NCERT Class 9 Arts Chapter 3 Symbols and Metaphors on Stage

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NCERT Class 9 Arts Chapter 3 Symbols and Metaphors on Stage

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Symbols and Metaphors on Stage

Chapter: 3

TEXTUAL SOLUTIONS

Activity 3.1

Beyond words:

Observe Fig. 3.1. It is a picture of a stage set before the performance begins. As a member of the audience, look at what you notice and what you understand from it. Answer the questions given below based on what you observe. Remember that these questions do not have ‘one correct answer’. Each of you can give a different answer based on your perception and understanding. Let your creativity Flow!

Questions:

1. What do you think is implied by the two levels created on stage?

Ans: In theatre, the use of levels is highly symbolic. Higher platforms symbolise authority, aspiration, or dominance, while lower levels show vulnerability or submission. Therefore, the two levels created on stage likely imply a power dynamic, hierarchy, or a clash in status between the characters who will occupy them.

2. What is the first object that caught your attention? What do you think it represents?

Ans: This answer is subjective, but here is an interpretation based on the source text) An empty chair might catch your attention first. According to theatrical symbolism, props can stand in for emotions, and an empty chair can represent loss or absence.

3. What are the other forms of communicating to the audience? Why are they necessary?

Ans: Besides the actors’ speech, other forms of communicating include lights, props, set designs, music, costumes, and make-up. They are necessary because they move the play beyond simple dialogue to become emotionally powerful and visually expressive. They help establish deeper meaning so the audience can discover interpretations on their own, create profound emotional connections, allow for creativity despite limited resources, express cultural traditions (like in Kathakali), and leave a lasting visual impact.

Activity 3.2

1. What do you think it means?

In the scene given below, think of multiple possibilities of what meaning it could convey to the audience. Write your answers in your journal, but remember, there is no right or wrong answer. The activity is based entirely on your creative Interpretation.

Scene: Two characters are engaged in a dance/ combat in the centre of the stage with low lights, and an ancestral photo, which is framed, is highlighted with a spotlight.

Ans: The low lighting symbolises fear, secrecy, confusion, suspense, or an inner struggle. The spotlight highlighting the ancestral photo draws focus to it, turning it into a powerful motif. This could mean that the combat between the two characters is deeply rooted in family history, an inherited legacy, or a generational dispute. The illuminated ancestors might represent a haunting past or an authority figure silently watching over the conflict.

Activity 3.3

1. Designing abstract concepts.

When you design abstract concepts for the stage, you are learning to turn ideas into living characters. You will explore how to give form to emotions and forces like stress, hope, pollution, time, or technology. Through costume, make-up, props, movement, and use of space, you can transform invisible ideas into powerful stage presence. Design costume, props, and make-up for this character:

(i) an AI-based robot that is concerned about the environment and intends to tell people to reduce the use of plastic;

(ii) a book that can talk, wants to tell people about the actual problems of youth and their overdependence on gadgets.

Ans: For the AI-based robot concerned about the environment:

Costumes & Props: The character could wear a suit made of heavily textured, recycled materials like discarded plastic bags and metallic scraps to show its robotic nature while representing pollution. A prop could be a withered plant held inside a plastic bottle, acting as a metaphor for the suffocation of nature,.

Make-up: The face could have smooth, bright metallic make-up to represent the technology, but with abstract streaks of green added to symbolise its connection to nature and growth,.

For the talking book warning youth about gadget overdependence:

Costumes & Props: The costume could have sharp, structured lines resembling rigid book pages, perhaps torn at the edges—a metaphor for a broken identity caused by modern stress. The character could carry heavy chains attached to a broken mobile phone, acting as a metaphorical prop for constraint and overdependence.

Make-up: Abstract make-up could be used to express duality or chaos, with one half of the face painted with smooth, traditional features (representing the book/wisdom) and the other half painted with harsh, dark lines to represent the mental overwhelm of technology.

Discussion circle:

(i) If a single colour could describe your mood today, which colour would it be and why?

Ans: Yellow, because it symbolises hope, joy, and enlightenment.

(ii) Imagine a doorway on stage. What could it symbolise besides entering and exiting?

Ans: A closed door on stage can symbolise fear or an opportunity. It could also act as a metaphor for a barrier keeping a character trapped or a transition between the past and the future.

(iii) Which symbol or metaphor from this chapter are you most excited to try in your own Performance?

Ans: The use of shadows. Shadows are one of the strongest symbols in theatre; using long shadows to represent fear, loneliness, or internal conflict would be very exciting to create. 

(iv) If you had to choose one object from your school bag to use as a symbol on stage, what would it represent?

Ans: A heavily used eraser. It could be used as a metaphorical prop to represent the constant attempt to fix mistakes, inner conflict, or the fading of memories,.

(v) Is a symbol always obvious to everyone? Can two people interpret the same symbol differently? Share an example.

Ans: Share an example. No, a symbol is not always obvious. Interpretations can change based on geographical location, time period, local culture, and context,. For example, the colour white usually symbolises purity, truth, and focus, but in the Nāṭyaśhāstra, white is associated with the Hāsya (humour) rasa.

EXERCISES

1. Look at this picture of a scene on the stage. List out what each thing represents and write the overall meaning of what is being conveyed on stage.

Ans: While the exact picture cannot be seen, you can interpret it using these rules from the text: The scale of the space matters—a huge empty stage symbolises loneliness, while a cluttered set shows confusion or chaos. Higher levels show dominance, and lower levels show vulnerability. Bright lights show clarity, and dim lights show secrecy or fear,. The overall meaning of any scene combines these visual cues to reveal the characters’ inner emotions and power dynamics without using words,.

2. If you had to show a person growing in wisdom and intelligence over a period of 10 years, how would you show it? You are free to include costumes, lights, props, and music. No speech or dialogue can be used. Describe the visuals on stage. Doodles or drawings can also be used.

Ans: Costume: The character could start by wearing simple cotton clothes (indicating innocence/youth) and progressively add layers of heavy, rich fabrics to suggest growing status and wisdom.

Make-up: The make-up would transition from smooth and bright (representing youth) to incorporating grey shading and wrinkles, which represent the accumulation of wisdom and experience.

Lights: The lighting could shift from soft shadows to clear front lighting, symbolising the journey from confusion to honesty, clarity, and enlightenment.
Music: The background music could transition from notes of madhyama (M) and pañchama (P) for agility and playfulness, to the strong, stable notes of ṣhaḍja (S) and ṛiṣhabha (R) to symbolise newfound strength and stability,.