What is love as Tagore has depicted in the play Chitra?

Answer 1

Chitra , a one act lyrical play penned down by Rabindra Nath Tagore is an enactment of the ancient legend of Arjuna and Chitrangadha, the daughter of the king of Manipur, as originally told in the Mahabharata. And as tagore is known for his 'aesthetic' and 'panthestic'attitude and his spiritually inclined mind, so in this play Chitra there is a good combination of theme of love and style of presentation. Since the source for this play is the Mahabharata - an episode from Arjuna's life during his 'vanvass' (exile). This small episode is made beautiful by literary excellence of Tagore. Chitra answers to some intriguing aesthetic questions as to "What is Love?"; What is Beauty?; Is Bauty ethreal(spiritual)?; Is Love instigated by the Beautiful?and Are Love and Bauty same words for one feeling?

Tagore answers these questions in this play and Chitra's love for Arjuna. Tagore's representation of human love finds a beautiful exposition in Chitra. Tagore is both an idealist and a realist. He accepts the physical attraction between man and woman as true, it is equally true that if love is centered on the Body and cannot impinge (effect) it. It degenerates into lust.

The physical relationship between man and woman is the ground work of love and the spiritual relationship between them is its composition and the structure of love would remain incomplete without this composition. Love finds its attainment when the mind and the heart of the lover are in synchronicity with the mind and the heart of the beloved. Chitra, Arjuna stands for the average man and Chitra stands for the average woman. Love between man and woman has corporal basis. This is attainment of love in Chitra takes place in the last scene of the play when Arjuna meets the real Chitra with all her physical imperfections and exclaiming in delight that his life is satisfied.

The play is not designed to convey the meaning that sexual wantonness (desire) is an act of adoration.The blinding maddening ecstasy of the physical union is not denied in Chitra but its transience is also recognized. This is clear from the beginning when Arjuna offers his love to Chitra and is ready to breakup his vow of celibacy for the sake of love. But each of them loves only the falsity in the other. Chitra's beauty is nothing but obtained physical beauty and Arjuna's is a flawed gallant who has surged as a result of this assault of falsity. Neither is inwardly happy, Chitra is not at all thrilled or happy because she knows Arjuna does not really love her and Arjuna is also not happy because he senses the somewhere something is wrong.On the other hand Chitra says,

"Whom do you seek in these dark eyes, in these milk white arms if you are ready to pay for her the price of probity? Not my true-self, i know. Surely this cannot be love, ..."

This passage conceives the body as a disguise and that the real self of a woman becomes gradually stronger.Chitra speaks to Arjuna,

"Would it please your heroic soul if the playmate of the night aspired to be the helpmeet of the day....."

In reply Arjuna states his apprehension to know the real-self of Chitra in the folloiwing words,

"I cannot touch you, I cannot pay you my dues in return for your priceless gifts..... illusion is the first appearance of Truth."

Consequently Arjuna gladly accepts Chitra in her original form by declaring 'Beloved, my life is full'. And thus the real love sparks up from the ashes of the false love that has gone up in a blaze. Now love is born of deep understanding and shared experience and this ultimately leads to the vision of being true to their discarded selves. And when they are about to part there is a feeling of attained maturity, experienced satisfaction and understanding. Thus the readers of the play are equipped with an insight that beauty is skin-deep and love knows no 'narrow domestic walls' and supersedes all frontiers. And through this play Tagore has a very true idea the beauty is the first step that leads its path to love. Physical beauty paves the way to ethereal beauty....

Answer 2

In Tagore's play "Chitra," love is portrayed as a transformative force that transcends physical appearances and societal expectations. It emphasizes the power of love to challenge conventional norms and redefine relationships based on inner beauty and understanding. The characters of Chitra and Arjuna exemplify how love can break barriers and lead to personal growth and self-discovery.