In Sanskrit plays written during the Gupta Period women and sudras speak

In Gupta period Sanskrit drama, there was a clear linguistic hierarchy that reflected the social structure of the time. While high ranking male characters like kings, ministers, and Brahmins spoke Sanskrit, women and members of the lower castes known as Sudras spoke Prakrit. This distinction was used by playwrights like Kalidasa to distinguish between the formal language of the elite and the vernacular language of the common people. Although Sauraseni is a specific dialect of Prakrit often used in these plays, the broader term Prakrit is the standard classification for the language spoken by these groups in classical Indian theater. Therefore, option B is correct.