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Questions - Hayavadana

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314 views5 pages

Questions - Hayavadana

Uploaded by

FemSam
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Short Answer Questions

1. How does Padmini notice Devadatta and Kapila’s body in the dark temple?
2. What does Devadatta ask Lord Rudra to do after Kapila and Padmini head off to the
temples together?
3. When Padmini sleeps after singing a lullaby to her son, who do the dolls say she is
dreaming of?
4. After Devadatta leaves to get new dolls, where does Padmini tell the child she will take
him?
5. What does Kali tell Padmini was the real reason Kapila killed himself?

Short Essay Questions


1. Describe the scene when Padmini sings her son a lullaby just before falling asleep.
2. What does Devadatta say to Padmini about the life of a Brahmin after she tells him he
never goes out anymore?
3. What do the two dolls discuss just before and just after the baby is born?
4. After Devadatta moves one of the dolls in search of a book, how do the dolls describe his
changed body?
5. Where does Devadatta go after he and Padmini return to Dharampura as husband and
wife, and what does he purchase for their baby while there?
6. What do the dolls see Padmini dreaming about when she falls asleep after singing her
baby a lullaby?
7. After finding the child’s dolls torn up, where does Padmini suggest Devadatta do and
what does she suggest he get while there?
8. How does Padmini feel about being Devadatta’s wife after he has Kapila’s body and why?
9. What does the Goddess Kali mean when she says that Devadatta and Kapila lied “to their
last breaths” (33)?
10. After Devadatta and Padmini awake, Devadatta complains his shoulder hurts. Why does
it hurst and what does Padmini think of this?

Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the significance the two dolls have on the play Hayavadana. What is their purpose?
What do they add to the story visually, structurally, or thematically?

Essay Topic 2
Analyze the role of the child in Hayavadana. Discuss the life he was born into and the
changes that took place after his birth. Consider the confusion about which character is his
true father.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing the play Hayavadan’s commentary on gender roles. In what ways
do the character conform to gender stereotypes of the time and in what ways do they go
against these stereotypes?
1. How is Ganesh’s mask used at the beginning of the play?

Ganesh’s mask is brought to the lone chair on stage. The Bhagavata sings Ganesh’s praised
before the mask is removed from the stage.

2. What does the Bhagavata ask to happen before the performance after he sings Ganesh’s
praise?

The Bhagavata asks Vighneshwara to bless the performance.

3. What does the Bhagavata say he thinks perhaps Ganesh’s appearance is to signify?

The Bhagavata says he thinks perhaps Ganesh’s appearance might signify “that the
completeness of God is something no mere mortal can comprehend” (1).

4. How does The Bhagavata describe Devadatta at the beginning of the play?

Devadatta is described as the attractive and intelligent son of a Brahmin who has
impressed his community with his “poetry and wit” (2).

5. How does The Bhagavata describe Kapila at the beginning of the play?

Kapila is described as a strong, dark, son of an iron-smith whose physical prowess is


unmatched.

Factual Questions

1. Who is the story teller in the play?

2. Why does the Bhagavata say that Lord Ganesha is mysterious?

3. Where does the story take place?

4. What virtues do Devadutta and Kapila represent?

5. What disrupted the Bhagavata’s narration?


6. The actor was terrified because

a. he had seen a ghost

b. he saw a man with a horse’s head

c. he saw a horse with a man’s head

d. he heard a horse’s head talking

7. The Bhagavata mistook the horse’s head to be a __________.

8. How did Hayavadana get a horse’s head?

9. What suggestion did the Bhagavata give Hayavadana to get rid of his

horse’s head?

10. Why did the Bhagavata ask the actor to accompany Hayavadana?

Who does Hayavadana seek to help transform him? (from Pages 80 - 93)

Rudra.

Vishnu.

Kali.

Shiva.

Who does Devadatta vow to sacrifice his head to in exchange for marrying Padmini? (from
Pages 80 - 93)

Shiva.

Vishnu.

Rudra.

Kali.

What does Hayavadana recite to try and lose his voice? (from Pages 124 - 139)

A poem.

A popular song.

The national anthem.


A sacred text.

What sort of head does Hayavadana have? (from Pages 73 - 79)

Man.

Cat.

Dog.

Horse.

How many years do the princess and the stallion live together as a married couple? (from
Pages 80 - 93)

Thirty.

Fifteen.

Forty.

Twenty.

Where does the festival take place? (from Pages 110 - 123)

Dharmapura.

Mumbai.

Ujjain.

Delhi.

II. Paragraph Questions

1. How does the prayer describe the various attributes of Lord Ganesha?

2. ‘Devadutta and Kapila were not only friends but they completed each other’s

personality’. Discuss.

3. Why did the Bhagavatha try to remove the Horse’s head of Hayavadana?
4. Narrate the story of Hayavadana’s parents.

5. In what ways had Hayavadana tried to get rid of his head?

6. How would you draw a parallel between Hayavadana and Lord Ganesha?

7. Do you think the prayer becomes significant in the context of the play?

91

III. Essay Questions

1. How did the union of the princess and the Gandharva (celestial being)

become a curse to their child?

2. Explain the significance of the opening scene in the play.

3. “Hayavadana represents the imperfections and incompleteness of human beings”.


Discuss.

4. Does Hayavadana’s frustration at his strange head replicate man’s

dissatisfaction at his own being? Discuss.

5. Does the Bhagavata resonate the voice of the audience? Substantiate.

Comment on the role of Bhagavata in Karnad’s play, Hayavadana.

Sketch the character of Padmini

Assess the mythical elements in the play Hayavadana.

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