The Portrayal of Women in Jaishankar Prasad’s Plays

Abstract

Jai Shankar Prasad is the most celebrated personality of modern Hindi literature who belonged to the Chhayawad/svacchandatavada called as Romantic era, which gave rise to a new facelift in Hindi literature and Hindi theatre. He was an excellent Indian poet, novelist and dramatist. He was very much influenced by the Vedas, Indian Philosophy and culture, which was very well portrayed in his works. He had mixed up art and philosophy in his writings. As we say Literature reflects the images of the society and portrays human life through its characters, Prasad’s plays have witnessed the role of women evolving through ages. Jai Shankar Prasad has chosen the title of his writings with different names which ranges from the romantic to the nationalistic. Through his writings, he became famous which lead him to win so many awards in the period of Indian independence movement. He has shown the life history of many great personalities of ancient India through his Dramas. His dramas proved to be the most pioneering ones in Hindi literature. All his plays displayed a vivid range of social, political and personal issues which were prevalent in the society during his times. Portrayal of women in literature was unusual during his times, but Jaishankar Prasad was well known for portraying   women in the centre stage which not only glorified them but dignified them too. The women in his plays are individuals who in her own way, are independent, self-sufficient and unconventional.