key characters and key themes from Brief Candle by Mahesh Dattani:

key themes

1. Death and Mortality:

• The play focuses on death, especially for cancer patients who know their lives are short. The title “Brief Candle” shows how quickly life can end, just like a candle that can be blown out.

1. Love and Relationships:

• Love is an important theme, especially the relationship between Vikas and Deepika. Their past love story highlights how illness can change relationships. The play also looks at friendship and family love, which help the characters cope with their struggles.

1. Coping with Illness:

• The characters use humor and creativity to deal with their pain and fear of dying. Vikas writes a comedy to bring joy to his friends, showing how laughter can help even in tough times.

1. Suffering and Pain:

• The play shows the physical and emotional pain that the characters go through. They struggle not only with their illnesses but also with their fears and feelings about life.

1. Identity and Body Image:

• Many characters face challenges related to their identity because of their illnesses. For example, Amarinder feels less of a man because of prostate cancer, while Shanti struggles with her body image after losing a breast. The play explores how people see themselves when their bodies change due to illness.

1. Hope and Resilience:

• Despite the serious themes of death and suffering, the play has a hopeful message. The characters try to make the most of their time and find joy in life, even when facing difficult situations.

1. Theatricality and Reality:

• The play includes a “play within a play,” where the characters perform a comedy. This shows how acting can help them escape their real-life problems for a while and highlights the connection between performance and real life.

1. Social Issues:

• The play addresses social issues like the stigma around diseases like HIV and cancer and how society treats sick people. It encourages understanding and acceptance of those who are ill or disabled.

In short, Brief Candle explores deep themes about life, love, and facing death, all while showing how people can find happiness and meaning even in challenging times.

Key character

1. Vikas:

• Vikas is one of the central characters in the play. He is a young man who dies from cancer (HIV-related) during the course of the story.
• He writes the play Hotel Staylonger (the play within the play) as a way to bring some joy and laughter to the other cancer patients in the hospice.
• Vikas was once in a relationship with Deepika and tries to reconnect with her during the play.
• His character represents enthusiasm, creativity, and the desire to live life fully, despite knowing that death is near.

1. Deepika:

• Deepika is a doctor at the hospice and Vikas’s former lover. She is focused and professional, and throughout the play, she struggles with her feelings for Vikas.
• In Hotel Staylonger, she plays the role of the hotel manager, symbolizing her control and authority in both the fictional and real world.
• Deepika’s character deals with the tension between her emotions and her duties as a doctor, especially in the face of Vikas’s illness and death.

1. Amarinder:

• Amarinder is a cancer patient suffering from prostate cancer, which has affected his masculinity.
• He struggles with the psychological impact of losing his sense of manhood and prefers death over living without it.
• In Hotel Staylonger, he plays Mr. Malhotra, a character who is able to enjoy life and romance, offering Amarinder a temporary escape from his painful reality.

1. Shanti:

• Shanti is a patient who has undergone breast removal surgery due to cancer. She struggles with her body image and the loss of her femininity.
• Her character represents the emotional pain of living with a disfigured body and the societal pressure on women to conform to beauty standards.
• In the play within the play, she is cast as Miss Unnikrishnan, a woman who is desired by Mr. Malhotra, giving her a chance to experience confidence and beauty that she feels she has lost in real life.

1. Mahesh:

• Mahesh is a ward boy in the hospice, who secretly loves Deepika but cannot express his feelings because of the social gap between them.
• In Hotel Staylonger, he plays Mr. Kulkarni, a wealthy man who flirts with the hotel manager (Deepika), allowing him to live out his fantasies in the fictional world of the play.
• Mahesh’s character represents unspoken desires and the limitations imposed by class and status in society.

These characters, through their roles in both the real world and the play within the play, highlight the themes of love, loss, and the struggle to find meaning in life while facing death【5†source】【17†source】.