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 ASSIGNMENT SOLUTIONS GUIDE (2018-2019)
B.E.G.E-107
Understanding Drama
Disclaimer/Special Note: These are just the sample of the Answers/Solutions to some of the Questions given in the

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Assignments. These Sample Answers/Solutions are prepared by Private Teacher/Tutors/Authors for the help and guidance
of the student to get an idea of how he/she can answer the Questions given the Assignments. We do not claim 100%

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accuracy of these sample answers as these are based on the knowledge and capability of Private Teacher/Tutor. Sample
answers may be seen as the Guide/Help for the reference to prepare the answers of the Questions given in the assignment.

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As these solutions and answers are prepared by the private Teacher/Tutor so the chances of error or mistake cannot be

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denied. Any Omission or Error is highly regretted though every care has been taken while preparing these Sample

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Answers/Solutions. Please consult your own Teacher/Tutor before you prepare a Particular Answer and for up-to-date

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and exact information, data and solution. Student should must read and refer the official study material provided by the
university.

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Attempt all questions. Answer all questions in approximately 450 words.

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Q. 1. Compare and Contrast Greek Theatre with Sanskrit Drama.

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Ans. Greek Theatre: Amphitheatres were used to stage plays in ancient Greece. Amphitheatres had a round

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stage three quarters of which were surrounded by the audience. They were very large and could accommodate up

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to 25,000 people. The stage used the real landscape surrounding the amphitheatre. Plays were performed in day light.

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The actors spoke in a loud, declamatory voice. They had masks and symbolical costumes and used large gestures.

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The chorus was an important part of Greek Theatre.

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The audience included only of free men. Slaves and women were excluded from the audience. Ancient Greek

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drama had a more ritual, symbolic and didactic purpose since it was performed on special occasions such as religious
ceremonies.

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The Theatre in Epidaurus (Theatre in Stone): It is an open-air Greek theatre. The seats for the audience are

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made on the slope of a hill. It had a large dancing orchestra for the chorus. There are passageways or paradoi at the

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right side for entry and exit of the chorus and processions. The ruins of the stone scene building, the skene, are set
on back. The skene could be the replica of a temple or a palace. During 5th century B.C., the skene was a two-

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storey stone building. The upper storey or episkenion was usesd for the stage machinery. There was a colannade or

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proskenion on the front of the lower story. Most of the acting happened in front of this structure on a low platform.

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There were three doors in the low platform flanked by projecting wings as paraskenia. This theatre belongs to the

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Hellenistic period (4th century B.C.), but these architectural features were there in the theatre of Dionysus. Gradually
it was further developed. The Skene was rectangular and divided into rooms. It had a series of pillars and painted

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wooden panels or pinakes in between. The stage was 8 to 10 feet deep and about a foot high. The colonnaded front
wall of the second story with three doors served as the background. Pinakes might be placed between the columns
of the upper colonnade. The actors and the chorus had less inter-mingling.
The Greek theatre saw changes under Roman influence. The stage became lower by a few feet but deeper. The
front of the stage became a highly decorated even as it lost its colonnade. The orchestra was no longer a complete
circle. The actors got training in dance, dialogue and pantomime.
CLASSICAL SANSKRIT THEATRE
The origin of classical Indian drama pre-dated around Gupta period. The literary compositions of this period were
complicated and many-layered. The play was endowed with clashing philosophies of life and art. Asvaghosa’s
fragment plays were the earliest extant works in this field. Drama transpired as an intricate form of public literature
in Gupta period. The notable writings of the periods which were performed: Sudraka’s Mrcchakatika; a satiric
romance, Visakhadutta’s Mudraraksaas; a political drama and Kalidasa’s dramatic romances.

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 The major source of evidence for Sanskrit theatre is Natyasastra, which was compiled during Gupta period and
whose authorship is attributed to Bharata.
“Bharata’s dramatic theory recognizes the emotional and ethical instruction afforded by the spectacle of theatre.
Like Aristotle, Bharata stresses the emotional satisfaction that spectators may enjoy through the action of drama.
Although their modes of ordinary experience are significantly different, Greek tragedy and Indian heroic romance
(nataka) were conceived and performed as a source of pleasure and insight for the audience.Indian heroic romances
represent human emotions in a theatrical universe of symbolically charged characters and events in order to lead the
audience into a state of extraordinary pleasure and insight. The goal of a Sanskrit drama is to re-establish
emotionalharmony in the microcosm of the audience by exploring the deeper relations that bind apparent conflicts of
existences. The manifestation of these relations produces the intense aesthetic experience called rasa.”(Miller: 13-
14)

