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

21.6 Supernatural Devices Notes

The supernatural devices in the form of the gods are employed as an indispensable part of the plot.
The two gods— Madana—the god of Love and Vasanta—the god of Spring are introduced in three
scenes out of the total nine. They are not artistic pieces only, but have a distinctly important role,
which is necessary for the development of action in the play. They grant Chitra a blessing of beauty
for the span of a year with the help of which she captivates Arjuna. Vasanta says in the first scene:
Not for the short span of a day, but for one whole year the charm of spring blossoms shall nestle
round thy limbs.
Arjuna then meets this beauty seated by a lake looking at the image of her newborn heavenly loveliness.
Similarly when Chitra asks Madana to grant her the prayer that her derived beauty should flame at
its brightest on the last night, he responds by saying:
Thou shalt have thy wish.
Thus, the lovers Chitra and Arjuna could meet and understand the transient nature of physical love,
which is ephemeral and fleeting, because of the two gods. Chitra then tells Arjuna the story of her
innate love and her reclaimed radiance and offers her heart at his feet. Chitra’s purity, tenderness,
nobility, ability, dedication, dignity and beauty of her soul then charm Arjuna.
Prof. Tolman points out that “only those characteristics of the hero should be made prominent which
really influence the course of the action and that these characteristics should be unmistakable.” In
Chitra, Tagore has made only those characteristics prominent which affect the course of the action in
the real sense of the term. That is her passionate longing for Arjuna is ultimately transformed into a
deeper and real love for Arjuna. She is able to do so because of the two gods. Madana and Vasanta
constitute not only a significant but also an integral part of the play. They are not merely means of
adornment but rather are instrumental in making Chitra experience the meaning of real love.

21.7 Soliloquy

Soliloquy is the dramatist’s means of taking us down into the hidden labyrinths of a person’s nature,
and of revealing those springs of conduct which ordinary dialogue provides him with no adequate
opportunity to disclose.
Tagore has used the device of soliloquy in Chitra and thereby has turned it into an appealing and
effective play. The soliloquies reveal the minds of his characters. Arjuna speaks two soliloquies,
while Chitra has only ‘one in the entire play. In the second scene Arjuna speaks:
Was I dreaming or was what I saw by the lake truly there? Sitting on the mossy turf, I mused over
bygone years in the sloping shadows of the evening, when slowly there came out from the folding
darkness of foliage an apparition of beauty in the perfect form of a woman, and stood on a white slab
of stone at the water’s brink [...]. To me the supreme fulfilment of desire seemed to have been revealed
in a flash and then to have to vanished [...].
This indicates the inner recesses of the heart of Arjuna. Chitra in man’s attire cannot attract him but
her newly born heavenly loveliness bewitches him and breaks his vow of celibacy. He, at once, falls
in love with the Other Chitra. In the third scene, Chitra speaks:
No, impossible. To face that fervent gaze that almost grasps you like clutching hands of the hungry
spirit within; to feel his heart struggling to break its bounds urging its passionate cry through the
entire body— and then to send him away like a beggar—no, impossible [...].
This is the yearning cry of Chitra that prepares her to move a step further in the process of realizing
her true potential. Similarly, in the sixth scene Arjuna speaks:
I woke in the morning and found that my dreams had distilled a gem. I have no casket to enclose it,
no king’s crown whereon to fix it, no chain from which to hang it, and yet have not the heart to throw
it away. My Kshatriya’s right arm, idly occupied in holding it, forgets its duties.
Thus begins Arjuna’s yearning to get nearer to Chitra’s soul. He also longs to go back and resume his
royal duties of being helpful to his subjects though his love for the Other Chitra is still the dominant

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