NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English (Kaleidoscope Drama) Chapter 2 Broken Images

Ans : ‘Broken Images’ is a play that inherently deals with issues like parental neglect, sibling rivalry, psychological manifestations of the self, etc. The play, at the very beginning, portrays an entirely different image of the protagonist Manjula’s life. Manjula is a Kannada writer of short stories, who has recently shot to fame with the publication of her first English novel. The play stages the setting of a studio where she has come to address the audience about her novel before a telefilm on the same is broadcasted. Through her speech to the audience, the play provides an initial background to her family and personal life, where all seems good. However, gradually with the play’s progression, the dark realities of her personal life come to the forefront. The love that she portrays for her sister on-screen, to her audience, seems more of a farce with the play’s progression. The sardonic questioning that she is subjected to by her image-self, reveals the darker truths behind the happy facade of events she portrayed on-screen. Through the play’s progression, it is revealed that Malini, her sister, was physically disabled and the center of attention in her household as well as in her husband’s eyes. Her wit, intellect, English-speaking abilities and liveliness somehow overshadowed Manjula and her life- a fact that she clearly resents, so much so that after Malini’s death, she probably stole her ideas to form the novel which has elevated her status presently. Despite the false affirmations of her love for her sister, her guilt has been portrayed through her image-self who strips her naked of her facade, forcing her to accept the reality. Thus, the playwright makes it evident through subtle indications that even though she loves Malini in some ways but the love Manjula expresses for her sister is not entirely genuine. 

Ans : Karnad beautifully deals with the psychological manifestation of Manjula, the protagonist, giving her character such nuances and shades that by the end of the play, the audience is left to wonder if she metamorphoses into her sister Malini, because of her guilt. Through the references in the play, Malini is initially depicted as a helpless girl with physical disabilities, dependent entirely on her family, living in the shadow of Manjula. However, as the play progresses, the intense questioning by the self-image of the protagonist brings out another shade to the character through her references. It is understood that Malini was the lively and strong character holding predominance over the mediocrity of her sister Manjula. Her intellect, wit and lively nature held the attention of every family member even that of Manjula’s husband who loved her and not Manjula. It slowly becomes clear that it is Manjula who lived most of her life in the shadow of her sister’s brilliance, even stealing Malini’s ideas for publishing her English novel which got her so much popularity which is evident when she remarks, “Why need I write another novel? Surely one is more than enough?”, when asked whether she would be publishing any more novels in English. Thus, the playwright develops the character of Malini beautifully through the course of the play till the very end. 

Ans : (i) Manjula’s resentment towards her sister is distinctly laced in the statement mentioned above. Although she tries to convince the audience of her love for her sister and portrays her sister as a helpless victim of her physical disabilities, yet her statement indicates that she resents her sister’s wit and intellect and all the attention that she received. She is clearly jealous of her sister.
(ii) The statement mentioned above creates a premise for the latter part of the play. Manjula tries portraying her sister as the dependent one living in her shadows always securing the attention of her family because of her disabilities, to her on-screen audience, but the reality is quite the opposite. It was Manjula who had spent almost her entire life in her sister’s shadow, delving deep in resentment. Her sister received all the attention for her wit and intellect and not for her disabilities, a fact that is unfolded gradually and which she purposefully misrepresented to her audience. Thus, the statement serves as foreshadowing to the events that would be unfolded later in the play. 

Ans : The playwright satirizes the conservative traits of Indian society where a writer is supposedly required to uphold the tradition by discarding writing in English. Writing in English is akin to betraying the entire community and the playwright satirizes this social trait. Infact, stressing on the hypocrisy of the criticisms because the criticisms are done in English as well, he mentions through his protagonist Manjula, “Speaking in English, as you know, gives you the authority to make oracular pronouncements on Indian literatures and languages.” Yet another issue satirized by the playwright is the truth behind media. The statements made by Manjula on-screen presents a picture which is in stark contrast to the dark realities of her life. Thus, the playwright hints at the false rosy pictures that the media presents, which are not entirely true, as is revealed slowly through the unraveling of the play. 

Ans : With the Britishers parting away from India in 1947 the line of thinking of the Indians, in general, was that the importance of English as a language would diminish. On the contrary, English as a language has gained momentum and has by now even almost become the ‘Lingua Franca’ of the common man. ‘Broken Images’ by Dr. Girish Karnad has raised the storm of debate about ‘the politics of language in Indian literary culture’ once again.
Through the Protagonist, Manjula, Dr. Karnad has tried to portray the reality of the Indian mindset. According to the playwright’s observations, English in India is felt to have been having the free walking space of the higher echelons of society. His picturization of Malini who could express herself in English fluently and had English speaking friends yet, Manjula lacking in such skills brings forth the revolution that the language English is making in the society. Infact, this one language, English is having such a strong and aggressive character that it has been even able to make inroads into the family lives of Indian people creating jealousy amongst sisters and bringing up class struggle almost like the haves and the have-nots. The masculinity of the language, English has always scored over all Indian languages and as if willingly or unwillingly it has played the role of being the patriarch of all literary languages in India. Dr. Girish Karnad’s ‘Broken Images’ vividly brings forth the perceived notions about English vis-a-vis other Indian languages in the Indian literary cultural sphere.