LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 15:8 August 2015
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Fantasy in Girish Karnad’s Play Yayati

Smitha Sankaranarayanan, M.A., M.Phil. (English)


Abstract

This paper attempts to unravel the element of fantasy in Girish Karnad’s first play, Yayati. An understanding of the characteristic features of fantasy literature has been highlighted through this work. This literature of subversion which is closely associated with imagination and with desire makes this play free from the restraints of the realistic texts. This play is a perfect illustration of a fantasy literature since it satisfies all the criteria that are required for a work of fantasy. Todorov calls fantasy as the literature of subversion which is all about describing desire in its excessive forms (Fantasy: The literature of subversion). This tempting subject opens the doors of an art form, which provides vicarious gratification.

Keywords: Fantasy Literature, Goals of fantasy, Metamorphosis, Imaginative faculty, Repressed female energy, Subversion

Introduction

The plays of Girish Karnad have achieved great acclaim internationally. Most of his plays originated from Indian mythology and history. But on closer analysis, we will learn that his plays also exhibit a strong element of fantasy. This paper attempts to elicit the elements of fantasy in the play Yayati. To appreciate the fantasy in Karnad’s play we must have knowledge of the characteristic features of a work of fantasy.

Some of the characters of a work of fantasy are the play of imagination, breaking of sexual taboos, problems of vision and visibility, strong degree of social and class prejudice, repressed female energy, presence of enclosures, yearning for immortality, feeling of incompleteness, fascination with suicide and death, unnatural metamorphosis or transformation, disintegration, dualism and powerful mental struggle in the characters, roots in ancient mythology and so on. The play Yayati is a vivid illustration of fantasy in literature.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.


Smitha Sankaranarayanan, M.A., M.Phil. (English)
Non-Vocational Teacher in English
GVHSS
Ayyanthole – 680 003
Kerala
India
smitha.dileep123@gmail.com
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