Genre
Epic Poem
Setting and Context
India, circa the Iron Age
Narrator and Point of View
The epic is told through a series of narrators, creating a framed, nested narrative.
Tone and Mood
Bellicose and spiritual
Protagonist and Antagonist
Yudhisthira (protagonist) and Duryodhana (antagonist)
Major Conflict
Duryodhana instigates a war with Yudhisthira and his brothers over the rights to the brothers' kingdom.
Climax
An 18 day blood war between the Pandavas and Kauravas that destroys the world
Foreshadowing
Characters are often told of their predestined fates, such as Arjuna's duty to slay thousands in the war
Understatement
Allusions
Imagery
Multiple instances of souls ascending to heaven from dead bodies, such as Karna's and Bhisma's
Paradox
Yudhisthira feels compelled by dharma to participate in the dice game even though he knows he's a terrible gambler and will lose everything.
Parallelism
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The Pandavas are gods incarnate, and their fighting is therefore the will of the gods
Personification
An effigy of Bhima is offered to Dhrtarastra to maul, and the effigy bleeds like a person
