INTRODUCTION:

‘Feminism’ is not only a word it is a movement of ‘Woman Power’, her problems, pain, sufferings, challenge and situation and that of her protests against the enslaving society. Indian’s society is a male-dominated society down the ages as a result, man became the law-maker and imposed the authority on ‘the other’ (woman) who was forced to obey rules. Man enjoyed freedom and woman remained obscure and unseen.

Her world was labeled and classified as strong and weak, male and female, giver and receiver, teller and hearer, ruler and other (subject) etc. Man became a centre force while a woman was pushed back in the unknown and dark world as a tortured and discriminated gender. It has drawn the border line between ‘male’ and ‘female’. Father and Mother are two opposite energy male and female, positive and negative. It is law of science that when positive and negative energy meet, a new creation is possible. If there is a balance between father and mother, man and woman the family can run smoothly. If mother behave like father or father behave like mother, it generates a conflict in the family as well as in the society. It is not ‘a feminism’ or ‘a masculine’ which is important but it is the correct analysis of their sex roles in the society with no sense of inferiority and superiority that is important and which cultivates a balance, peace, respect and harmony in life, family and society.

Girish Karnad, as a playwright is free from any such feminist tags and like Shashi Deshpande, an Indian women novelist, treats ‘woman as a woman’ and as ‘a human being’. As a male feminist, he has treated the feminist issues like- loveless marriage, child marriage, loneliness, exploitation of wife in the hands of husband, double standards of Indian society and law operating against her in the society etc. It also expresses the hollowness and injustice of patriarchal orthodox society. It insists that is not patriarchy but matriarchy which is also essential for present society. Thus, the refined sensibilities of woman like sex, love, compassion and tolerance make her unsurpassable in the society. The pride of woman also finds a space and respect in his play like ‘The Fire and the Rain’.

In ‘The Fire and the Rain’ [1998] which is the most successful play, Karnad draws upon a tale from the Mahabharata, but in the best traditions of modernism, he gives a contemporary meaning to an old myth which stresses the dangers of knowledge without erudition and power without probity. The ‘Fire’ in the title of the play is the ‘fire’ is symbol of lust, anger, vengeance, treachery, violence and death. The ‘Rain’ symbolizes self-sacrifice, compassion, divine grace, forgiveness, revival and life. It explores various conflicting values such as:

“good and evil, moral and immoral, broad mindedness and conservatism, dharma and adharma, justice and injustice, man and woman, Brahminism and Sudraism, love and lovelessness, fire of jealousy and rain of love, personality and split-personality, the real face and the mask face, man and superman and finally it presents characters as victim of their attitude”(Mishra, p. 240)

What human beings aspire in the given context is centralized in the play. But in its effect it looks to be temporal as well as universal by transcending conservative interpretation.

Vishakha and Nittilai are two major women leading characters pushed into the tangled network of the action, controlled by the male domination in the drama. Both Vishakha and Nittilal are victims of a male-dominated society. In his play Karnad, focuses on terms ‘arranged marriage’ and ‘inter-caste marriage’ Vishakha, a Brahmin girl and Nittilai, a tribal girl of fourteen years old. She true love with Arvasu. Neither Vishakha nor Nittilai are given the rights to choose their life-partner according to their wish, even Nittilai is banned to marry Arvasu because he is belong to high-caste Brahim family.

The female character of Vishakha stands as the symbol of sexual exploitation that women in traditional Indian patriarchal society had to experience. Firstly, she is almost forced to marry with Paravasu, against her wish overly expressed and she had to follow her father’s decision. The decision of her marriage with Paravasu, taken by her father, indicates woman’s submission to patriarchal decisiveness that is to be followed unquestioned in the culture. Her acceptance of the father’s choice indicates the pressure of the patriarchal system. Paravasu also feels her disinterestedness in the marriage:

Vishakha: Yes, my father was happy and he married me off to Paravasu, although I didn’t want to marry him {The Fire and the Rain, p.67}

Paravasu, who is a man, neglects her physical desire, emotional needs and equal rights in the family. Vishakhe says, ‘Paravasu’s promised to make me happy for one year.’ {p. 68} after exploiting her body for one year, he decides to leave home or seven years after he is appointed as the Chief Priest of the fire sacrifice. Here, Vishakha blames her husband for using her as a mere physical instrument or object in their married life, without even considering giving her the respect or position of a wife. ‘He used me as an instrument for search; I didn’t know what the search was for. I yielded to him and let my body be turned inside out, as he did his own.’ {p.68}

Vishakha, who is a girl, stands for herself fearlessness even after committing marital infidelity with Yavakri. Her long speech is a kind of whiplash (trauma) given to the male chauvinistic and male dominated society. Paravasu gives much importance to his work as a priest- a seven year fire sacrifice and totally ignore her inner feeling. At this juncture, her ex-lover Yavakri comes and deceives her through his sugarcoats words. The dry tender woman Vishakha becomes his scapegoat; of course, she does not get deceived. Her seven long year solitariness and unhappiness makes her yield to his love. According to her, ‘men are experimenters who experiment the body of women in the name of married life.’

