Note 51 — III DRAMATIC THEORY XIII THE THEORY OF THE DRAMATIC ART

The heroine, Nāyikā,51 plays a part in the economy of the drama similar to that of the hero, and not of less importance. The types of heroine depend primarily on her relation to the hero; she may be his wife (svā, svīyā) or belong to another (anyā, anyastrī) or be a hetaera. The hero’s wife must be upright and of good character, but she may be inexperienced (mugdhā), partly experienced (madhyā), or fully experienced and bold (pragalbhā). The inexperienced wife is shy in her love and gentle in her anger with her spouse’s infidelities. The partly experienced is full of the love of youth, and even faints in her passion; when angry, if self-controlled, she chides her husband with double entendres; if but partly controlled, she allows her tears to aid her reproaches; if uncontrolled, she adds harsh words. The bold wife is frantically in love, fainting at the first embrace; when angry, if self-controlled, she adopts an attitude of haughty reserve and indifference to the pleasures of life; if lacking in self-control, she uses threats and blows; if partly self-controlled, she employs the weapons of raillery and equivoke. A further division is possible, for each of these three kinds of heroine may be subdivided according as the lady is the earlier or later of the loves of the husband.