Shakuntala
Shakuntala is the heroine of the play. A beautiful young woman, she is the daughter of a royal sage and the nymph Menaka, and the foster daughter of Kanva. She lives as an…
read analysis of Shakuntala
King Dusyanta
King Dusyanta, a member of the Puru lineage, reigns in northern India, with his capital at Hastinapura. He is the hero of the play. He is attentive to his royal duties, especially those of caring…
read analysis of King Dusyanta
Sarvadamana
Sarvadamana is King Dusyanta’s and Shakuntala’s son. He is destined to become a world emperor, a fate prophesied by Vaikhanasa at the beginning of the play. He doesn’t appear in the play until…
read analysis of Sarvadamana
Kanva
Kanva is a great ascetic sage, head of the hermitage that’s the setting of the play’s first few acts, and Shakuntala’s beloved foster father. At the beginning of the play, he is absent from…
read analysis of Kanva
Durvasas
Durvasas is a hot-tempered sage who visits the hermitage, then places a curse on Shakuntala and King Dusyanta because Shakuntala, distracted by her new husband’s absence and her pregnancy, fails to welcome him with appropriate…
read analysis of Durvasas
Get the entire Shakuntala LitChart as a printable PDF.
Marica
Marica is the father of the god Indra and a divine sage, the head of the celestial hermitage to which Shakuntala was spirited away by nymphs and has since lived with her son, Sarvadamana…
read analysis of Marica
Minor Characters
Matali
Matali is the god Indra’s charioteer. He rouses King Dusyanta from depression by pretending to threaten Vidusaka’s life, then summons the King on an urgent demon-fighting mission.
Anasuya
Anasuya is a friend of Shakuntala and Priyamvada and a fellow ascetic at Kanva’s hermitage. She is a faithful companion, protective of Shakuntala, and encourages her romance and marriage to King Dusyanta.
Priyamvada
Priyamvada is a friend of Shakuntala and Anasuya and a fellow ascetic at Kanva’s hermitage. She is a faithful companion, protective of Shakuntala, and encourages her romance and marriage to King Dusyanta.
Vidusaka
Vidusaka is King Dusyanta’s close companion, a good-humored, overweight brahmin. His humorous remarks provide comic relief throughout the play. Matali pretends to threaten his life in order to rouse the King out of his depression.
Vaikhanasa
Vaikhanasa is an ascetic who lives in Kanva’s forest hermitage. At the beginning of the play, he stops King Dusyanta from killing a hermitage deer and then invites him to visit the hermitage. He also pronounces a prophetic blessing about the King’s future son, Sarvadamana.
Sanumati
Sanumati, a nymph, is a friend of Shakuntala’s mother, Menaka. She spies on King Dusyanta’s court, but she doesn’t directly intervene in events, knowing that Menaka is working to bring about the King’s reunion with Shakuntala.
Menaka
Menaka is a nymph and is Shakuntala’s mother. She conceived Shakuntala when she was sent to test the self-restraint of a royal sage, who proved unable to resist her beauty.
Karabhaka
Karabhaka is a royal messenger whom the queen sends to King Dusyanta from the capital.
Gautami
Gautami is the senior female ascetic at Kanva’s hermitage and accompanies Shakuntala to the capital.
Sarngarava
One of the ascetics at Kanva’s hermitage, who accompanies Shakuntala to the capital.
Caturika
Caturika is a maidservant in King Dusyanta’s court.
Lady Hamsapadika
Lady Hamsapadika is one of King Dusyanta’s consorts in the capital city. She sings a song that fills him with melancholy desire, although he can’t remember Shakuntala at the time.
Fisherman
The poor fisherman discovers Shakuntala’s lost ring in the belly of a fish, then gets arrested on suspicion of having stolen the ring from King Dusyanta. His story is quickly corroborated by the King, and he’s let go with an ample reward.
Actor-Manager
The actor-manager introduces the play in the Prologue, inviting the actress to sing a mood-setting song about summer romance.
Actress
In the Prologue, at the invitation of the actor-manager, the actress sings a song about summer romance to set the mood for the audience.
Chamberlain
The chamberlain serves at King Dusyanta’s court. From his observations, Sanumati learns about what’s happened between the King and Shakuntala.
Doorkeeper
The doorkeeper is a female attendant at King Dusyanta’s court.
