Tagore’s play ‘Chandalika’ is interwoven with the decorations of language. Tagore has used metaphors in his character’s names to express the themes of the play. ‘Prakriti’ which means ‘nature’ stands for the character’s realization of being a woman and awakening to her identity as a woman. Her yearning for natural desires depicts the workings of nature. She comes to realize and embrace her identity, breaking free from the shackles of the society which had unjustly treated her as an ‘untouchable’ throughout her life. Her realization instills in her new courage and she understands that she is as much a human and a natural part of the society as any other person. She becomes sensitive to her natural needs as a woman, thereby justifying her name.
The image of Prakriti finding liberation through the act of serving water to the monk hints at the theme of the play. ‘Water’ is a part of nature and it washes away all the dirty and unwanted things. Similarly, Prakriti, through serving water to the monk, washes away the years of unjust oppression and tyranny of the society and truly becomes one with nature when she realizes her worth as a human, thus justifying her name ‘Prakriti’. Her name proves ironical in another instance in the play when she forces her mother to put the monk under a spell and bring him to her so that she can offer herself to him and she yearns for his love in return. This very act goes against the nature of the monk since he is sworn to celibacy and can neither reciprocate her feelings nor satiate her womanly desires. Thus, despite her name being ‘Prakriti’, she goes against the natural order of things by committing this act and it leads to a heavy price which she had to pay.