Literature

1.  Review the concept of dharma, of one’s duty according to one’s caste and stage of life.  Discuss the concept as it relates to Sakuntala and King Dushyanta.  What happens to them as a result of their dharma?

2.  The play is a conversation about civilization (the king’s court) and nature (the hermitage) or the urban and rural lifestyles.  Who represents civilization, and who represents nature?  What does Kalidasa suggest about how humans should live in the civilized and natural worlds?

3.  The play is also a commentary on male and female relationships.  What kind of partnership between men and women do we find in the play?

4.  Think of plays, films or television shows in which actors step out of their roles and either address the audience directly or discuss amongst themselves the fact that they are in a performance.  Do you think such devices make the action seem more or less real?  Do they necessarily have a comic effect?  What other effects can they have?  What is the effect of the prologue in Sakuntala?

5.  Consider the delicate portrayal of the king’s behavior during the scenes in Act 5 when Sakuntala confronts him with her claim of being his wife.  How is his character made to seem noble and sympathetic even when he is denying having married her?

6.  The king’s son is shown in Act 7 playing recklessly with a lion’s cub.  How does this help the king to recogniza him?  Compare the king’s reaction to the reaction of the ascetics.  What values are represented by these different reactions?  Are these values given equal due in the play?

7.  Analyze the king’s role in the society depicted in Sakuntala.  What are a king’s – or at least this king’s – special responsibilities?  Is kingship seen throughout as an enviable position to hold?  How does the play’s view of the king’s responsibilities, privileges, and burdens compare with the traditional European views of kingship?

8.  Describe the interaction of the natural and the supernatural worlds in Sakuntala.  What sorts of beings other than gods or humans are mentioned or depicted in the play?  What role do they have in the action?   How powerful are the gods?

9.  How do the concluding speeches present us with a vision of the destiny of India, also known in the north as Bharata or Bharatavasha?  Why do you think this level of meaning is introduced at the end and how does it refer back to the premise of the play as a whole?

10.  The theme of recognition is pervasive in Sakuntala.  Identify some instances in which recognition occurs or fails to occur in the play.

11.  Note the imagery in the play.  The king is associated with a bee or a rainshower.  With what is Sakuntala associated?

12.  Why does the child associate the bird, the sakunta, with his mother?

13.  Think about the comic relief offered by the buffoon or clown, Madhavya.  What do his presence and lines contribute to the play?

14.  Make sure you understand the caste system and how caste contributes to the complications and conflict in the play.

15.  Why would a gandharva form of marriage be allowed for the warrior caste?

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