Page:Love in Hindu Literature.djvu/19

 LOVE IN HINDU LITERATURE. 5

ishing his babe in her womb. Like Goethe, whose son had been born eighteen years before he married his mistress, Arjuna is thus the father of a bastard, and Chitra a silly indiscreet maiden ! Probably even the extreme wing of Ibsenists and Mormonists would not appreciate " illegitimacy." And yet it is apparent that the whole story leads but to this.

There are fine sentiments about the graces and advantages of home-life,' the womanhood of woman, and the glorification of service and duty. If such passages were to be gleaned and placed together in order to indicate the moral or philosophy of the poem, the statements of lago, lachimo and Regan could be palmed down as the philosophy of Shakespearean art ! Rather, it must be remarked that these statements about home and its sanctity do not form an integral part of the plot in this little play. Besides, they come in after the heroine has been enceinte. What, then, is the " criticism of life " in ChitrcL^.

To do justice to the poet we must look upon ■Chitra not as the " Princess " of Tennyson, but as the " Highland girl " of Wordsworth. Tagore has presented us with a Chitra about whom, like the adventurer -Arjuna, we may remark In the words of the English romanticist :

" In truth together ye do seem Like something fashion'd in a dream, Thou wear'st upon thy forehead clear The freedom of a mountaineer.