A Study of the Nature of 19th Century Social Conflicts Portrayed in Banaphool’s Biographical Drama ‘Sri Madhusudan’/ বনফুলের ‘শ্রীমধুসূদন’ জীবনী নাটকে উনিশ শতকীয় সামাজিক দ্বন্দ্বের স্বরূপ-সন্ধান

Abstract

Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay, widely known as 'Banaphool', was one of the most prolific authors of Bengali language and literature. Famous for his unique and intricate short stories, he also wrote sixty novels, nearly a thousand poems, numerous essays on diverse topics, five dramas, and several one-act plays during his literary career. Notably, he pioneered the modern Bengali biographical drama. 'Sri Madhusudan', published in 1939, was his first biographical drama. It was based on the life of the famous 19th-century Bengali poet, Michael Madhusudan Dutta. Three years later, in 1942, his second biographical drama, 'Vidyasagar', was published. These two plays gained immense popularity during that period. Surprisingly after this, Banaphool never returned to the biographical drama genre. In this research paper, we will primarily discuss the nature of the nineteenth-century social conflicts portrayed in the play 'Sri Madhusudan'. Additionally, we will critically analyze the success of this play in recreating specific historical period.

          Banaphool wrote the play 'Sri Madhusudan' based on Jogindranath Basu's 'Michael Madhusudan Dutter Jeevan-Charita', a well-known biography of Michael Madhusudan Dutta published in 1893. This play is primarily recognized as a product of 20^th-century modern Bengali literary thought. However, despite being a biographical drama, 'Sri Madhusudan' also portrays the conflicts and tensions hidden between different social groups and classes during the Bengal Renaissance. Here, we see characters from that period, such as Reverend Krishnamohan Bandopadhyay, a former disciple of Derozio, Rajnarayan Basu, a close associate of Brahma Debendranath Tagore and a prominent member of ‘Tattwabodhini Sabha’, Bhudev Mukhopadhyay, a supporter of conservative thoughts and values, Gourdas Basak, Bholanath Chandra, Madhu's other friends from Hindu College, Barrister Manomohan Ghosh, Rebecca and Henrietta, Madhusudan’s Europian spouces etc. Each of these characters in this play, with their distinct beliefs and practices, alongside Madhusudan's central character, plays a pivotal role in helping us understand the nature of 19th-century Bengali society under colonial rule.