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Rasa denotes an essential emotionalstate for aesthetic appreciation. They are eight in number: the erotic, the
heroic, the comic, the marvelous, the horrible, the furious, the pathetic and the disgusting. Rasa is the dominant

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emotional theme of a work of art or the primary feeling that is evoked in the person that views, reads or hears such
a work. Bhava (human emotions) are also source of Indian aesthetics. There are eight bhavas and entitled as sthayi

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bhava – rati/shringar (romance); hass (comic); shok (melancholy); krodh (angry); uthsaah (zeal); bhay (fear);
jigyasa (anxiety) and vismay (surprise). Rather than these shaant (tranquility) is the ninth bhava. Anubhava is the

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outgoing display of the inward feelings through eyes, face and body movement’s etc., drama is the portrayal of

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bhavas of the three-fold universe. Thence it includes dharma, krida, Kama, artha, Sama, hasya, yuddh and
nadha. Certain characteristics of Sanskrit drama:

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1. It is composed of sacred material.
2. It is meant for an audience that is well-versed in the performance tradition.

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3. It is performed by members of the highest rank in the caste system, i.e., priests.

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4. It requires special knowledge and skill to execute.

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5. A complete understanding of dance, music, recitation and ritual language is a must.

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6. Training is a hereditary process descending directly from God and passed down from father to son.
7. It must be performed on consecrated ground.

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8. It start with a summoning of Nandi indicates the essential part of the play and ends with a Bharatvakya.

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9. No distinction between tragedy and comedy. The plays are full of rasa.

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10. Variety of language spoken by the characters. The hero (nayak) and the main characters of the play spoke

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classical Sanskrit whereas female and minor characters spoke in different Prakrit dialects.

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11. It serves a dual purpose–to educate as well as entertain.

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Drama is the world of acting, dance, music, dramatic construction, architecture, costuming, make-up, props, the

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organization of companies, the audience, competitions, offers a mythological account of the origin of theatre. In doing

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so, it provides indications about the nature of actual theatrical practices. As miller writes: “Bharata analyses four

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components of acting:
Angika: (acting through the body, relating to gesture and movements.)

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Vacika: (acting through speech, relating to voice intonation, recitation and singing.)
Aharya: (acting through accessories such as make-up, costumes, jewellery and prop.)
Sattvika: (acting through signs of emotion, relating to the physical manifestation of emotional states such as

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tears….)
The function of gesture is to present lively pictures, to grant voice to the motions and emotions, so that they must
not be mechanical but well-adorned and innate. “In the Indian theatre acting is considered a discipline (yoga) where
the actor and acted became one” Arduous training is essential to the perfect acting (abhinay) that can produce
aesthetic experience (rasa). (Miller: 19) Kalidasa’s dramas is a complete package of eight necessary principles of
conjectural existence – air, water, earth, fire ether, the sun, the moon and the ritual sacrifice describes the concept of
ardhanarisvara–the male and the female; the puruas and prakriti; Shiv and Parvati.
Under the patronage of royal courts, performers belonged to professional companies that were directed by a
stage manager (sutradhara), who may also have acted. This task was thought of as being analogous to that of a
puppeteer–the literal meaning of “sutradhara” is “holder of the strings or threads”. The performers were trained
rigorously in vocal and physical technique. There were no prohibitions against female performers; companies were

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all-male, all-female, and of mixed gender. Certain sentiments were considered inappropriate for men to enact, however,
and were thought better suited to women. Some performers played character their own age, while others played
those different to their own (whether younger or older).
Kalidasa’s (3rd-4th century CE) is easily the greatest poet and playwright in Sanskrit, and occupies the same
position in Sanskrit literature that Shakespeare occupies in English literature. He deals primarily with famous Hindu
legends and themes; three famous plays by Kalidasa’s are Vikramorvasiyam (Vikrama and Urvashi),
Malavikagnimitram (Malavika and Agnimitra) and the play that he is most known for: Abhijñanasakuntalam (The
Recognition of Shakuntala). Kalidasa’s also wrote two large epic poems, Raghuvams’a (“The Genealogy of Raghu”)
and Kumarasambhava (“Birth of Kumara”), and two smaller epics, Ritusamhara (“Medley of Seasons”) and
Meghaduta (The Cloud Messenger), another ‘perfect’ work.

