Originally posted by: LizzynDarcy
Act VII ŚAKUNTALĀ'S PROSPERITY
Finally, the last part. I feel like Duryodhan right now, obsessed with dissecting each act of the play, just like he was obsessed with shloks beyond memorising them.
The final act of the play is without prelude, and begins with Dushyant's departure from the celestial world. The only interesting thing that stands out to me in the small episode is the presence of a charioteer, a significant figure in Indian mythology, who guides his rider. Like Krishna, Mātali guides Dushyant to Śakuntalā, whose whereabouts were unknown; it seems poetic that Dushyant needs a guide to be directed to his wife, also reaffirms his own wayward character. Also, there is a short speech of Dushyant as they descend to earth when one gets insights into his mindset: he has inherent arrogance in him, he sees himself above the fellow mortals in the way he describes earth and its dwellers and that is quite hypocrite of him. The hypocrisy is once again apparent when he describes the hermitage in a completely opposite words than he did when he met Śakuntalā at Saga Kanv's hermitage. His descriptions would symbolic as the Kanv's hermitage was described as innocent, fearless, untainted, wild, fulfiller of desire and Mārīc's seems mature, abundant yet restraint, orderly, perfect world, fulfiller of needs.
As the play reaches it end, one finds echoes of the past acts: men telling women on how to be a 'virtuous wife', how the young Bharat throws similar tantrums as his father, inflicting pain on others, bullying animals uncurbed, and the blessings of the sages and their wives (Aditi like sages' wives before blesses her, while the latter bless Śakuntalā to bear a son, Aditi blesses her to be respected by husband and son) before departure.
In this light, the identification by Mārīc as
Faith - Śakuntalā, Promise - Bharat, Performance - Dushyant make sense, where Śakuntalā's faith keeps her going, Bharat is the promise made by Dushyant and the world often fulfilled belatedly, while the only own whose agency is acknowledged and is that of Dushyant.
Thank you for reading these long notes at irregular interval. I am curious to know more of your thoughts on these aspects of the play.
sorry I am caught up with back to back examinations (
) too so I am not getting time to articulate my thoughts properly but I'll definitely share them tomorrow. But thank you for patiently sharing your thoughts and hearing mine as well! It was fun to buddy read with you Lizzy!
Cricket
Anupamaa
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