Role of Aesthetic in Understanding Literature: A Study of Tempest

Abstract

This paper aims to study Shakespeare’s play Tempest through Rasa theory. Rasa is the study of universal human emotion. Aesthetic has always been the centre of Indian philosophy. The theory of rasa forms aesthetic, which is the foundation of all the Indian theatre and classical dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Odissi, Manipuri and others. The Natyashastra portrays the bhavas used to create each rasa bhava or state of mind and rasa are the term concerned with Indian drama and literature. Rasas are created by bhavas. Bharata muni has described it in the Natyashastra, which is an ancient work on dramatic theory. A Rasa is the developed enviable state of permanent mood that is called sthayi bhava (permanent emotion). Rasa is not similar to the occidental aesthetic.