, Chitra, Sudha and Raicharan
are immortal and will always be remembered by the readers.

          “Chitra” is a play by Rabindranath
Tagore. It was originally written in Bengali
in 1891 and published in 1893.
It was translated into English by Tagore himself. It is a lyrical play and is also called a dance-drama. It is in one
act. It has nine scenes only.
There are only four major characters in “Chitra.”
They are – Chitra, Arjuna, Madana (the
God of Love) and Vasantha (the God
of Youth and Eternal Beauty). It is based on a Chitra-Arjuna myth in the “Mahabharata”.  Hence, it is also called a mythical play. It is set in the Vedic period. Its locale is
the forest around the state of  Manipur in Aryawarta (now India).

Summary
of the Play:

          The
play opens with the conversation between Chitra and, Madana and Vasantha.
Chitra is a daughter of Chitravahana, the king of Manipur. She is undergoing
hard penance to please Madana, the God of love and Vasantha, the God of youth
and eternal beauty. She narrates them the story of her first meeting with
Arjuna. Once in pursuing the hunting, she comes across a hermit who was lying
in her way. She asks him to get away from her way but he remains silent and
does not move. Chitra arrogantly pricks the man with her arrow. The man gets
up. Chitra asks him about who he is. The man replies that he is Arjuna, one of
the five Pandava brothers. After listening to it, Chitra remains dumbfounded.
She remains speechless. She had long-cherished dream to fight with Arjuna and
prove her superiority over him in archery. She forgets to pay compliments to
him. Meanwhile, Arjuna leaves the place with smile on his face for Chitra’s
boyish arrogance. The incident arouses her womanhood. The next day, Chitra
wears woman’s cloths and meets Arjuna. She expresses her love for him and wants
him to marry her. But Arjuna does not get impressed with her common look. He
tells her that he has been observing celibacy and is not fit to be her husband.
Chitra becomes sad. The words prick her ears like hot needles. She implores
Madana and Vasanta to shower voluptuous beauty upon her for one day only. On
her request, Madana and Vasanta make Chitra extremely beautiful not for one day
but for the whole year.

          Arjuna
falls in love with the beautiful Chitra. But now Chitra gets disillusioned with
the name and fame of Arjuna who easily gets infatuated with the false borrowed
beauty. He even gets ready to break his celibacy for Chitra. Yet, she could not
control herself from giving her beautiful body in the arms of Arjuna. They
spend a night together and enjoy physical pleasure. On getting up in the
morning, she regrets over her act with Arjuna. She feels shame of her act. She
attempts to cry but in vain. She requests Madana and Vasantha to take her
beauty away from her. But the Gods tell her to keep patience and enjoy her days
with Arjuna.

          After
spending a few days with Chitra, Arjuna seems to get fed up with her. He craves
for his past life. He yearns for his past glory. He recalls his past
adventures. He narrates Chitra how he, along with his four brothers, used to go
for hunting and how they used to swim in the stormy rivers in rainy season. He
hears about Chitra from the villagers and wonders about Chitra. He thinks about
her and wants to see her. Chitra wants to attract his attention towards her.
She wants to share the last glorious night with Arjuna. As the year has come to
end, her beauty will decline and her original form will be restored. Hence, she
wants to enjoy the last night with Arjuna. Madana and Vasanta advise her not to
worry about the loss of her beauty. It will be found in nature. Chitra tells
Arjuna that she is carrying his child and if it happens to be a son, she will
bring him up as a second Arjuna. Finally, Arjuna accepts Chitra in her original
form and says, “Beloved, my heart is full.”

Long
Answer Questions:        

             

1)  What
are the Major thematic preoccupations of the play “Chitra”?

Ans.
“Chitra” is a poetic play by
Rabindranath Tagore. It is based on the Puramic story. It is set in Vedic
period in the land of Manipur. It is in verse form.  Its major thematic concerns are discussed as
under.

A)  Love :
Love is a major theme of the play, “Chitra”.
The plot revolves around the love relationship between Chitra and Arjuna.
Chitra comes across Arjuna while wandering in the forest. When she comes to
know that he is brave Arjuna, one of Pandava brothers, she falls in love with
him. The next day, she proposes to him. But Arjuna rejects her proposal by
saying that he has been observing celibacy. He also tells her that:

                             “I
am not fit to be thy husband”.

