The beginning of this play is extremely boring; the first four acts are not interesting at all. However, the title of the play interests me. Wikipedia states that the translation of the title is "The Recognition of Sakuntala." This can be taken two ways. The first is that this could be the title because the king, Dushyanta, is given a curse that makes him forget his bride. He then sees his royal ring and recognizes that she was indeed telling the truth; he remembers everything that happened between them. The other way that this can be interpreted is through a question: what has Shakuntala done that has deemed her worthy to be a recognizable figure? Well, she doesn't really do much (appanently women in general didn't do much during this time period). Despite this, she does have a couple redeemable qualities.
The first is that she protects her values. After the king and her declared their love for each other, the king tries to get with her. Even though they are in love, she does not sleep with him. She protects her values. This is recomemdable. Yes, every other girl was raised to protect her virtue, but how many of them would actually deny the king to do so. While reading this part, I could not help but think of Ann Boleyn. She also protects her virtue from King Henry VIII, while her sister, Mary Boleyn, immediately gives herself to the king. Ann was very cunning and only wanted to be made the queen, but she was able to do so while staying true to her virtue. There is just something about girls with virtue that make men go crazy over them (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to go watch The Other Boleyn Girl).
Another redeemable quality is that she has hope. Even after she was rejected by her husband, whom hasn't seen her or their son in years, she still has hope that he will return. This hope may be to help her cope with everything that happened, but I think it is because she still loves him. When she hears that her son's bracelet did not turn into a serpent upon being touched, she then sees that it was the king who touched it. When she sees him, she is not bitter, but instead happy to see him (remember, she still does not know that she was cursed). It is recomendable that she did not have resentment for him especially since she thought that he straight up rejected her. If these two were Romeo and Juliet, Shakuntala would have killed herself after being rejected. Instead, she decided to take care of their son and be hopeful that he would return.
At first glance I did not think Shakuntala was a figure worth recognizing, but upon further thought I have changed my opinion. She is a hero that sticks up for what she believes in; she protects her virtue and has hope and love for someone who has hurt her exponentially. She was a perfect woman during her time and she would still be considered a keeper today. The only difference is that she would have to do more than take care of plants (she would have the best garden though); she would need to go to school. "The Recognition of Sakuntala" is a great name for a play that recognizes a great woman.
A very nice defense of Sakuntala as a worthy hero. In the paragraph about her hope, you mention that she immediately returns to the king. This is a manifestation of a strong ability to not hold a grudge (and we all know how well women hold grudges generally (I'm kidding, really, I'm kidding)). For most of us, the ability to forgive is a virtue, and I dare say that it applies as well to the original audience of the play.
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