Class 12 English The Bull

During the eighteenth century, an absolute monarchy system was prevalent in Nepal, ruled by the Shah dynasty. The monarchs were known for being exceptionally strict, which severely restricted Nepalese society. The lives, choices, and freedoms of the subjects were entirely under the king’s or the local feudal lords’ dominance, meaning citizens were never truly free to conduct their lives as they wished.

This exact social dynamic is accurately portrayed in the play ‘The Bull’. It depicts a horrific societal structure where common people are compelled to live under the constant terror of kings and lords. The masters treated their subjects horrifically; if the subjects or their opinions went against the masters, they faced brutal punishment or death. This play serves as a window into the miserable, fear-driven life conditions of historical Nepalese society.

Furthermore, people were not given fundamental human rights. They were intentionally deprived of political and financial knowledge to maintain the status quo. Society was strictly bound by patriarchal rules and ideals, purely male-dominated. Men were permitted to marry multiple wives (as seen with Laxminarayan, who has seven wives). Ultimately, the king exercised complete, terrifying control over the lives and survival of the common people.

Laxminarayan, the main character of the play, is a forty-year-old legal officer and the doctor of the king’s bull. Looking at his domestic life, he is married to seven wives. Yet, he is not satisfied with all of them and is actively planning to marry an eighth wife, referring to them using demeaning nicknames. This rampant practice of polygamy highlights a deeply male-dominant society. Men were allowed to marry multiple women, whereas women were compelled to live their entire lives under the absolute dominance and potential violence of their husbands. Women were kept illiterate, unconscious of their basic rights, and deprived of political or financial independence. Child marriage was also prevalent. Society functioned entirely under oppressive male supremacy.

However, Nepalese society has altered this grim situation dramatically since that era. The current situation of Nepali society, and especially the status of Nepali women, is significantly better. Human rights and dedicated women’s rights frameworks are legally in place to protect them. The literacy rate of women has increased substantially, and women now hold positions of higher economic and political authority. The concepts of equality and equity are operational, and many toxic patriarchal traditions—like child marriage and other oppressive prathas—are being eradicated. Numerous organizations are working actively for the betterment of women, indicating a society that has fundamentally transformed from its feudal past.

The practice of “chakari” (sycophancy or intense flattery) was heavily prevalent and practically required during the absolute monarchy’s rule. During the royal system, there was a desperate craze among citizens and officials who were heavily involved in the chakari of their leaders, monarchs, and feudal lords. Chakari was a famous, albeit degrading, method for gaining wealth, favors, or gifts from the king. Subjects aimed to please the king through exaggerated servitude in the hope of advancing their lives; conversely, there were fatal consequences if they failed to perform this flattery correctly.

This practice is showcased perfectly in the play. The main character Laxminarayan and the cowherds Gore and Jitman are frequently seen performing intense chakari to survive. Laxminarayan himself was once punished simply for the “bad deed” of speaking in a loud voice in front of the king. They are shown to be highly anxious regarding the king’s moods. When the bull dies, Laxminarayan is so terrified of the king’s anger that he carefully orchestrates a theatrical performance of grief and fake medical care to save himself and the cowherds from severe punishment. Even calling the animal “the bull sir” demonstrates the extreme levels of chakari they were forced to perform.

Laxminarayan outsmarts King Rana Bahadur through quick-thinking and desperate trickery. As a forty-year-old legal officer and the bull’s assigned doctor, he knows his life is on the line when Gore and Jitman inform him of the bull’s death. Because he possesses the cunning talent of flattering the king away from his immediate emotional outbursts, Laxminarayan decides not to inform the king of the actual death immediately.

Instead of telling the blunt truth, he initially lies, telling the king that the bull is merely suffering from a sudden, severe sickness. When the king arrives at the cowshed at Thulo Gauchar, Laxminarayan instructs the cowherds to actively massage the dead bull’s feet and wave fans at it. By staging this elaborate, fake medical intervention, he manipulates the king into believing that the bull died of a natural sickness despite receiving excellent, attentive care and treatment right up to its final moment. By flattering the king’s ego and faking their dedication, Laxminarayan successfully outsmarts the monarch, protecting his own life and the lives of the cowherds from immediate execution or torture.

Laxmi Narayan Dahal serves as the central protagonist of the play ‘The Bull’. He is a forty-year-old man acting as a legal officer and the designated royal doctor for the king’s prized bull. Characteristically, he is a product of his deeply patriarchal society; he is married to seven wives, yet remains completely unsatisfied, actively planning to marry an eighth, which highlights his greed and dominant domestic nature.

Professionally, however, he is incredibly sharp, cunning, and perceptive of the dangerous political climate he lives in. When he learns about the king’s bull’s death, he immediately recognizes the mortal danger to himself and the cowherds. Rather than panicking mindlessly, he relies on his intellect and his mastery of chakari (flattery). He manipulates the situation by withholding the truth, initially telling the king the bull is only sick, and then orchestrating a fake medical scene of massaging and fanning the dead animal to appease the king’s ego upon arrival. Laxminarayan is a survivor—a cunning, quick-witted man who successfully outmasters a terrifying king using psychological trickery and theatrical flattery to save his own neck.