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Unit 21: ‘Chitra’ by Rabindranath Tagore: Theme and Plot Construction

Thus, Chitra realizes that complete love is a fusion of both physical enjoyment and life’s unsympathetic Notes
obligations. It is this internal conflict which makes the play as one of the best plays of Tagore.

21.5 Theme

Chitra exhibits a realization of the diviner elements of life and love; a heavenly message to the human
soul as to what is the meaning of love in the truest sense of the term. In Chitra, Tagore discusses the
evolution of human love from the physical to the spiritual. In the last scene Chitra tells Arjuna:
The gift that I proudly bring you is the heart of a woman. Here have all pains and joys gathered, the
hopes and fears and shames of a daughter of the dust; here love springs up struggling towards
immortal life. Herein lies an imperfection which yet is noble and grand.
Chitra makes her last sacrifice at Arjuna’s feet. She brings from the garland of heaven the flowers of
incomparable beauty to worship him. She is not as perfect as the flowers with which she worships
him. She brings to him the gift of a heart of a woman, which is full of pains and pleasures, the hopes
and fears and shames of a daughter of the dust. The imperfection, inspite of what it is, is noble and
grand.
Further, the physical relationship between man and woman is the foundation of love, its composition
is provided by their spiritual relationship. Love will find its fruition only when the mind and the
heart of the lover and the beloved are completely united. This theme of transcendent love in Chitra is
best explained through suggestion, which is the keynote of dramatic art. So Tagore instead of evidently
telling so many things in so many words, merely suggests by way of symbols and images. In Chitra
the central symbol is the offer of beauty to Chitra by the gods. She desires to win the love of Arjuna in
a short span. However, that which is secured in a short duration also vanishes in a short duration.
Chitra and Arjuna both gain and lose their attachment for each other as they had adopted the wrong
mode of winning each other. But once they become conscious of their folly they begin to make amends.
When at last they meet, Chitra tells Arjuna that their love is not for home. “Not for a home asks
Arjuna. And Chitra responds saying:
No. Never talk of that. Take to your home what is abiding and strong. Leave the little wild flower
where it was born; leave it beautifully to die at the day’s end among all fading blossoms and decaying
leaves. Do not take it to your palace hall to fling it on the stony floor which knows no pity for things
that fade and are forgotten.
Arjuna then exclaims, “Is our that kind of love?” And Chitra confidently responds saying, “Yes.” She
believes that if it implies the assertion of truth it should not be accompanied by any sense of regret
whatsoever. And that what was meant for idle days should never outlive its destined span of life.
One has to enjoy and rest satisfied till it lives or survives. Arjuna then exclaims that there is something
amiss as he experiences having not obtained the real Chitra and then Chitra reveals her true identity.
The fulfilment of love thus occurs in the last scene of the play when Arjuna meets the real Chitra with
all her physical blemishes and exclaims in joy, “Beloved, my life is full.” Arjuna’s reply is brief but
perfect. Thus, when the time comes for the lovers to separate, they have no regrets for life has given
them all it has to give. The poet does not place an exclusive value on mere love and beauty but that
does not mean that they are less important because the responsibility of fatherhood and motherhood
go side by side and one cannot be isolated from the other in a concept of pleasant existence. The play
conveys the message of the fullness of love.
Thus, the purpose of the play is not the glorification of sexual surrender. Tagore has in reality an
encyclopedic view of life and he is as much a poet of love and passion as he is a poet of God and
religion. In Chitra he deals with the theme of human love that goes beyond its physical limitations in
order to realize its full significance. The merger of man and woman is the marriage of true minds, an
entire compass ranging from the sensual to the spiritual. It is not to be got simply or purchased but to
be attained through tapasya. Youth and beauty are fleeting and death is inescapable; yet marriage
achieves the wonder of ‘beyonding’ youth and beauty, and motherhood and fatherhood to achieve
the miracle of continuity, the ‘beyonding’ of death itself. Before the gods deck her with captivating

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