OBJECTIVIES OF STUDY:
The present research study proposes to meet the following objectives:
1. To validate the necessity of re-visits/re-tellings of The Ramayana from a gender perspective.
2. To claim the essentiality of Sita in The Ramayana as competent individual and not just as trigger-point in contemporary re-tellings.
3. To study the nature of female sexuality in the retellings of The Ramayana against the original Ramayana.
4. To identify the ideology of subjugation reflected in the visual arts of Ramayana.
5. To study the role of performing arts of Ramayana, from being a driving force in the construction of an ideal female to a validating tool in generating extensive enterprise to change the perspective of the society by developing a
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Most of socio-cultural and religious traditions in their original form regarded a comparatively low position to woman. Controlled by patriarchy, woman has suffered discrimination, subjugation, otherness either as a lesser being or as a super being. A number of social and literary movements have helped women attain equality and independence. 20th century has witnessed an increasing awareness amongst women about their sexuality, desires, discovery of self-identity and existence. The contemporary writers are striving to provide the desired liberation to women from the socio-cultural confines and the dictatorial myths. In order to achieve gender-equal epics, there has been a resurge in countless revisits/ re-tellings of The Ramayana and Mahabharata. Amish Tripathi, Devdutt Pattanaik, Volga, Kumaran Asan, Vijaya Dabbe, Vayu Naidu and Kavita Kane are some of such authors who have attempted to re-visit/re-tell Ramayana from Sita’s perspective. These writers have emphasized on her humanity, they have perceived her indulging in day-to-day activities, highlighting her involvement in the ordinary works. Sita is portrayed as someone with agency. She is a resourceful woman and an inspiration to other women. She chooses her own actions instead of blindly following someone’s commands. Instead of being a passive character, she actively learns things from different situations and continues to find herself at different phases in her life. The study, for the detailed explication of its hypothesis, would focus on the following as primary
Narayan, R. K., and Kampar. (2006). The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version Of The Indian Epic (suggested by the Tamil version of Kamban). New York: Penguin Books. PDF e-book.
Religion has always been a prominent part of our culture, yet is constantly changing. The stereotypes within these religions are slowly disintegrating, forcing people to become more accepting and open minded. Buddhism, specifically Shambhala, has changed what it means to be religious, focusing less on memorizing and worshipping, and more on finding the meaning to their life and who they are. The Shambhala tradition uses its rituals in order to answer questions about various other aspects of life. These rituals are derived from Buddhists myths, and form the foundation of the religion as a whole. The direct connection between ritual and myth allows Shambhala to be a transformative religion, in which it is redefining itself and our society.
"From the Ramayana." Prentice Hall Literature. Trans. R. K. Narayan. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 190-98. Print.
This thesis rests on the assumption that social norms concerning sexuality was imprinted onto the texts and this, in turn, influenced how females were portrayed within the literature. While the study’s primary aim is to explore how females were portrayed within the literature, by default it was also examine how female sexuality was perceived by Mesopotamian society.
Though not the focus of epic poetry, the female characters of this ancient genre play a central role, as they have a great influence on the male heroes they encounter. In a genre which idealizes manliness and heroism—that is, acts of courage, strength, and cunning— women are set in opposition to these ideals and therefore less respected. At the same time, women who attempt to take on more “masculine” roles are vilified. Here, antagonist is defined as anyone in opposition to the hero’s goals. Female agency—their free will and ability to wield power—is directly related to their role in epic poetry; that is, the more agency a female character has, the more antagonistic of a role she plays. This agency is often enacted through sexuality or supernatural
Joseph Mileck asserts in Hermann Hesse: Life and Art that Siddhartha is a perfect exemplification of what he calls, "conscious craftsmanship". For Mileck, Hesse consciously synchronized form and substance in Siddhartha to best illustrate a feeling of unity and the journey through the mind, body, and soul. In Siddhartha, Hesse consciously crafted a piece that is unified in form, style, and content, and created an atmosphere in which each one of these elements is perfectly complementary with the others.
Some people write for entertainment and some people write for fortune, but other people write to tell the world their story and enlighten us to life’s lessons. Literary fiction is created to do more than just merely entertain. It is created to tell a story, to take the reader from one mindset to another and bring about the reader’s understanding of the purpose. Literary fiction explores innate conflicts of the human condition through cosmic writing. Richard Wright chooses to use this kind of writing to reach the world. Wright grew up in a time where he was denied many privileges because of his color and he really made a point to express his feelings to us through his writing. His life, works and short story “A Man Who Was Almost a Man contribute directly to his literary style.