But unlike a common woman, Chitra does
not leave her attempts. She undergoes hard penance and in this way pleases
Madana (the God of love) and Vasanta (the God of youth and happiness). She
demands voluptuous beauty from both the Gods so that she can win the heart of
Arjuna. Thus, she becomes extremely beautiful. Arjuna gets infatuated with her
beauty. He also falls in love with her. But Chitra realizes that theirs is not
original love but just physical love. So, she becomes disillusioned. But the
two Gods advise her not to worry and enjoy the company of Arjuna till the last
day. The physical union between Chitra and Arjuna takes place. Thus, in the
beginning the love between Chitra and Arjuna is only physical.  This fact keeps torturing Chitra. But it
later on changes into spiritual love when Chitra reveals her true self to
Arjuna. He accepts Chitra in her original form. Thus, the journey of love
between Chitra and Arjuna is from physical love to spiritual love.

B) Man-Woman
Equality: Tagore believed in man-woman equality. Hence, he
aptly deals with the theme of man-woman equality in the play. Chitra is the
only Child of her parents. Hence, there is no male heir to rule the kingdom of  Manipur. So, her father gives her treatment
like a boy. Chitra is expert in all the skills like archery used in war and
generally learned by men. Her behaviour is like a man in every respect. She
realizes her womanhood first only when she meets Arjuna for the first time. She
even proposes to Arjuna.

C) Women’s Liberty: Tagore
was an apostle of women’s liberty. He attempted to prove that women were quite
free in the Vedic period. They had choice in every matter. Chitra is shown in
man’s attire. She learns archery and even wanders in the forest in search of
hunting. She is depicted as a courageous woman.

  

D)  Illusion Versus Reality: In
the play, Tagore himself says:

                             “Illusion
is the first appearance of reality”.

     The love between Chitra and Arjuna is physical.
Arjuna gets attracted towards Chitra’s beauty. He does not know that the beauty
is temporary and hence it is illusionary. He falls in love with the temporary
beauty. Therefore, he falls in love with illusion. Chitra’s beauty is borrowed
and temporary. It is not real and permanent.

     Thus,
love, man-woman equality, women’s liberty and illusion versus reality are the
major themes of the play, “Chitra” by
Tagore.

 

2)     Consider
“Chitra” as a lyrical play.
                             OR
3)     Consider
“Chitra”
 as
a poetic play.
                             OR
4)     Consider
“Chitra”  as a
dance drama.
                             OR
5)     Consider
“Chitra” as a verse play.

Ans.
 Tagore was basically a poet. His talent best
suited for poetry rather than drama. Hence, his dramas have lyrical quality. He
uses poetic language in his plays. His plays have some drawbacks which are –
they lack well-knit plot; they are hardly meant for performing on stage; they
do not observe the three unities; they are not full length plays; some of them
are so short that they cannot be called plays. But the poetic qualities of his
plays overcome all these drawbacks.

          “Chitra”  is a poetic play by Tagore. It is also called
a dance-drama or verse drama or lyrical drama. It is written in ‘blank verse’.
It is a love- idyll. It has the theme of passionate love. Scene – III describes
romantic atmosphere in a very poetic way. It is full of beautiful passages. It
contains expressions of passionate love. According to Edward Thompson, “It is
as ardent and throbbing as anything in erotic literature of extremely
beautiful”,  Like any lyric, it is full
of beautiful expressions. It has many passages describing sensuous love.
Chitra’s narration of her first sensuous love with Arjuna is the best example
of this kind. She describes it in the poetic words as:

                      “Heaven and earth, time and
space, pleasure

                        and pain, death and life
merged together in 

                        an unbearable ecstasy.”

          Like a lyric,
the play is full of symbols and images. Tagore depicts love-story of Chitra and
Arjuna through symbols and images. Chitra symbolizes an average woman and
Arjuna an average man. Their love stands for the love between common man and
woman. Like every common man and woman they, at first, fall victim to mere
physical attraction. But their love later changes into spiritual one when
Arjuna accepts Chitra in her original form. Madana and Vasanta are symbolic
characters. Madana stands for love and sexual instincts, while Vasanta stands
for youth and eternal beauty.

          Tagore
employs various literary devices which are mostly used in poetry. He uses
figures of speech like simile and personification which are. For example, the
sentence-

                    “..you have dissolved my vow even as the moon

                   dissolves
the night’s vow of obscurity”

is a fine example of it. The use of
alliteration and repetition in the sentences like-

                   “what
can you desire, you who are the desire of

                   the
whole world.” 

                      and

                   “…his
name and fame, his bravery and prowess

                   false
or true…”

give musicality to the play.