Vishakha, who is a young girl, is badly treated as domestic violence by her husband and her ex-lover, Yavakri and even from her father-in-law, Raibhya. Raibhya the father-in-law who is the patriarch of the family, is lustful and gets his lust fulfilled through Vishakha his daughter-in-law forgetting his relation with her and his shameful act, asks his daughter-in-law. ‘Why are you so dirty - You look like a buffalo that’s been rolling in mud’ (p.71) He grabs her by hair, kicks her and beats her, He calls her a harlot, forgetting that he himself has committed the shameful, in illegitimate act.

A woman in a traditional family or society is not allowed to expresses her feelings of love to another man; she has to steal her heart within herself like a body with in a grave. She is accursed and punished where as men doing the same crime escape from the allegation and punishment.

The second leading female character is Nittali, the tribal girl and the true love of Arvasu. Though she is a hunter girl, she is the one character who questions the beliefs and hypocrisies of the high-caste Hindu Brahmins. The playwright used Nittilai as a tool to highlight the different between upper-caste and low-caste people, their behavior and presents how high-caste men are happy to use low-caste women to satisfy their lust time immemorial. She boldly quotes what her father says; ‘These high-caste men are always glad enough to bed our women but not to wed them’ (p.60)

Through the female protagonist of Nittilai Karnad presents various social issues like orthodox religious principles, class system, caste system, and hypocrisy of Brahmin religious teacher. She is non-literate and does not understand the term ‘Spiritual knowledge’. In fact, she believes what is the use of this spiritual knowledge acquired by Yavakri if it cannot even take away the pain, plight and misery of humanity. Instead of asking for spiritual knowledge, Nittilai discuss, Yavakri should have asked for Rain from Indra. Intense, through the question posed by Nittilai, Karnad presents how the low-caste people were more considerate about human and their issues. At this point; Nittilai’s thinks, all knowledge is useless if it doesn’t lead to the well-being of the common people.

Girish Karnad presents the issue of inter-caste marriage through the love relationship between Arvasu and Nittilai. When Nittilai says to Andhaka that she would like to wed with Arvasu, who is belong to high-class Brahmin family, Andhaka says, ‘You two are very brave. Since you are no longer children playing together, you must realize that this world can be cruel and ruthless to lovers like you’. (p.58) It is the experience and knowledge of an old man conveyed to Nittilai which makes her alert of the fact that she stands against the traditional social norms. Hence, marriage between Nittilai and Arvasu can’t take place but Nittilai’s love for Arvasu remains truly and spiritual. Nittilai is eventually married off to a young boy from the same tribe but she doesn’t encourage the concept of extra-marital affaire. However, she comes to Arvasu’s rescue when he needs her most and it is looked upon as an act of adultery whereas she want only support him. Hence, at the end of the play Nittilai perishes at the hands of dictatorial when her own husband murders her without knowing the reality. Here, Nittilai’s death may be an end of her material life but truly just the starting of her spiritual (new) life. She is free from the stone-hearted and narrow-minded patriarchal society.

Nittilai in the play, due to incidental causes, marry the young boy her elder choose for her. But when she learns the troubles of her past lover Arvasu, she comes running away from her husband, family and everything only to lend a helping hand to him, Nittilai says Arvasu; ‘when I say that we should leave this place together, I don’t mean that we should start living together like lovers or husband and wife. I have been wicked enough to desert my husband and I don’t want to humiliate him any further. Let’s live together like brother and sister. You may marry any woman you like. (p.94)

In India, it is totally undigested for a married woman to be with another boy, Nittilai proves to be an Indian woman as she feels that in no circumstance, she should spoil the status of her family and her husband. But her brother and husband do not understand the truth and out of suspicion kill her.

Nittilai: Please, Brother---Husband---don’t

(The brother knocks Arvasu down and pins him to the ground. Nittila’s husband pulls out a knife, grabs Nittilai by her hair, slashes her throat, and then lets her drop on the ground.) {Epilogue p. 111}

Karnad’s women in The Fire and the Rain are forced to swallow social relations which subordinate their interests. The family is identified as the key instrument in the oppression of both female characters Nittilai and Vishakha. Nittilai was subjected to death by her husband and Vishakha were forced into sexual slavery by her father-in-law. Deep study into it, one may come to the main point that liberation from this male hegemony or headship may be achieved by death bed or living life courageously.

REFERENCE:

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Received on 27.09.2025 Revised on 14.10.2025

Accepted on 29.10.2025 Published on 07.11.2025

Available online from November 20, 2025

Res. J. of Humanities and Social Sciences. 2025;16(4):349-351.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5828.2025.00056

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