NAGAMANDALA CHARACTER SKETCH, ENGLISH HONOURS, MA ENGLISH

NAGAMANDALA CHARACTER SKETCH

RANI’s Character:

Rani is the main woman character of the play, if not the heroine of the play. She bears all the tyrannies, yet she does not give up her values of life. She is the only child of her parents and gets their love in full measure. As happens with most of the Indian girls, her fond father finds a match for his daughter and marries her to Appanna. An Indian father generally thinks that a man is a good match for his daughter if he has means to provide wherewithal to his daughter. These fathers never bother about the character of the men with whom their daughters have to pass their lives. Many men have turned out to be libertines and adulterers, but their richness overshadows all other considerations. Rani is married to such a rich man who is called Appanna and lives a life of any dejected Indian woman.

 

Appanna regularly visits a concubine. He ignores Rani and becomes a jailor to his wife. From day one he locks her in his house with the command that he would come to the house only for his lunch which she would prepare punctually and regularly and would not ask any questions. Rani is shocked but accepts his orders as a typical Indian housewife. She becomes a maid servant in her own house. She sweeps, mops the floor, scrubs the  utensils, cooks food, and obeys Appanna’s commands for a square meal.

 

Isolation and incarceration lead Rani to hallucinate. See see dreams. In her intuitive feat, she tells Kurudavva that her husband speaks to her only in words such as ‘do this’, ‘do that’, and ‘serve the food’. As she is locked in the house, she is not able to meet anybody. Narrating her tale of woe she tells Kurudavva, “Apart from him, you are the first person I have seen since coming here. I’m bored to death. There is no one to talk to…” To add to her woes, she is left alone during nights. She is timid as young girls generally are. “I am so frightened at night. I can’t sleep a wink. At home, I sleep between my father and mother. ” We see Indianness as most Indian children remain very close to parents until their marriage.

 

Inspite of this persecution, she does not want any harm to reach Appanna. Kurudavva gives her some roots which can get her the love of Appanna. The small piece she gives Appanna makes him sick. Therefore, she does not give the bigger piece to him. Kurudavva says with confidence that it will certainly bring him back to her: “Go in. Start grinding it. Make a tasty curry. Mix the paste in it. Let him taste a spoonful and he will be your slave. ” But Rani does not take any risk even to get the love of her husband.

 

Rani is an example of Indian wives who endure the tyrannies inflicted by their husbands, yet serve them with all sincerity. Appanna keeps her as a slave, yet he is her dear husband and has to be kept out of the harm’s way. The marriage rites make the husband master of the woman and the wife a poor slave. This is evident in Rani’s life also Rani expects nothing from Appanna, yet she is ready to do anything for him. Even when she comes to commit a mistake, she holds herself guilty and ever remains repentant for the lapse. It will not be amiss to say that an Indian or rather an Indian wife is masochistic, taking pleasure in being tormented by the husband. She never revolts even in her thought. She suffers at the hands of Appanna but does not take any risk to gain the love of her husband. Her character typifies an Indian wife who deliberately accepts sufferings as misfortune.

Appana's Character:

‘Appana’ literally means “any man” and points to the metaphor of man in general, his chauvinistic stance and towering dominance to the extent of suppressing a woman’s individuality. Rani Endeavour’s to discover her individuality by seeking refuge in dreams, fairy tales and fantasies to escape the sordid reality of her existence. At an age where the typical fantasy would be a sultan or Prince coming on Horseback, Rani’s flight of the imagination transports her to a seventh heaven where her parents wait for her.

 

Critics show her body as a site of “confinement, violence, regulation and communication of the victimized gender – self”. And they also point out how she later uses the same body to rebel, to subvert and to negotiate her space in society. Appana considers her as an adulterous woman whereas he himself has an illicit relationship with a concubine. He and his hypocritical society questions Rani’s chastity and side. The male chauvinism ignores the validity of Appana’s principles.

Disclaimer: Images have been taken from the Google sites