          Thus,
“Chitra”  is a poetic play by Tagore. It has lyrical
qualities. We find a fine fusion of poetry, passion, love and romance in it.

 

6)   ‘Chitra
is an epitome of feminine power, beauty and 

       youth’. Discuss.

                             OR
7)   Attempt
the Character sketch of Chitra.

Ans.

          Rabindranath
Tagore was a great exponent of women’s liberty. He was a staunch supporter of
man-woman equality. He regards a woman as the primordial energy of the
universe. His women characters are daring, courageous and bold. They display
remarkable vivacity and dazzling variety. The characters of Chitra, Urvashi and
Laxmi are the glaring examples of it.

Development
of Chitra’s Character:

          Chitra
is a princess of Manipur. Her parents bring up her like a boy. She is known as
a warrior. She is adept in archery. She comes across Arjuna and for the first
time feels that she is a woman. She deeply falls in love with Arjuna. The next
day, she puts on woman’s costume and woos Arjuna. But Arjuna rejects her love
on the ground of avowed celibacy. But Chitra implores the Gods of Madana and
Vasanta to make her superbly beautiful. Her prayer is granted. Finally, she
wins the heart of Arjuna and indulges in physical union with him.       

          Chitra’s
character develops from dream (illusion) to reality. There is her transition
from the fire of flowery spring to the mellow fruitfulness of Autumn. She
considers her borrowed beauty mere illusion. Hence, she cries out Arjuna:

                    “Alas, it is not I, not I, Arjuna! It
is the deceit of a God.

                    Go, go my hero. Go, woo not falsehood, 

                    offer not your great heart to illusion.”

      She knows that this
acquired beauty will vanish one day. The only moment of her union with Arjuna
would slip from her, leaving her ashamed of her naked poverty. She prefers to
accept the hard truth sooner than the false happiness.

Chitra:
Man in valour and woman in tenderness:     

          Chitra is
depicted as a very brave princess. She is a protector of the people. She is
liked and loved by the villagers for her quality. Villagers tell Arjuna:

                    “Princess
Chitra was the terror of all evil doers.

                   …….She is our father and
mother in one.”

    Chitra is
described as :

                    “…in
valour she is a man, and 

                    a woman in tenderness.”

When Arjuna
hears all these things from the villagers, he himself describes her as a
Goddess of Victory. To him, Chitra seems like a goddess hidden within a golden
image. Thus, Chitra is depicted as a very bold and courageous woman.  There is a fusion of two types of women in
Chitra which are – the emotional and tranquillising.

Chitra
as an Epitome of Feminine Power, Youth and Beauty:

          Chitra is a representation of feminism
in India. Long before she meets Arjuna, she dreams of defeating Arjuna in
straight fight. Her dream was:

                    “…to
challenge him in disguise in single combat,

                    and
prove my skill in arms against him.”

          Thus,
she represents feminine power. She represents man-woman equality. She is not
the woman who nourishes her despair in lonely silence, she is no goddess to be
worshipped, nor yet the object of common pity to be brushed aside like a moth
with indifference.

Short
Answer Questions:

1)   The
use of myth in Chitra.
                             OR
2)   Chitra
as a mythological play.

Ans.
“Chitra” is a mythological play by
Tagore. It is based on the Mahabharata myth of Chitrangada and Arjuna. In the
Mahabharata, when the Pandavas were in Vanawas (forest), Arjuna had come across
Chitrangada who was a daughter of Chitravahana, the king of Manipur. They fall
in love with each other. Therefore, Arjuna meets her father to ask for her hand.
Chitravahana gets ready to get his daughter married to Arjuna on one condition.
The condition is that Arjuna will have to give his first son/child as a heir to
the kingdom as Chitra is the only daughter of his. Arjuna happily gets ready
for that and finally marries Chitra. This is the short story of Chitra- Arjuna
myth in the Mahabharata.

          Tagore exploits
the myth in the play, “Chitra”. But he
makes certain changes in it, perhaps, to heighten the dramatic effect.   

 

3)   The
Character of Arjuna.

