Critical analysis essay on the topic of:

Identity crisis in Kamala Dass poem The Old Playhouse

She is caught between who she is and who she wants to be.-Anonymous. This quote reflects the
dilemma a woman face in her life and at the same time it talks about the identity crisis of woman.
Women are sexually objectified creature from the beginning of the creation and the identity crisis that a
woman face in her life is presented sharply in Kamala Dass poem The Old Playhouse. Kamala Das, a
well known figure in English literature who is the torch bearer of women writing in Republic of India
opened a unique arena wherever the utmost feelings of a female- her dreams, hopes, love, lust,
suffering, despair, anxiety etc. all those feelings are overtly expressed. Das expresses her need for love
with frankness and openness which is uncommon within the Indian context. In her literary work she is
troubled to seek out a voice within the patriarchal society. In The Old Playhouse, Das showed a
husband-wife relationship within which the husband creates a framework for the woman according to
his desire and passion. During this literary work author offers the image of a woman who is suffering
from identity crisis and independence. She rejects the patriarchy system that is based on self-interest,
greed for power, male aggression, violence, war, mindless exploitation of woman and nature. Das
developed a lively and typical female poetry, within which a significant theme was the exploration of the
man-woman relationship. In her poetry we tend to hear the voice of the new lady shaping herself and
realizing the groundwork for self-identity. She overtly revolts against the historically accepted
womanhood ideas within the Indian society, that is therefore awkwardly represented with full of
undeniable statements and hypocrisies. She was against the norms of society that needs female to suit
into the normal framework. It is shocking that her poetry was received by the readers. She expressed
her personal relationships and her disenchantment in love-life dismayed in the society with full of
frankness. Her revolting mode of poetry received tons of criticism from her family moreover as from the
leaders of conventional society. This essay is the critical analysis of Kamala Dass poem The Old
Playhouse where she is suffering from identity crisis in a very male dominated world.

The Old Playhouse is defined by a degree of emotional intensity arising from a deep sense of betrayal,
from the sensation that she has been confined to a lifetime of imprisonment during the time of living
with her husband. The following lines of the poem depict the plight of a married person, chained to her
husbands house:

You planned to tame a swallow, to hold her

In the long summer of your love so that she would forget

Not the raw seasons alone, and the homes left behind, but

Also her nature, the urge to fly, and the endless

Pathways of the sky. . . (32)

When the beloved person takes away the freedom and interferes in the personal space of her which she
does not share with anyone, how will she feel? Love is not gained by dominating others. Love will be

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absolutely expressed during a tension free atmosphere. So how can someone offer love and intoxicate
and prohibit their freedom. Kamala Das portrays the perfect Indian family scenario wherever male
controls female by using the name of affection. Her husband is trying to tame her life as per as his need
and as a result she loses her own self and identity. Housewife is often represented as a suppressed
being, wherever her emotions and hopes, ambitions are relinquished at the need of her husband. The
writer isn't urging for sexual gratification through man except for self-realization through love. However
alas! She has embraced sole disappointment.

It was not to gather knowledge

Of yet another man that I came to you but to learn

What I was, and by learning, to learn to grow, but every

Lesson you gave was about yourself. (32)

The author felt crushed. She gave herself up for her husbands love. However what he offers reciprocally
is only information regarding him. She performed all the duties of a responsible housewife. But he was
pleased along with her bodily responses. When she says that you embalmed my poor lust with your
bitter-sweet juices she acknowledges that she was pleased with her husband from the beginning of the
relationship. However she feels tired of something with the monotony and glued pattern of her life. In
her commitment to discover her true self, she finds herself as an unsuccessful married woman. So she
raised her voice against the male domination and also the resultant humiliation.

. . . Cowering

Beneath your monstrous ego I ate the magic loaf and

Became a dwarf. I lost my will and reason, to all your

Questions I mumbled incoherent replies . . . (The Old Playhouse 1)

Kamala Das realizes that her married life was limited to a mere fantasy of the male ego. Her husbands
monstrous ego destroyed all the capacity of her reasoning skills and deceived her from finding her own
self.

Your room is

Always lit by artificial lights, your windows always

Shut. Even the air-conditioner helps so little,

All pervasive is the male scent of your breath. The cut flowers

In the vases have begun to smell of human sweat. There is

No more singing, no more dance, my mind is an old

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 Playhouse with all its lights put out.

Her poems describe a craving for a person to fill her dreams amorously. She did not experience the
sweetness of pure love with her husband but only the disillusionment of lust! Her husband is ignorant
regarding her feelings and is attempting to imprison her within the artificial atmosphere of the space
that is lit by artificial lights. She doesnt have the liberty to feel the globe outside. She is chained within
the four walls. Here the husband needs to restrict his married woman inside the domestic sphere. But
how can she enjoy her life if she is restricted.

To conclude, it can be said that Das is probably, the foremost female among the Indian lady poets
writing in English. She has much to mention regarding the pathos of a lady, rising from a possessive role
to the purpose of discovering and declarative the individual liberty and identity. She wrote all she had
perceived about the identity crisis of woman. To sum up, frankness, bravery and honesty are the
characteristics that mark the poetry of Kamala Das.

Word count: 1100

Works Cited:
H. (n.d.). Quest for Self in Kamala Das' The Old Playhouse. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from
http://www.academia.edu/11389461/Quest_for_Self_in_Kamala_Das_The_Old_Playhouse

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