3rd project – Essay

Shakuntala’s connection to nature

              Throughout the tale of Shakuntala, we, the readers, are able to see the love that blossoms between Shakuntala and the King Dusyanta. We are also able to see the abundance of nature throughout the play. However, these things are not mutually exclusive, or disconnected. We see love and nature intertwined all throughout the play, and that’s not just an accident.

One big indicator that nature and love are connected in this play is through Shakuntala herself. We see her taking care of the trees of the forest. At one point, her friend, Anasuya, says “Dear Shakuntala, here’s that jasmine you call Light of the Forest. She’s chosen the fragrant mango as her bridegroom. You’ve forgotten her.” To which Shakuntala replies, “Only when I forget myself. The union of this tree and this jasmine has taken place at the most wonderful time—the jasmine is a young plant, covered in fresh blossoms, the mango has soft buds, and is ready for enjoyment…” The devotion and love for the trees (and the rest of nature that went with them) we see from Shakuntala is connected to her soon-to-be love for the king. That love see feels is going to translate to her love to the king soon enough; this scene just shows that she’s capable of such love.

Another moment that connects love to nature is a line from the King himself. There’s a moment where the king is talking to Shakuntala’s friend, Priyamvada. He wants to subtly find out if Shakuntala is ready for love and marriage, and finds out by asking “How long will she keep her love-starved hermit vows— Till she changes them for the marriage kind? Or will she live forever among these hinds, Doe-eyed among her beloved does?” This line connects love, or Shakuntala’s lack of romance, to that of a deer. Specifically, it relates romance to a doe. Does are often seen as pure, innocent, and calm. Essentially, the king is asking if Shakuntala is willing to find romance, or if she wishes to remain like a doe, innocent and virginal.

There’s another moment, in the first scene, where the king relates his own love for Shakuntala to nature. He doesn’t relate his love to a specific creature or plant, but rather connects it to nature as a whole. When Shakuntala leaves with her friends after her first interaction with the king, he says, “Suddenly, the city doesn’t seem so attractive. I’ll link up with my followers and camp just outside this sacred grove. The truth is, I can’t get Shakuntala out of my head.” King Dusyanta wishes to stay in the realm of nature to remind himself of Shakuntala, and to perhaps find her again. Obviously he plans on staying in nature because Shakuntala is also typically in said nature, but the quote provides a more thematic meaning on top of the literal one. The city, Dusyanta’s kingdom, doesn’t represent Shakuntala because it’s not where she’s from. It also doesn’t represent his love for her, as that’s obviously the king’s primary focus; his love. Once again, love is being connected to nature in these small moments through each of the main charactersw.

 There are just so many small things shown throughout the play that connect these two things, and it’s obviously not a mistake that the author connected the two. So, the big question is, why are these two things connected? It’s possible the author just chose to connect these things to strengthen the love the two protagonists had for each other. By connecting something to nature, the author has the power to make it look like the most natural thing in the world, and that can also make it strong. What’s stronger than something that’s found in nature, or connected so easily to nature? When you think about it in a literary sense, there’s not much that could be stronger.  

Another reason the author connected love and nature, most likely, is due to religion. At the time of The Recognition of Shakuntala being written, Hinduism was a big religion (and still is today). The core beliefs of Hinduism connect humans to nature. According to the Hindu religion, the biological, physical, and spiritual parts of a person were extremely dependent on the nature around them. Nature would determine one’s well-being in all aspects, and one must take care of the natural world around them to feel fulfilled and be well in their own life. Ancient Hindu scripture tells the story of the earth, and all of nature, literally being created from different parts of a giant person. So, it’s clear to see that the body, and therefore emotions, can be tied to nature in every possible way in Hinduism. It’s safe to assume that the author of Shakuntala, Kalidasa, would include some tie between love and nature.

I think that, in the end, the author just chose to connect these two things because of both of the reasons listed above. On its own, when something is connected to nature, the theme is instantly strengthened. Plus, Hinduism was big in India at the time (as it is now), and the author wanted to display that. I think it really made a lot of interesting talking points in the play, and could also make for some good discussions if we were still in class. It’s also interesting to wonder how the play would have gone, had this connection between love and nature not been there. What if Shakuntala hadn’t been someone who loved nature? What if she had just been a commoner in Dusyanta’s city? Luckily, that’s not something we have to imagine, as love and nature are very much connected in this play, and provide an interesting theme throughout the story.