From Kalidasa to King Lear: Universality in Sanskrit Literature & Shakespeare

Abstract

This thesis places classical Sanskrit literature and Shakespeare into contrapuntal dialogue to reconsider claims of Shakespearean universality and recover the significance of Sanskrit literary traditions marginalized under British colonialism. The study identifies parallels in themes, characters, dramatic structures, and aesthetic principles. These qualities long celebrated as evidence of Shakespeare’s universality to express emotional experience were articulated centuries earlier within classical Sanskrit literary traditions. The thesis examines the historical transformation of literary authority in colonial India. Early British Orientalists disseminated translated Sanskrit literature through Europe, where it contributed to broader intellectual and literary movements. During the nineteenth century, however, Anglicist educational policies redirected institutional support from Sanskrit learning toward English-language education, while Shakespeare acquired a prioritized position within the colonial literary curriculum. Indian writers and performers reinterpreted Shakespeare through existing indigenous literary and theatrical traditions into material for creative negotiation and cultural reclamation. Drawing primarily on English translations of Sanskrit texts and secondary historical and literary scholarship, this thesis uses a contrapuntal approach to challenge Shakespeare-centered narratives of literary universality. Rather than diminishing Shakespeare’s achievements, the comparison restores classical Sanskrit literature as an equal participant in the global history of literature and argues for a more expansive literary canon that recognizes multiple centers of literary and aesthetic achievement.