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Kālidāsa’S Shakuntala And Shakespeare’S The Winter’S Tale: The Child As Redeemer, Mohan Limaye

Mohan Limaye

This paper attempts to demonstrate that, though the three-member family (father, mother and child) is celebrated in Shakuntala and The Winter’s Tale, the child is the most important of the three members in the two plays in terms of plot and theme. The quest of Dushyanta and Shakuntala, the hero and the heroine, is on a deeper level for a child. The king needs an heir to the throne, and so do his subjects for a stable order. Similarly, in The Winter’s Tale, the stability of Leontes’ kingdom rests on Perdita, his daughter, after Prince Mamillius dies. In …