Description
Two tragic plays that break the rules: both show the hero dying on stage, a scenario forbidden in Sanskrit dramaturgy. King Harsha's play, composed in the seventh century, re-examines the Buddhist tale of a magician prince who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save a hostage snake (naga). The Shattered Thighs, attributed to Bhasa, the illustrious predecessor to ancient Kali*dasa, transforms a crucial episode of the Maha*bharata war. As he dies from a foul blow to the legs delivered in his duel with Bhima, Duryodhana's character is inverted, depicted as a noble and gracious exemplar amidst the wreckage of the fearsome battle scene.
Two tragic plays that break the rules, showing the hero dying on stage, a scenario forbidden in Sanskrit dramaturgy
Reviews
The books line up on my shelf like bright Bodhisattvas ready to take tough questions or keep quiet company. They stake out a vast territory, with works from two millennia in multiple genres: aphorism, lyric, epic, theater, and romance. -- Willis G. Regier * The Chronicle Review *
Book Information
ISBN 9780814740668
Author Andrew Skilton
Format Hardback
Page Count 380
Imprint New York University Press
Publisher New York University Press
Weight(grams) 318g
