Read this when
Shakuntala (Abhijnanashakuntalam)
When the person who promised you forever looks at you like a stranger in front of everyone. Kalidasa wrote this 1,500 years ago, and yes, he regrets it later.
Who it's for
The play gives full dignity to a woman publicly disowned by the man she married: when Shakuntala arrives at court pregnant, King Dushyanta, under a curse, looks at her as a stranger, and she has no proof because the ring has slipped from her finger.
Feelings it meets
What it is
Kalidasa's seven-act Sanskrit play tells of King Dushyanta, who meets Shakuntala at a forest hermitage, marries her and gives her a signet ring. When a distracted Shakuntala fails to attend to the short-tempered sage Durvasa, he curses her so that the king will forget her. On her journey to the royal court the ring slips from her hand into a river, and the king, under the curse, refuses to acknowledge her.
Where to find it
Older translations (e.g., Monier Monier-Williams's 19th-century version and Arthur W. Ryder's 1912 translation) are public domain and free online. W. J. Johnson's Oxford World's Classics translation i.
Before you start
Heads up: Public humiliation of a pregnant woman.
Age: Ages 12+
Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful.Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Chapter 20
