Recontextualizing the Faustian Fall: A Rereading of Girish Karnad's Tughlaq.

In Doctor Faustus, Christopher Marlowe talks about the fate of the Renaissance man; in Tughlaq, Girish Karnad illustrates the absurdities and deficiencies of the modern man. The present study focuses on Tughlaq, a highly ambitious and passionate king. Tughlaq is tempted and guided by Faustian flaws, such as ambitious idealism, pride, and self-conceit, which engender his propensity to commit wicked activities to pursue infinite power. He is an accomplished scholar, having striking similarities with Faustus, as both are arrogant and hungry for power. Tughlaq wishes to become a mighty ruler with authoritative power; Faustus wishes to control the universe with necromancy, for "a sound magician is a demigod" (Marlowe 2005, 52). As a result, their materialistic sense gratification starts governing and suffocating them, as it goes unchecked by moral constraints. The paper seeks to illustrate why Tughlaq, the enigmatic king, instead of finding happiness in tranquility, turns himself into a prisoner of his ambition in his unbridled quest for sinister power. The paper reveals how such Faustian idealism, swollen with self-conceit and cunningness, drags Tughlaq into disillusionment and damnation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]