Indian Ink

by

Tom Stoppard

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Themes and Colors
The Effects of Colonialism Theme Icon
History and Memory Theme Icon
Art and Inspiration Theme Icon
Sex and Love Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Indian Ink, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.

The Effects of Colonialism

Tom Stoppard’s play Indian Ink emphasizes the British Empire’s responsibility for India’s deep poverty and inequality. As the British poet Flora Crewe visits India and mingles with the English elite and the absurdly wealthy Rajah, she recognizes that they’re only rich because they have subjugated the vast majority of Indians for centuries. She also sees how this hierarchy affects every aspect of colonial life. Ordinary Indians—like Flora’s servant Nazrul—labor tirelessly but invisibly in the…

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History and Memory

In Indian Ink, events from two distinct time periods—the year 1930 and the mid-1980s—meld together onstage. They take place within the same set, and they interrupt and comment on each other. (For instance, Anish Das and Eleanor Swan talk about Flora Crewe’s letters while she acts them out elsewhere on the stage.) This format isn’t just a kind of nostalgia: rather, it shows how the act of remembering can both illuminate and distort…

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Art and Inspiration

Flora Crewe and Anish Das’s relationship in Indian Ink is a meeting not only of hearts and minds, but also of different creative forms (painting and poetry) and artistic traditions (English and Indian). At first, they struggle to bridge the cultural gap between them through conversation. But they succeed once Das starts to paint Flora while she writes. This collaborative artmaking helps their relationship flourish: they use it as a proxy to build personal…

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Sex and Love

Indian Ink is a mystery composed of three love stories: the passionate painter Nirad Das, the haughty English officer David Durance, and the charming, extravagantly wealthy Rajah all court Flora Crewe during her short stay in Jummapur, but the audience never learns if any of them succeed. It’s easy to assume that Flora and Das fall in love when their artistic collaboration culminates in Das painting Flora nude, but the play intentionally leaves…

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