The Recognition of Sakuntala

Dusyanta’s signet ring is a key motif and symbol in the play, illustrating the theme of Memory and Forgetting. The ring also serves as a crucial plot device, since it becomes tied to the curse of Durvasas and is the means of alleviating it, as “a sight of a memento can lift the curse” (44).

A signet ring refers to a ring that was worn by kings and other powerful figures. Often, the king pressed the ring into documents or clay tablets to stamp them. When Priyamvada and Anasuya first spot the ring on the king’s finger in Act I, they immediately recognize it as belonging to a royal. Dusyanta’s signet ring bears the inscription of his name: Dusyanta notes that he asked Sakuntala to use the ring to count each syllable of his name every day they spent apart until he would send for her. In giving her this ring, Dusyanta is signifying both his commitment to her and the idea that she now belongs to him, turning the ring into a symbol of his love. When Sakuntala loses the ring and cannot break the curse that causes Dusyanta to forget her, the ring becomes a symbol of forgetting and loss.