Abstract:
This research is an attempt to make a critical study of the characteristics and roles of the heroes in Kalidasas plays and those in Sanskrit texts on dramaturgy, to make a detailed comparison and to draw out the similarities and differences between the characteristics found in the plays and in the dramaturgical theory. The thesis consist of 5 chapters. The first is the introduction explaining the nature of the problem, the aim, an approach to the problem and the conclusion. The second chapter deals with the heroes as found in Sanskrit dramaturgy texts. The third chapter is and analysis of the data pertaining to the heroes in Kalidasas plays and those prescribed in Sanskrit dramaturgy. The fourth chapter is the comparison of those data. The conclusion and suggestions are given in the fifth chapter. The conclusion of this thesis is that there is definite similarities between the characteristics of the heroes in Kalidasas plays and those described for the male actors in Natyasastra. It is also likely that, the authors of Sanskrit texts on dramaturgy used the Natyasastra and Kalidasas plays as a guide in their respective works