Law and Longing: The Pagan as Liberator and Destroyer in Karnad and Ozick

Name of Author : Sanju S

Abstract: This paper draws a parallel between Girish Karnad’s play Nagamandala (1988) and Cynthia Ozick’s short story “The Pagan Rabbi” (1971) to explore the use of mythology and the supernatural elements in challenging patriarchal religions. While originating from distinct cultural backgrounds Indian folk theatre after colonial rule and American Jewish literature, the two texts share a common character of the "pagan" (a metamorphosed snake in the former, a dryad in the latter), who breaches the established limits of the sacred and the secular under the orthodox religion. The study contends that such a folkloric character highlights the patriarchal imposition on women’s autonomy. In Nagamandala, the naga releases the captive bride, Rani, but her victory is bittersweet. In “The Pagan Rabbi,” the dryad provides an erotic communion to the scholar Isaac Kornfeld, leading to his eventual suicide. In both texts, the pagan emerges as a requisite heresy—a mythical domain where suppressed passion finds a voice and orthodoxy meets its limitations.

Keywords : limitations, Liberator and Destroyer

DOI :