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The Recognition of Sakuntala: A Play in Seven Acts
The Recognition of Sakuntala A Play in Seven Acts Author:Kalidasa, W. J. Johnson Taken from legend, the drama tells of the seduction of the nymph Sakuntala by King Dusyanta, his rejection of the girl and his child, and their subsequent reunion in heaven. The epic myth is important because the child that is born is Bharata, eponymous ancestor of the Indian nation. Kalidasa remakes the story into a love idyll whose characters ... more »represent a pristine aristocratic ideal: the girl, sentimental, selfless, alive to little but the delicacies of nature, and the king, first servant of the dharma (religious and social law and duties), protector of the social order, resolute hero, yet tender and suffering agonies over his lost love. The plot and characters are made believable by a change Kalidasa has wrought in the story: Dusyanta is not responsible for the lovers' separation; he acts only under a delusion caused by a curse.« less