Ans.
Arjuna
is depicted as a weak-hearted character. He lacks firmness of mind. He is
shadowy. At first, he rejects Chitra for she is in common look. But he gets
infatuated with her voluptuous beauty, after it is granted to her. He even gets
ready to break his avowed celibacy. He finds in her a very peak of perfection.
He falls at her feet. Chitra gets disillusioned with his easy acceptance of
hers. She becomes doubtful about his name and fame. She tells him not to fall
prey to her deceptive beauty. But he requests her not to banish him from her
heart. He follows her wherever she goes. When she is fast asleep, he stares at
her. When Chitra stretches her hands towards him, he indulges in intercourse
with her. He feels guilty after that. Yet, continues to stay with her.

          Arjuna’s love
for Chitra ebbs away after his sexual intercourse with her. He recalls his past
days and becomes a little upset. He narrates Chitra how he, with his brothers,
used to go to hunt dangerous animals and how they used to swim in the furious
rivers in rainy season. He yearns for his past military valour and prowess. He
listens to Chitra’s greatness from the villagers. The warrior in him awakens
and he wants to go to protect the villagers from robbers. He strongly desires
to see Chitra. When Chitra finally reveals her true self to Arjuna, he accepts
her. When she tells him that she is carrying his child and she would like to
nourish him as a second Arjuna, Arjuna becomes happy and speaks-

                                       “Beloved, my life is full.”    

Thus, though Arjuna is a hero of
the play, his is the secondary position in the play. He lacks firmness of mind
and proves that he is weak-hearted.

4)  The
characters of Madana and Vasanta.

Ans.
Madana
and Vasanta are minor characters in the play, “Chitra”. They are not living figures. But they are
personifications. Madana personifies sexual impulses and Vasanta personifies
spring season.  Madana is represented as
‘the god with five darts.’ One who is hit by his weapon immediately falls in
love. Thus, Madana is a symbolic character. He stands for love and sexual
impulses.

          Vasanta is more
understanding than Madana. Chitra makes a demand of voluptuous beauty for one
day only. But Vasanta knows that one day is so short span of time. Not much can
be achieved in a day. Therefore, her showers upon her beauty not for one day
but for the whole year. He complaints that it is very difficult to stay with Madana
and he cannot stay with him for a long time. It shows that the spring season
remains for a limited period of year.

          Both
Madana and Vasanta always appear together in the play. They listen to Chitra’s
story and advise her whenever she is in need of it. When Chitra regrets over
her coitus with Arjuna and requests the gods to return her male look to her,
Vasanta consoles and advises her not to worry and to stay with Arjuna till the
end of the year. He tells her that Arjuna will accept her true self when the
right time will come.

          It
is in the seventh scene, they appear for the last time. It will be the last
night of the year and they advise Chitra not to worry over vanishing her
beauty. Her beauty is not going to disappear but it will be obsorbed in the inexhaustible
store of the spring. The red tint of her lips will reappear in fresh asoka
leaves. The white glow of her skin will be born again in jasmine flowers. The
fulfill her final wish that-

 
                 “her beauty shall
flash its brightest, like the

                      final flicker of a dying flame.”

Thus, Vasanta and Madana play
complementary roles for each other and show that love is the inevitable role of
the spring season.     

5)  Use
of symbolism in Chitra.

Ans.
Tagore
was first and foremost a poet. Therefore, his plays are naturally full of
symbols and poetic touches. Like his
other plays – “Chandalika” and  “The
Post Office”, “Chitra”  also abounds in symbolism.

          The Mahabharata story of Chitrangada and Arjuna used in
the play is a symbol of human love.
It is a symbol of human life also. The
character of Chitra in the play stands for a common woman. Like every
common woman, she has weaknesses and strengths. She is has tenderness of heart.
When she sees famous and brave Arjuna, her womanhood arouses. Again, unlike a
common woman, she does not confine herself within the four walls shedding
tears, but undergoes hard penance and in this way pleases the Gods of beauty
and love and requests them-

                     “For a single day, make me superbly
beautiful

                     ….Give me but one brief day of
perfect beauty ”. 

           Arjuna
stands for common man. He gets infatuated with the beautiful Chitra. He
even breaks his celibacy for that. He shows weakness of heart.

          The
god Madana symbolizes love and sexual
impulses, while Vasanta stands for
youth and eternal beauty. They grant Chitra voluptuous beauty in the words
as –

                   “Not
for the short span of a day, but for one whole

                   year,
the charm of spring blossoms shall nestle 

                   round
thy limbs.”

They always appear together in the play. It symbolizes that love and spring go together. The image of flame stands for the upward, restless love and spring and
burning process.

          Thus, symbolism
gives poetic quality to the play, “Chitra”.