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Q. 2. Comment on the clash of different perspectives in Halfway House?
Ans. Social Dimension Of Conflicting Values And Principles: In reference to the social dimension of

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conflicting values and principles in the play Sanjay Kumar quotes, “in its analysis of contemporary society, the play

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shows a worrying lack of dynamism. Showing acircularity in its ideational movement – a Halfway House and its

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unfinished, incomplete inhabitants, the play rules out the possibility of any kind of collective approach to move out of
the mire. Even at the personal, existential level, its characters are in a cul-de-sac and the final message of the play can

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be one of replicating neo-modernist endorsement of existent structures. The remark gives us an access point to the

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text that apparently explores equity to the situation in which Savitri is placed. Mahendranath and Savitri were failed to
live as a happy couple. They were pulling their married life. As we know in the beginning of the play that Mahendranath

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was jobless and Savitri was the only earing member of the family. In the family every member was frustrated and

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dissatisfied except the central character Savitri. She works in a corporate world and longed to maintain her present

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status. She was an embodiment of now-a-days women. Her working status is a tight slap on the face of 1950s society

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where male dominance is superior.

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THE WOMAN’S PERSPECTIVE IN HALFWAY HOUSE

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The feminist approach of Rakesh displays Savitri and Binny as lonely figures facing the experiences of loveless

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marriage like any modern woman of contemporary elitist society where men folk are busy with making money and

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fame. The agonies of the modern lone woman are not much different. Therefore, Savitri’s confession of her betrayal

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and her forceful justification of it to her friend is enlightenment of the modern woman. The facets of familial relationships

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with all its variegated forms have been intensively explored in Rakesh’s play, Halfway House.

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In the play, Halfway House the situation is reversed. The woman has been engaged in all those duties which are

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performed by the man while man is lying idly in the house. Savitri has been compelled by the ‘situations’ to move in the

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world of men. In fact the word ‘situation’ is the key word of the dramatic representation in the play. For instance: The

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husband in the family longs to make money through business venture but unsucceeded, due to his long unsuccess his

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male ego was constantly wound, the shallowly generous atmosphere of the houseled the kids to take a disloyal

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attitude, the woman in the house has to stepped out in the world of men in order to run her house and became a victim
of their lustful nature. She is totally fed up from her life, because no one cares her anywhere (in the internal as well

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as in the external world). The Savitri represents the predicament of this rising new woman becomes clear in her
encounter with Juneja towards the end of the play when he addressed her as Mahendranath’s wife:
“Don’t call me that [a wife] – Mahendra is also a man, with a family… a fact that those who were close to him

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never linked from the start. By getting married he almost seemed to have snatched something away from you,
‘Mahendra no longer laughs as he used to’…. ‘He’s no longer the Mahendra he used to be!’ … And Mahendra’s life-
struggle has been to somehow remain what he used to be. So that no one would be able to say that he has changed.
That is why he is so frustrated – bangs his head against the wall – bullies the children – beats up his wife..! His friends
need him to pass their leisure hours. No party is right without Mahendra. No picnic is fun without Mahendra. His main
job is to keep his friends happy. And not only is it his main job, but I should also be the only concern of his family. ‘How
can you refuse to go there?’ … “You think you’re an educated woman’ … ‘You don’t even know how to behave!’ He
wants to change to the way I walk, the way I talk, the way I … That the same Mahendra who smiles meekly among
his friends when he comes home. No one knows when he may scratch one’s eyes out or drink one’s life-blood! One
day he makes a bonfire of his clothes in anger. Another day he sits on my chest and bangs my head against the floor.
‘Tell me whether you’ll come with me or not? Whether you’ll do all I say or not?’ but I still don’t do what he wants.
I still don’t conform. I hate all this – I hate it. I want… a man, not just a miserable … hanger-on! Sometimes I try to

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wrench my tortured being away from him. There was even a time when I tried to turn him into a man. But if my
efforts ever began to bear fruit, his friends started pitying him. ‘Savitri is leading Mahendra by the nose!’ ‘Savitri has
broken him … he is no longer a man.’ Just a puppet … Poor Mahendra!”
Above speech is significant in the ways – former, it is spoken by the female protagonist, therefore it unfolds her
viewpoint and latter, conversely it deceives the male structure through the mimicry that is inherent in the portrayal.
THE MALE AS A VICTIM OF SOCIETY OF HIS TIME
The psychological underpinnings of [Mahendranath’s] character are not too clear. In the beginning he seems to
be totally subjugated, put off by his wife’s men friends, dependent on Juneja. Because he is out of work, his condition
within the family is pitiable. To begin with he appears abject before his wife. Not only his wife, but also his children
ignore him. Only Ashok has any sympathy for him. Off and on, however, his male self-assertiveness raises its head.
Besides this, the portrait of Mahendra that Savitri draws is that of a slimy and harsh man that generates hatred and

