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What Is The Structure Of Fire And The Rain By Karnad

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everyman caught between the contradictory pulls of pleasure and responsibility, materialism and possession. Apart from the Mythology upon which the play is based, Karnad has employed the character of Sutradhara modeled on the narrator- commentator of folk theatre. The Sutradhara informs the audience about the Mythological origin of the play as well as the theme of the play which emphasizes the importance of supplied up to one’s responsibility in life. Karnad has given traditional story a new meaning and significance highly relevant in the context of life today. The symbolic theme of Yayati’s attachment to life and its pleasures, as also his final possession, is continued. Karnad’s originality lies in working out the motivations …show more content…

The myth whose origin can be finding back to Rig Veda provides the play its structure along with ceremony which forms an important part of the narrative structure. The play begins with a prologue and ends with an Epilogue, and is divided in three acts. In its structure the play look like Samavakarna, a type of drama as mentioned in Bharatmuni’s Natyashastra. Through the use of myth Karnad gives a modern perspective to the story. He uses the brother betrayal issues of the play myth and adds to it the ritual of the fire sacrifice to represent the web of shine and gender politics in our society. Karnad’s The Fire and the Rain transports the audience to the imaginary world of the Mahabharata, but without dissociating them from day-to-day …show more content…

Karnad takes myth as a faith builder for individual’s spiritual evolution. He uses folklore to connect the magic and reality and history as a positive concept to analyse life and society. The past is not always dead for Karnad. Karnad uses myth in his plays to express meaning for the contemporary life. He believes that the significance of myth never dies. In an age of post modernism and globalization, he observes people’s craze for materialism and their simulation of western civilization. So as conscious dramatists, he valorized myths, parables, legends and folktales in his plays. He rewrites them in his plays as they provide immense scope for living. While he uses mythical episodes in his plays he significantly aims at using them for social, religious and philosophical purpose. He presents certain episodes of myth from the Mahabharata and contextualizes them in contemporary human situations. It is observed that his plays on myth are rooted in the ancient Indian dramatic tradition of “dharma, artha, karma and moksha”. In the mythical imagination of his plays he revives the ancient dramatic tradition in the celebration of the human and humane. Presenting myths in human condition he links the present with the eternal and the contemporary with the

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