Sitting under the shadow of the cataclysmic British rule for close to two centuries, during which British or western lifestyle was imposed on almost every fabric of Indian life, many Indian literary authors present ch...Sitting under the shadow of the cataclysmic British rule for close to two centuries, during which British or western lifestyle was imposed on almost every fabric of Indian life, many Indian literary authors present characters whose excruciating economic malaise and yearning for western technology pollute and wreck their cultural heritage and identity. The anxious and susceptible characters of Indian authors are prone to western temptations, enticements, which they misconstrued for a bridge to prosperity and tranquility. Besieged by a grim choice of abject poverty and corrosive wealth devoid of cultural dignity, Manjula Padmanabhan＇s characters in Harvest and Sunil Sharma＇s characters in The Plebian Rag＇s desperately spurn or embrace western lifestyle with its attendant consequences.展开更多
Sarah Kane＇s Blasted （1995）, set in Leeds, a war-ravaged city in England, mirrors the ruins of contemporary cities, and presents depraved characters who leave indelible prints of ruin as they have sex with impunity...Sarah Kane＇s Blasted （1995）, set in Leeds, a war-ravaged city in England, mirrors the ruins of contemporary cities, and presents depraved characters who leave indelible prints of ruin as they have sex with impunity, torture at ease, and murder at whim. Hanging on the skin of their own obsessive lust, depression, depravation, and cruelty, Kane＇s characters display spiteful conduct and protracted cravings. The play depicts a world of sex maniacs, of acute pain, and of cannibalism. Set in a ＂very expensive hotel room in Leeds （England）-the kind that is so expensive it could be anywhere in the world＂ （Kane 3）, the playwright presents a tabloid journalist, Ian, and a Soldier, who both have severe and violent sexual drives, a young lady who is an innocent victim of sexual violence, a child whose corpse is eaten, and citizens massacred with utmost brutality.展开更多
Manjula Padmanabhan’s Harvest(1997)depicts despoiled and despondent characters whose change of fortunes compel them to careen between two conflicting cultures and squash their revered moral etiquettes as their vulner...Manjula Padmanabhan’s Harvest(1997)depicts despoiled and despondent characters whose change of fortunes compel them to careen between two conflicting cultures and squash their revered moral etiquettes as their vulnerable bodies are prey on and their lifestyles are distorted with impunity.Although the audience/readers may wriggle on Padmanabhan’s Harvest,circumstances drive her characters to swim against moral currents to survive in a world hanging on a string of economic collapse.Conscious of the dent their choices would put on their morality,these characters still surrender their rights to their own bodies and their pristine values to Ginni,a metaphor for western greed and exploitation.Ginni,via InterPlanta Services,tiptoes into the lives of impoverished Indian characters with promises of alleviating their poverty-stricken conditions,but quickly becomes a dour,barking orders to them with sternness,and leaving them battered and empty.Bruised by active resistance to western encroachment into their lives,Jaya defies the patriarchal system,even as her family members egg on her husband to give away everything for basic western needs.展开更多
文摘Sitting under the shadow of the cataclysmic British rule for close to two centuries, during which British or western lifestyle was imposed on almost every fabric of Indian life, many Indian literary authors present characters whose excruciating economic malaise and yearning for western technology pollute and wreck their cultural heritage and identity. The anxious and susceptible characters of Indian authors are prone to western temptations, enticements, which they misconstrued for a bridge to prosperity and tranquility. Besieged by a grim choice of abject poverty and corrosive wealth devoid of cultural dignity, Manjula Padmanabhan＇s characters in Harvest and Sunil Sharma＇s characters in The Plebian Rag＇s desperately spurn or embrace western lifestyle with its attendant consequences.
文摘Sarah Kane＇s Blasted （1995）, set in Leeds, a war-ravaged city in England, mirrors the ruins of contemporary cities, and presents depraved characters who leave indelible prints of ruin as they have sex with impunity, torture at ease, and murder at whim. Hanging on the skin of their own obsessive lust, depression, depravation, and cruelty, Kane＇s characters display spiteful conduct and protracted cravings. The play depicts a world of sex maniacs, of acute pain, and of cannibalism. Set in a ＂very expensive hotel room in Leeds （England）-the kind that is so expensive it could be anywhere in the world＂ （Kane 3）, the playwright presents a tabloid journalist, Ian, and a Soldier, who both have severe and violent sexual drives, a young lady who is an innocent victim of sexual violence, a child whose corpse is eaten, and citizens massacred with utmost brutality.
文摘Manjula Padmanabhan’s Harvest(1997)depicts despoiled and despondent characters whose change of fortunes compel them to careen between two conflicting cultures and squash their revered moral etiquettes as their vulnerable bodies are prey on and their lifestyles are distorted with impunity.Although the audience/readers may wriggle on Padmanabhan’s Harvest,circumstances drive her characters to swim against moral currents to survive in a world hanging on a string of economic collapse.Conscious of the dent their choices would put on their morality,these characters still surrender their rights to their own bodies and their pristine values to Ginni,a metaphor for western greed and exploitation.Ginni,via InterPlanta Services,tiptoes into the lives of impoverished Indian characters with promises of alleviating their poverty-stricken conditions,but quickly becomes a dour,barking orders to them with sternness,and leaving them battered and empty.Bruised by active resistance to western encroachment into their lives,Jaya defies the patriarchal system,even as her family members egg on her husband to give away everything for basic western needs.