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aversion. But on the other hand, for Juneja ‘he is like any other man’ and his words evoke sympathy for Mahendra.
There seems to be no consonance between the two; and Mahendra seems to fragmented into bits. Besides, is seems

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strange that others should explain him. Why is he not himself able to create a clear picture before the reader-
audience? As we have asked before, why is he so vexed by Savitri? Is it because of what he believes to be her illicit

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relations with other men? Or is it simply because his self-esteem has been destroyed in that he was once the head of
the household but now is ignored, rejected by all, dependent of others?

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Q. 3. Discuss the art of characterization in The Trial of Dedan Kimathi.

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Ans. In The Trial of Dedan Kimathi, the characters are more of type than with individual traits. The Boy, the
Girl and the Woman represent the people in Kenya belonging to their respective categories. This is quite a deliberate

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effort by the author. In the Third Movement, for instance, when the Boy and Girl and the Women move a little way

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off on the stage to confer, the stage instructions state: “Both Girl and Boy sit at the feet of the woman. It should be

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symbolic: the woman now represents all the working mothers talking to their children.”

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It is also clear from the authors’ description that the woman represents all the working mothers. “She is between

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thirty and .forty years of age, with a mature but youthful face, strongly built. Goodlooking. She wears a peasant

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woman clothes and is barefoot. Though apparently a simple peasant, the woman is obviously world-wise, and perceptive

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of behaviour and society. Throughout, her actions are under control: her body and mind are fully alert.”

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The Boy is first seen in the play chasing the Girl, catching her and handling her roughly and shouting to kill her.

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When the Woman saw them, she compared his behaviour to that of an animal. After the Boy explains his reasons for

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being harsh with the girl, the Woman reacted in such a way that only confirms that the Boy represents the Kenyan

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youth: “It is the same old story. Everywhere. Mombasa. Nakuru. Kisumu. Eldoret. The same old story. Our

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people...tearing one another...and all because of the crumbs thrown at them by the exploiting foreigners. Our own

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food eaten and leftovers thrown to us – in our own land, where we should have the whole share. We buy wood from

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our own forests; sweat on our own soil for the profit of our oppressors. Kimathi’s teaching is: Unite, drive out the

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enemy and control your own riches, enjoy the fruit of your sweat.”

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The story of the Girl is not given in such details as that of the Boy. However, she is presented as the representative
of the Girls in Kenya.

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The characters of soldiers, the Priest, the Banker, the Indian and the Politician have been presented in type mode.
They represent their class. They speak on behalf of their community or class. Shaw Henderson has also been
projected with multiple identities to show how, under colonialism, various sections of the colonizing community acted

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in collusion.
Similarly, Dedan Kimathi has been projected more of a general character as a leader of freedom fighters. It is
also stated clearly in The Preface to the play: “We agreed that the most important thing was for us to reconstruct
imaginatively our history, envisioning the world of Mau Mau and Kimathi in terms of the peasants’ and workers’
struggle before and after constitutional independence. The play is not a reproduction of the farcical ‘trial’ at Nyeri. It
is rather an imaginative recreation and interpretation of the collective will of the Kenyan peasants and workers in their
refusal to break under sixty years of colonial torture and ruthless oppression by the British ruling classes and their
continued determination to resist exploitation, oppression and new forms of enslavement.”
The authors have presented Kimathi as he existed in the minds and memories of the people among whom he lived
and grew up and those with whose help he organized the freedom struggle rather than in the official records, documents
and history books written by some armchair academics.

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 Q. 4. Discuss the use of folk forms in Ghashiram Kotwal.
Ans. The Use of Folk Forms: Tendulkar has used various techniques used in folk theatre like the characters
directly interacting with the audience. The Sutradhara and Ghashiram directly interact with the audience. However
Jabbar says this is play different from the effect that the German playwright Bretch aimed to create with his epic
theatre.
According to Brecht, “Modern theatre is epic theatre”. He makes a list of nineteen distinctions between drama
and epic form of theatre. The major five differences are given below:
Dramatic form of theatre Epic form of theatre
The audience directly gets involved with the action The audience becomes an observer of the actions

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of the drama. performed on the stage.

