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English - II

Notes The theme unfolds itself, in Tagore’s play, in nine scenes. The first scene deals with the rejection of
Chitra by Arjuna, while the second with the rejection of Arjuna by Chitra. The third describes the
delicious union of the hero and the heroine. In the fourth scene Tagore refers to the decline of Arjuna’s
infatuation. It is followed by an interlude in the fifth scene. While the sixth scene describes the further
decline of Arjuna’s infatuation, there is an interlude again in the seventh scene. In the eighth scene,
Arjuna comes across the “other” Chitra and the last scene represents the course of events from the
“Lie” to the “Truth”.
In ‘Chitra’ the chief symbol is the offer of beauty to Chitra by the Gods, Madana and Vasanta, for the
period of a year. The symbol is not deliberately displayed. It grows naturally and spontaneously out
of the story so that it is not observed as a symbol in the beginning at all. There is neither conflict nor
clash between the realistic level and the symbolic meaning. There is a fusion between infinite and
finite, truth and illusion, spirit and body, love and desire, joy and pain, peace and restlessness, true
self and false self.
Tagore must have been influenced by the Irish Literary Movement of W.B.Yeats, although nothing
concrete can be said about the influence of the symbolist movement in Europe. His use of symbolism
is the result of his conception of drama, more particularly with poetic drama. In this play ‘Chitra’ all
the symbols are sustained throughout by the controlling allegory of the two ashrams of Kalidasa’s
Shakuntala. Tagore has created for himself a wonderfully, rounded form, for a play racing the passage
of the human soul through the eternal cycle of innocence and experience and consummation.
Thus Tagore has wonderfully conveyed in this short drama with consummate skill “an endless
meaning in the narrow span of a song.” He has the original gift of spreading the atmosphere of the
ideal world over fanitiar forms and incidents. Prof. Jadnath Shankar says, ‘“Chitra is no mere tale of
joys and pains of a lass. It is a criticism of life.”
19.1 Tagore’s Play Chitra’ with Critical Remarks

Scene I
Tagore makes use of the mode of retrospective narration in this play. Chitra meets Madana, the god
of love in whose bonds the lives of men and women with their pains and bliss are bound closely. She
also meets Vasanta, the king of the seasons and the eternal youth. Vasanta is also the friend of Madana.
The Gods ask her who she is and the reason for her immersing in strict penance and mortification.
She replies that she is the daughter of the kingly house of Manipur. She further states that Lord Shiva
has granted to his great, great grandfather a continuous line of male progeny. Her nature is so invincible
that God’s word also proves powerless in changing the sex in her. So she is always dressed as a man
and she is brought up carefully as a son by her father. She is not aware of the feminine tricks of
winning men’s heart. She has very strong hands with which she can bend the bow. But she is not at
all an expert in Cupid’s archery, which is meant the play of eyes.
She explains to Madana that one day he (she) wanders alone in the forest on the bank of the Puma
river in search of game. Then she comes across a man lying on a bed of dried leaves. She seriously
asks him to step aside. But he does not pay any attention to her at all. He pricks him with the sharp
end of her arrow in contempt. He rages and leaps up like a sudden tongue of fire from a heap of
ashes. But he stares at her with a lovely smile on seeing her boyish looks. On seeing him, she feels for
the first time like a woman. She becomes conscious of the fact that a man is standing before her.
Madana asks Chitra about the subsequent developments. On being asked his whereabout Arjuna
replies that he is Arjuna of the well-known Kuru clan. She stands aghast like a statue and forgets to
pay homage to him. He is the great ideal of her dreams and it is known that he has taken a vow of
celibacy for twelve years. She dreams of having a single combat with him. He leaves her keeping her
in her thoughts and disappears among the trees. She does not great him, does not speak to him. She
does not even beg excuse of him, but stands there like an uncivilised rustic. The next morning she
changes her male dress and puts on the dress of a woman, wearing bracelets, anklets, waist-chain
and silk dress. She goes in search of Arjuna and finds him in the forest temple of Shiva.
She feels shameful and cannot remember the conversation with Arjuna. She remembers the only
words uttered by him. “I have the vow of celibacy. I am not fit to be thy husband”. His words came

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