Restricted Woman in Girish Karnad's Naga-Mandala

Girish Karnad has emerged as a living legend in contemporary Indian English Drama. The male dominance is apparent in all the plays of Girish Karnad. In his plays the women characters became pawns in the games that the male characters play and are relegated to background. In ‘Nagamandala’ he not only exposes male chauvinism, the oppression of women, the great injustice done to them by men and patriarchal culture but also stealthily de ates the story of Rani. In the Indian tradition, the woman is forced to love her husband even though he is not to be her aspiration. Appanna visits Rani only in noon to have his lunch. The picture of Rani, shut in old and huge house for most part of the day and night, alone. He warns her not to talk to anyone other than him in a server indictment of male-dominated Hindu society. Appanna suspects his wife of adultery asks her to take snake ordeal to prove her chastity. Rani’s trial reminds us of Sita in The Ramayana and it shows the af nities with traditional Indian values