Unities of Place and Time

In the observance, or rather in the non-observance of the other unities of the drama - those of Place and Time - Mr. Sundaram Pillai has followed Shakespeare quite faithfully. He has violated those sterile rules of Aristotle for the higher purposes of the dramatic art. The action of the play partly taking place in Tinnevelly and partly in Trivandrum, the rule regarding the Unity of Place has had to be given up. Nor has the poet observed the rule about the Unity of Time. The play is spread over 12 days, its time analysis giving us 8 days for all the happenings with an interval of 4 days for PALADEVA to reach Trivandrum and for PURUSHOTHAMA to invade Tinnevelly. It would be highly incredible that the machinations of KUDILA should develop in the manner indicated and bear fruit as they did within the space of a fortnight at the most.

Language of the Chatacters

While there has been no violation of dramatic propriety in respect of Characterisation and in the requisite Unity of Action, one may doubt whether poetic language in the mouth of the characters and that on all occasions does not amount to some infringement of it. The poet had designed from the first that the drama should be in verse. The high example of Shakespeare, during his early period, was before him. Thus was the author constrained to put poetic language into the mouth of all the characters, without taking into account their status or culture. The convention of the Sanscrit Dramatists to restrict the use of Sanscrit only to the leading characters of the drama, the minor characters being made to talk in Prakrit and in prose has some justification. In Tamil too, the author could very well have reserved verse to the leading personages, the menials, farmers, soldiers, citizens & etc., being made to converse in ordinary prose suited to their station in life. But, it may be asked, why poetry should be brought in even in the case of the leading characters. Poetical garb, it is true, is by no means a necessary requisite of the drama. Still, if we follow the example of the classic dramatists, the use of poetic language will be effective at times for dramatic purposes. Even in ordinary life persons who are thrown into a mood of high-wrought feeling use rhythmic and even poetic language. When their dull slumbering emotions are stirred up to white heat by compelling occasions or events they find vent in measured language, either as burning thought or throbbing feeling; in other words, the persons become poetical for the moment. The dramatist has ample ground then to make poetry a vehicle of expression for certain characters and that too for certain occasions only. In this play, however, the author has purposely eschewed prose. As stated by himself he intended it to be used in the study and not on the stage. And to serve this purpose of his in the best possible manner he was led to compose the whole play in sonorous verse.