Split Personality in Girish Karnad's"Nagamandala"

The playwright hits the nail on the head when he asserts at the outset that "The idol is broken so that the presiding deity of the temple cannot be identified". Appanna is the king of his castle, a supreme egoist. He is the prototype of Indian masculinity that asserts itself by arresting the spouse's selfhood within the four walls of the house. Appanna literally cages his wife in his dwelling as she is subject to unmerited abuses and thwarted intentions. Naga or snake with all its phallic connotations, typifies the sexual side of Appanna. It is other side of Appanna which he himself cannot bring to accept for this would require the relegation of his ego, his perspective of masculinity. Submitting to his sexual impulses, for him, is being submissive to his wife. Therefore, though these two aspects are completely disjoint, they are two sides of the same coin .Heads and tails; heads-the ego and tails -the snake following its instincts. That Naga is Appanna is indubitable from the very outset, the beginning of Naga's entrance.

Naga: You didn't. I am saying .Did it hurt...the beating this morning.

Naga: Locked up in the house all day. You must be missing your parents. (Act 2; pg 39)

How does Naga revisit these facts? This offers ample proof that Naga is none other than Appanna, as Rani cannot and has no scope for communication with outsiders. Naga is Appanna minus his inhibitions. At night, he stoops to the limit of coaxing Rani for his own instinctual needs.

Coaxing truly: Now smile. Just a bit look, I'll send you to them only if you smile now.

He renders himself loving and soothing at night. Paradoxically, he sets a watch-dog against his own self at night. This symbolically represents the guard he sets against his own instinct, that proves to be futile. Therefore the tussle with himself, he gets defeated without accepting defeat, and..."the scars remain" (pg.41). The husband who inflicts injury at day becomes the pharmakon at night. The spouse, who is the master at day, becomes submissive to his wife at night against his own will. B.T.Seetha states that instinct as a creative force reigns supreme in the plays of Karnad."' In spite of the reasoning it is the instinct that seems to win."(98,"Quest in Hayavadana and Nagamandala")

No, let's say that the husband decides on the day visits. And the wife on the night visits. I won't come at night if you don't want me to.

However, in the sub-conscious mind- the knowledge remains; the knowledge of the duality, the dissociative disorder.

Naga (seriously): I am afraid that is how it is going to be. Like that during the day. Like this at night. Don't ask me why.

He does not want to face questions as to the existence of his duality as it is something that he would prefer to deny than accept. A mirror to his split is too much for him to digest. The shielding of himself from the mirror emblematizes this fact. For Rani, this is a decisive point-the mirror stands for crucial point of self-realization that Appanna's exclusive interest in her is purely sexual. This is why she retreats and refrains from making love to him when she sees his reflection in the mirror. She comprehends that there is no element of love in his attraction for her. As for Naga, even while being Naga, we can find behavioural patterns of Appanna manifesting itself; like while asking Rani to adhere to unquestioning obedience

Naga:[..] When I come and go at night, don't go out of the room, don't look out of the window-whatever. And don't ask me why.

Rani likens herself to the whale but does not know why. She thinks herself to be a creature without any rational power only with basic instincts. She is not even attributed the power to think and is caged like an animal. In short she does not possess any persona, any identity. Her singularity is defined in terms of her husband's whims and fancies. There are various references to animals to exemplify the pre-dominance of the instincts or impulses.

The death of the dog implies the death of his will-power and therefore infuriates Appanna. The dog that was initially brought for human-intruders proves to be futile.

On the death of the dog, he buys a mongoose as a guard. Is a 'mongoose', a guard for human intruders? Certainly not!! Therefore, it is for the snake or Appanna's sexual self that he sets a watchdog at the beginning itself. The mongoose is evidence enough. It says that the mongoose had given a tougher fight and because the mongoose had given a tougher fight, there was no sign of him for the next several days and when he does arrive,

[..] his body was covered with wounds that had only partly healed.(49)

Consciously, Naga is not aware of Appanna and Appanna refuses to acknowledge Naga. Perhaps self-awareness does not creep in at the climax when it most obvious to us.

Climax (She turns away. Naga takes a step to go. They both freeze. The lights change sharply from nigh to mid-day. In a flash, Naga becomes Appanna. Pushes her to the floor and kicks her.

Here the patriarchal hierarchy is explicit in expressionistic terms. For Appanna, the fact that his wife has committed adultery is more acceptable to conscious mind than the fact that he himself is Naga. For outsiders, the snake ordeal is a test to prove the chastity of Rani. However, in reality, the test is for Appanna to ascertain whether he himself is Naga. When the test ultimately does prove positive, the truth dawns...Appanna= Naga. Therefore he had submitted to Rani. Therefore, she has triumphed over him..and therefore is elevated to the status of a goddess. Hence, a more domesticated, humble Naga.

My love has stitched my lips. Pulled out my fangs. Torn out my sac of poison [..] yes, this King Cobra is now no better than a grass snake(The pride diminishes,61)

Note the references to 'fangs', 'sac of poison' and 'Cobra' that point to full self-realization.

The playwright has proposed three endings:

1) In the first, they live happily ever after. Both Naga and Appanna fuse into one on self-realisation

2) Naga suicides. For one of the two selves to survive coherently the other must suicide-an emotional suicide.

3) Both Naga and Appanna co-exist. History repeats.