Tantra and Macbeth: A Study of a Bengali Adaptation

Abstract

This paper examines a Bengali adaptation of Macbeth, namely, Rudrapal Natak (published 1874) by Haralal Ray, in order to enquire into and contextualize its staging of Tantra (an esoteric philosophy and system of rituals originating in India). This play notably translocates the mythos and ethos of Shakespeare’s original onto a Hindu field of signifiers, reworking Shakespeare’s Witches as bhairavis (female ascetics of a Tantric cult) who boast of supernatural capabilities and indulge in horrific rituals. These Witch-equivalents are also reverentially depicted as formidable figures of Olympian proportions, far removed from the petty malice of Shakespeare’s folkloric weïrd sisters. My paper will argue that the play is unapologetic about the excessive violence instituted by its Witch-equivalents, and that it highlights them as a potent link to the Hindu episteme, because the play serves the double purpose of invoking Shakespeare’s original on the one hand and satisfying the urge for Bengali-Hindu cultural expression on the other. The paper also compares this play briefly with two other Bengali offshoots of Macbeth from the nineteenth century.