Madhusudan Dutta’s Farce : Revealing the appearance of Male characters in the light of female characters/ মধুসূদন দত্তের প্রহসন : নারী চরিত্রের আলোকে পুরুষ চরিত্রের স্বরূপ উন্মোচন

Abstract

Madhusudan Dutta first appeared in Bengali literature as a playwright. It was through his hand that Bengali readers got the first taste of a successful Bengali tragedy. Within just three years of theatrical practice, he wrote several full-length plays, including two successful farces. The two farces he wrote are - 'Ekei ki bole sabhyata?' (1860) and 'Buro Saliker ghara row' (1860).  If we judge the two farces in terms of their content, it will be seen that Michael Madhusudan Dutta has painted two opposite poles in the two farces. Just as in the first, he has shown the hypocrisy of the English-educated new community, in the second, he has highlighted the hypocrisy and characterlessness of the old conservative society. Madhusudan Dutta has depicted two different forms of society in his two farces. The playwright has tried to portray the broken form of this hypocritical society mainly through male characters. And the female characters are introduced to reveal the nature of these male characters.

        Through the characters of Barbilasini, Payodhari and Nitambini mentioned in the farce, the playwright has shown the addiction of the radical modern youth society to drinking, dancing, singing and barangana women. Again, through the character of Harakamini, he has highlighted the sorrows and sufferings of the wives of the young men of the modern new community educated in the so-called English education. Again, the playwright has also given a language of protest through this Harakamini character, from which he did not hesitate to rebuke the Babus like Nabakumar. Also, in the character of the housewife blinded by her son's love, the playwright has shown that the housewife has tried to hide the faults and shortcomings of her son. That is, the character of the main character of this farce, Nabakumar, has somehow emerged through these female characters. That the character of Harakamini is used to highlight the fact that characters like Nabakumar have no responsibility towards their wives, the character of Prasannamayi is used to highlight the fact that in a foreign culture, they kiss their sister on the cheek, and the character of the housewife who is blinded by her love for her son directly reveals the character of Nabakumar.

In the farce "Buro Saliker Ghara Row" the playwright has created several female characters including Fatema, Puti, Bhagi, Panchi to reveal the character of the old landlord Bhaktaprasad. Although the female characters in this farce represent their respective levels, the real purpose of creating the female characters is to reveal the character of the false Bhaktaprasad. The character of the woman-loving Bhaktaprasad is revealed through his desire to enjoy Fatema. Through the character of Puti, the playwright has shown that Womanizer people like Bhaktaprasad have been ruining the lives of many women for a long time. They do not take up religious activities when they find female company. The playwright is creating the character of Bhagi to highlight how opportunistic the Womanizer Bhaktaprasad is. Again, after seeing Bhagi's daughter Panchi, Bhaktaprasad is fascinated by her appearance and plans to enjoy her. The playwright has created the character of Panchi to highlight the Womanizer mentality of the landlord. In other words, the playwright has created the female characters in the play to highlight the hypocrisy of the main character of the play, Bhaktaprasad.