Girish Karnad is a modern Indian playwright who draws the contours
of contemporary realityupon the mythological canvas. Drawing the plots of his
plays from Indian history, myths and legends, he presents them in such a way
that they assume contemporary significance.At present, Girish Karnad has
emerged as an ambassador of Indian culture to the world. A multifaceted
personality, Karnad has been described in many ways. His multidimensional roles
in the Indian theatre and screen world have endeared him among the Indian
audiences and abroad.Tughlaq First written in
Kannada in 1964 & later translated into English. A Play in 13 Scenes
Karnad’s play Tughlaq is the first ‘New Drama’ in India in many ways. It was the
first significant history play. It was during a conversation with Kirthinath
Kurtkoti, the writer of the History of Kannada Literature, where Karnad made up his mind to write a history play.
Kurtkoti complained that no Indian playwright could do with our history what
Shakespeare did with the British history and Brecht did with the history of the
West. The innovative treatment of history and striking contemporaneity of the
play shot Karnad into fame. Critics found the play to be a commentary on the
decay of politics from the days of Nehru to the present times. The purpose
of this article is to probe the existentialism as reflected in the play.
It is existentialism in Tughlaq which makes it modern. Existentialism is identified as a
hallmark of the modern literature. The major concern of Karnad in exploring the
history of Muhammad bin Tughlaq is a probe into his transformation from an
idealist emperor, ‘who is not afraid to be human’ and invites people ‘to confide their worries in him’, into a ‘mad Muhammad’, and ‘the Lord of the skins’. An analysis of his transformation brings out an illustration
of an existentialist in him. Tughlaq shares this element with Camus’ Caligula, and Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, and
Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.
Depicts
the struggle and spectacular failure of a personality who dreams of becoming an
ideal ruler and establishing a utopia.A strong parallelism between the reign of
Tughlaq and Nehru era in post-independent India.
Ethics
Ø
Equality in Justice
v
Giving land back to
the Brahmin
v
Stoning of his Step
Mother
v
Releasing Ain-ul-Mulk
v
Releasing Aziz
Play as :
·
Historical Play
·
Political Play
·
Religious Play
·
Comparison to Macbeth
·
Tughlaq’s Monologue
As regards the use of Irony in Tughlaq it begins to appear from the
very beginning of the play. In the opening scene Muhammad’s proclamation, ‘”My
beloved people, you . . . have seen for yourself how justice works in my
kingdom – without any consideration of religion and creed” .The situation turns
ironic when we learn that the winner against the king is not Vishnu Parasad but
is Aziz disguised as Vishnu. This situation turns comic when Aziz mimicking a
public announcer says, “Henceforth the people may file a suit against the
Sultan for the misbehavior of his officers. . . .Justice will be done. His
comments arouse laughter when he justifies his disguise before Aazim. Had he
not disguised himself as a Brahmin “Then what would happen to king’s impartial
justice? A Muslim plaintiff before a Muslim king. Where is the question of justice?
Where is the equality between Hindus and Muslims?, he enquires Thus the disguise
of Aziz ironically puts the who lad ministrative system of Muhammad upside
down. His tall claims of justice and equality sound comic to the audience.
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