SUMMARY OF THE ONE-ACT PLAY - CHITRA- RRABINDRANATH TAGORE

📚  CHITRA 📚

Rabindranath Tagore’s Chitra is a drama on the theme of true love. This play is a work of supreme art. Tagore’s conception of human love finds a beautiful expression in Chitra. It tells beautifully the story of the love between Arjuna, a great warrior and Chitragadha, the beautiful daughter of Chitravahana, the King of Manipur.

Chitra is a one-act play written by Rabindranath Tagore, first published in English in 1913 by the India Society of London.

The play adapts part of the story from the Mahabharata and centers upon the character of Chitrangada, a female warrior who tries to attract the attention of Arjuna. Chitrahas been performed worldwide. It is a fine example of Tagorean philosophy of truth and illusion. It highlights the how the human love shifts from the physical to the spiritual, from transience to permanence, from romanticism to realism.

Story of  the  play

The play adapts the story of Chitrāngadā and Arjuna from the Mahabharata. Chitra is a princess of Manipur. Her parents bring up her like a boy. She is known as a warrior. She is a master in archery.

 The play begins with Chitra beginning a conversation with Madana, the god of love, and Vasanta, the god of springtime and eternal youth.

They ask Chitra who she is and what is bothering her, to which she replies that she is the daughter of the king of Manipur and has been raised like a boy as her father had no male heir.

She is a great warrior and hero despite being born as a woman, but has never had the chance to truly live as a woman. She has no idea how to live like a woman. Chitra explains that she had met the warrior hero Arjuna after seeing him in the forest while she was hunting.

She explained that at that time, she was in the costume of a man. Once she was hunting, she comes across a hermit who was lying in her way. She asks him to get away from her way but he remains silent and does not move.

Chitra arrogantly pricks the man with her arrow. The man gets up. Chitra asks him about who he is. The man replies that he is Arjuna, one of the five Pandava brothers. After listening to it, Chitra remains dumb and speechless. She had long-cherished dream to fight with Arjuna and prove her superiority over him in archery.She forgets to pay compliments to him. 

Meanwhile, Arjuna leaves the place with smile on his face for Chitra’s boyish arrogance. The incident arouses her womanhood. The next day, Chitra wears woman’s cloths and meets Arjuna. She expresses her love for him and wants him to marry her. But Arjuna does get impressed with her common (ordinary) beauty.

He tells her that he has been observing celibacy and is not fit to be her husband. Chitra becomes sad.Chitra was in love with Arjuna. Chitra tells Madana and Vasanta, how on seeing Arjuna, she had broken her bow and cast away her arrows, changed her man’s costume to a woman’s. 

Chitra begs with the two gods Madana and Vasanta to give her a day of perfect beauty so she can win the love of Arjuna and have just one night of love with him. The two gods give her not just one day but an entire year to spend with Arjuna.Chitra shines with fascinating beauty.

The next scene opens with Arjuna marveling over the perfect beauty he has seen. Chitra enters and Arjuna immediately starts a conversation with her. He requests to know what she is searching for. Chitra deliberately replies that she is searching the man of her dream that is Arjuna.

Arjuna replies that he is Arjuna, the man of her dream. Arjuna said that he will break his vow of celibacy (chastity). He accepts the beautiful Chitra. But Chitra is not happy to get the love of Arjuna.

Chitra is extremely unhappy because Arjuna is not attracted towards the original Chitra. But he is attracted towards the temporary beauty of Chitra.She knows that her beauty is not the reality but an illusion.

 After one year, she would not be beautiful. She is also unhappy that the man like Arjuna who is famous for his vows, easily broke his vow of celibacy to enjoy her beauty.

Later the next day, Chitra admits to Madana and Vasanta that she had spurned Arjuna due to him falling for what she saw as a false image of herself. The two gods scold her as they had only given her what she had asked of them. Chitra replies that despite their gift, she sees the perfect beauty as a being separate from herself and that even if she had slept with Arjuna, it would not be the true her that he loved- only her beauty. she is full of regrets because Arjuna had loved only this borrowed beauty.

She is afraid that her body has become her own rival.Vasanta advises Chitra to go to Arjuna and spend the year with him and that at the year's end Arjuna will be able to accept the true Chitra when the  perfect beauty of Chitra is over. Chitra does so, but throughout their year together she assumes that Arjuna will not love her once the year is up.

 After much time has passed, Arjuna begins to grow restless and desires to hunt once again. He also begins to ask Chitra questions about her identity and past, wondering if she has anyone at home that is missing her. Chitra remarks that she has no past and that she's as transient as a drop of dew, which upsets Arjuna. With the year is going to be ended, Chitra requests the two gods to make her most beautiful in the last night with Arjuna, the gods grant a tremendous beauty to Chitra.

Around the same time Arjuna hears stories of the warrior Princess Chitra and begins to wonder (guess) what she might be like. There is a scene of the villagers and Arjuna. Arjuna hears from the villagers that Princess Chitra has gone on a pilgrimage.

The villagers tell Arjuna that they are always protected by the Princess Chitra, whois the terror of all evil doers.

 Arjuna says that some villagers have informed him that Manipur is under attack. Chitra assures him that the city is well protected by Princess Chitra.

Arjuna's mind is occupied with thoughts of the princess.  Chitra asks Arjuna if he would love her more if she were like the Princess Chitra he admires. Arjuna replies that since she has always kept her identity (true self) a secret, he has never truly loved her as much as he could and that his love for her is "incomplete". 

The play ends with Chitra finally admitting to Arjuna that she is the princess Chitra.She describes how she begged for beauty to the two gods in order to win his love. She admits that she is not a perfect beauty, but that if he would accept her then she would remain with him forever. Chitra also admits that she is pregnant with his son.Arjuna meets this news with joy and states that his life is truly full.

Chitra the play deals with  the  theme of true love. It's one of the most delightful plays  of Tagore.

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