The Kurse or Karna

This blog is written as a task assigned by Megha ma'am, Department of English(MKBU). In this blog two questions are discussed related to the play 'Kurse or Karna'.

Write a critical note on the class conflict and caste conflict in The Curse.

‘The Curse or Karna’ is a play that is written on the basis of the Subaltern theory. In which we find that Karna's character is mostly neglected in the writing of the ‘Mahabharata’. In which the other characters are portrayed in a positive manner. But Karna throughout the play suffers without any fault of his. In the play caste and class system play a major role in play. 

In the play whenever Karna tries to prove his strength his curse stops her from doing that. In the very first act we find out how he gets cursed by Raama, and the reason for the curse is also the same as his Cast. He learns the skills of archery from Raama saying that he is a Brahmin as a cast because he only teaches Brahmin later he assumes by an incident that he is Kshatriya when he himself doesn't even know that. 

Later when he was in between the ground to showcase his skills in front of Arjuna he failed to do it because he was reminded that where he belongs and only a king can fight with the kings, so there too we find the class conflict. When he goes to the ‘swayamvar’ of Draupadi he is humiliated saying that Draupadi does not want to marry a “Sooth Putra”. He says if she does not want to marry him then she can say no but humiliating the caste where he belongs and making it inferior and disrespecting it is a huge mistake. One is cursed on the things that is not even in his control of. Ine can make critique that one is not doing that intentionally but where and when one born it is totally out if control so that conflict also addressed by the playwright here.

At last when he is in his final battle in Kurukshetra fighting Arjun he is reminded of his low birth and again he can not prove himself there he can not show his skills even though he is a better archer than Arjun but still he has to lose his life there. This shows the atrocity of the culture that a person who has to suffer his whole life just because he was born in the family, which is even out of his hands also to born. We can also connect the Gayatri Chakravarthy Pival’s Subaltern theory here that at what extent a person suffers through just because he is born in some caste. It is relevant even in the contemporary society also still in the various parts of India people believe in the casteism. Movies like ‘Jai Bhim’ directed by Gnanavel and ‘Article 15’ by Anubhav Sinha show the ground realities of India even today.

The play is even useful, Karna the unsung hero even has the same importance as it has been from centuries. It is more celebrated in contemporary times because it shows the reality of India and portrays the characters real even today. 

Discuss the Various themes found in “The Curse or Karna”.

There are many themes that can be identified in the play “The Curse or Karna”.

Caste system:

The very prominent theme in the paly is caste, that is the root cause of Karna's suffering, because he is “low born” or “Sudra” he has to face many challenges in life. Because of the caste he can not get propeer education, because the caste he can not showcase his skills, because of xaste he can not marry a woman he likes, bacause of the caste he has to give away his life. Each and every step Karna has to face that caste dynamics wherever he goes. Even the curse that he gets from Raama is because of his caste. Karna can be read in contemporary time as Subaltern hero, who is unsung in the major narratives ans marginalized because of his so called “lowly birth”.

Curse:

As the title of the play itself suggest that the curse or the Karna. If curse lhas to survive that the curse has to melt down. But the curse that is in the society of Casteism never let live people peacefully. The curse of Raama to the Karan that he will forget all his Vidya when he needs it the most, that happens at the crucial moment when he is fighting with Arjuan and he is killed in hands of Arjuna. The very death of the Karna also happen because of his curse.

Destiny: 

Although it is a fictional work in the story we find that destiny plays a vital role in Karna’s whole life. At first his birth also was an accident, he was an unwanted child. He was raised by the “Sootha” family. Then he has to live his whole life with the identity which is given from that foster brother. When on the last day in the ashram his guru Raama was resting on his lap a scorpion came and started making a hole in his thigh. When his blood was felt by Raama and he was cursed because Raama assumed that he is not Bramhin but Kshatriya in reality he was Shudra. Kunti also came on the last day of the battle between Arjuna and Karna.