The Ramayana demonstrates Sita’s helplessness when she is kidnapped, which, in turn, makes the entire woman race look weak. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The beauty of a woman did not consist in the "fineness of her dress, but in the possession of a pure heart. Such indeed was the purity of heart that Sita possessed, which led her to renounce royal life and leave for the forest with Rama” (Zacharias). Sita’s perseverance through her husband’s doubt made her an idol for all women. Before Sita’s trial, or ‘agnipariksha’, society looked at women as just objects rather than people. The Ramayana illustrates the destruction of this stereotype of women through Sita’s chastity. While the Ramayana demonst...
The Ramayana is the most famous and well-known of all Indian epics, originally based on an epic poem, it has taken many variations and forms over the centuries. Traditionally the story centers on the hero Prince Rama, who is the embodiment of virtue and perseverance, as he is wrongfully denied his birthright of being crowned king and instead is unjustly exiled into the forest where he encounters his fair share of dilemma. In R. K. Narayan’s condensed, modern version of The Ramayana, the classic conflict of duality is a predominant theme, as Rama faces many instances of uncertainty and trivial chaos which are eventually balanced by order and goodness under the laws of karmic causation and dharma alike which he virtuously strives to uphold. Nina Paley’s animated film “Sita Sings the Blues” takes a lively, musical, and very modern approach to the classical Indian epic The Ramayana.
Valmiki's Ramayana was written around 300 B.C.E. (Carrier 207). Typically, the character of Rama is seen as the hero and the character of Sita is seen as the hero's wife. In this essay, I will compare Sita's journey of capture and inner growth with the "save the kingdom" journey of Rama, show how the two correlate, and eventually connect in the influential chastity scene. I will also prove that Sita is the "hidden hero" of this epic even though she is seen as taking a secondary role to Rama and show how this reflects women's secondary roles in society today.
The epic hero’s journeys hold the hopes for future of ordinary people’s lives. The Epic of Gilgamesh was written in approximately 2000 B.C.E which is highly enriched with Ancient Mesopotamian religions, and The Ramayana was written by ancient Indians in around 1800 B.C.E. The stories were written in two different parts of the world. However, these two stories etched great evidence that show people from generation to generation that different cultures and religions are interconnected; they share ideas with each other. Both Gilgamesh and Rama traveled long journeys in these tales. These epic journeys played a role in the creation of different archetypes. We can clearly see that these two tales share similarities between these archetypes. Although
I also considered it could be rather interesting to study and compare how heroines act, how they are constricted by patriarchy, how their husbands treat them, and if they triumph or not, in every story.
The Ramayana as retold by R.K. Narayan, explores the roles and duty of women and what it takes in order to be a good woman in Indian society. He explores these roles through the women through out the epic whether it is the wife of a King or some form of deity. While in general women were viewed as subpar to men and were seen as second-class citizens, the women in the book shape the men into who they become and account for much of the manipulation of the individuals and the caretaking of the individuals. Women such as Sita and Kausalya demonstrate those women that are good. These women were regarded as beautiful, not only for their physical attributes, but for their behavior in regards to the males in the epic. They are everything women should be- they are kind and respect the males in their lives above all else. However these women are also met with their opposites, those women who have much improvement to make before being recognized as good women in the Indian society. These women, like Kaikeyi and Soorpanaka go against all Indian ideals. They use their sexuality in order to attempt to manipulate the men of the epic. They do everything in their power in order to get their way, even if it is at the cost of others.
Also with abundance of history relating not only to Hinduism but as well as the backdrop of the story which was the beautiful city of Hastinapura, located on Ganges River, gave me a topographical sense where the city was located therefore providing a connection within me and the epic. There are many topics in which I can analyze and respond about the epic but I will discuss the author Vyasa who is said to be credited for the writing and his important role in the epic also I will describe the epic The Mahabharata and how dharma and fate influences its characters throughout the story and elaborating on the dice game which eventually lead to the declaration of war between the Kauravas and Pandavas clans. Another topic is how dharma is still used to influence society today in India.
Indian Writing in English has a special status in English Literature owing to its treatment of women characters. Short stories help the writers to project select characters in an impressive way to the readers. In Indian context the status of woman in a society and her treatment is very different from those of her European or American counterparts. Women are depicted both as a good and evil in literature by various writers. However, in no literature is a women stereotyped as was done in Indian literature. Away from the mythical stereotyping of women, Ruskin Bond portrayed his women in a different way. The female characters of his short stories range from a small child to a grandmother. These characters are as powerful as men and have left a strong impression on the readers. I have chosen following eight short stories for the critical analysis of Ruskin Bond’s Women in this paper.