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The power of action is the representation of the The actor is gets merged in the character.
actor.

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It looks at the human being as they are. It looks at the human being as an object of enquiry.

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Human being is inalterable.

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Human being is alterable.
The end is important. The means is important.

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For Brecht the objective of this Epic form of theatre is to “develop the means of entertainment into an object of

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instruction and to change certain institutions from places of amusement into organs of public communication”. Brecht

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wants that audience should have a feeling of alienation after watching the performance and the audience should not

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be empathetic with the characters. For this, he focuses on the artificial nature of the stage. Also the audience should

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have a critical look. Brecht uses songs, montage, captions, verse and projections to get the alienation effects. The

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audience has to look at the situation in a new light. The audience should help expose the contradictions of society and
open up new scope of possibilities.

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Patel says since Ghashiram interacts directly with the audience, the effect created is the opposite of that generally

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generated by Brecht. However, the effect of a play is highly variable since different audiences respond to a play

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differently. Even the same production creates a new effect every time it is performed. Even Brecht’s own productions

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often fail to make the intended alienation effect.

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In this play, the setting is 18th century Poona and it thus, creates a sense of distance. The costume of that period
used by different characters also creates that effect in the audience. Besides, the character of Nana is different from

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the revered Nana of history. The dancing Nana makes the audience realise that they are watching a play and reality.

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The folk form used in Ghashiram Kotwal is interactive and ensures active audience involvement. But here the folk
form is used in mainstream theatre and the use of songs and dances further creates a sense of distance from the

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action.

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Ghashiram Kotwal on the surface seems be about the personality clash between Nana and Ghashiram. Nana

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promotes Ghashiram and uses him and discard him when he is no longer required. After a more careful reading, we

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can understand that it is the social system that creates such aberrations that is being probed. The song, dance and the
human wall are for entertainment, while the juxtaposition of dialogue, verse, hymn, love song, dance, narration and

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mime help the audience understand various social processes that dehumanize individuals. Such a situation will remain
unless and until the system is changed. The end of the play projects an illusion in audience that now all is well with the
world on one level but there it is a mere façade and tile real danger continues. The play seems to veers between
alienation and identity.
Ghashiram Kotwal has similarity with Antonin Artaud’s “The Theatre of Cruelty”. Without an element of cruelty
at the root of every spectacle, the theatre is not possible. In our present state of degeneration it is through the skin that
metaphysics must be made to re-enter our minds. Cruelty mans not to sadism or causing pain, but rather a violent,
austere, physical determination to shatter the false reality that, he wrote. Such a theatre also creates a dynamic
language of expressions such as the visual language of movements, music, dance, mime, attitudes and gestures.
Artaud says the themes that should correspond to the “agitation and unrest characteristic of our epoch”. As we have
seen, Ghashiram Kotwal admits of several interpretations.

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 All these discussion allows us to understand the play in different ways. Time and the reader himself are also the
factors in understanding the play. Interpretation is always subjective. Similarly, a person reading this play twenty
years from now will look at it differently from the way we do now.
Q. 5. Critically analyze the role of Brutus in Julius Caesar.
Ans. In this chapter, we will discuss the theme and role and nature of different characters in Julius Caesar. The
play raises many questions about the force of fate in life versus the capacity for free will. Much of its tragedy stems
from the characters' neglect of private feelings and loyalties in favour of what they believe to be the public good. It
also deals with the characters' failures to interpret correctly the omens that they encounter. The play also gives
detailed consideration to the relationship between rhetoric and power.
Brutus: He is a supporter of the republic who believes strongly in a government guided by the votes of senators.
While Brutus loves Caesar as a friend, he opposes the ascension of any single man to the position of dictator, and he

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fears that Caesar aspires to such power. Brutus’s inflexible sense of honor makes it easy for Caesar’s enemies to
manipulate him into believing that Caesar must die in order to preserve the republic. While the other conspirators act

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out of envy and rivalry, only Brutus truly believes that Caesar’s death will benefit Rome. Unlike Caesar, Brutus is able
to separate completely his public life from his private life; by giving priority to matters of state, he epitomizes Roman

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virtue. Torn between his loyalty to Caesar and his allegiance to the state, Brutus becomes the tragic hero of the play.
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