¤ Storybook Home ¤ Sita and Surpanakha ¤
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Sita and Mandodari ¤ Draupadi and Nalayani ¤
Introduction: Women of the Epics
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Men have tried for all ages to understand women and to answer the
question, what do women want? Well, the answer is that women are
complicated and they have complex feelings that are sometimes too
difficult for men to understand. My storybook will not attempt to
answer the question about what women want but instead will embrace the
complexity of their thoughts and will give women of the epics a chance
to say what is on their mind. The reason I decided that female
characters would be a great topic is because I feel that the women in
epics, such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata do not get to say as much
as they would like to. Most of the time in any epic story, women are
second to the male whom they are associated with or married to. Often,
I feel that these women would have plenty to say to each other if they
were only given the opportunity to express themselves freely. In this
storybook, I will include dialog between several of the female
characters in the Ramayana and Mahabharata. In my retelling of stories
from these epics, the women are going to get to say whatever they want
- at last! The setting for my storybook is a party at the royal palace in Ayodhya, and it is a party for women only! In other words, "No boys allowed!! "Rama's beautiful queen, Sita, is organizing the party but all of Dasaratha's wives are helping plan the event. The event will honor women goddesses all over the world. All of the men in Ayodhya have gone away for the weekend and are not even allowed back into the city's gates. The women of Ayodhya have not only invited the local girls but have announced their party to women across the world. To be polite, they even invited Surpanakha!! The date of the party approaches and everyone RSVP s! My first story is about Sita and Surpanakha. They meet each other at the door and are cordial at first, but after having a few glasses of wine, these two ladies are ready to exchange words with each other. Sita, who is normally the calmest woman in Ayodhya and who is known for keeping her composure, has a moment in which she loses control and really lets Surpanakha know how she's feeling. I chose these two ladies for my first story because I feel like they have the most to say to each other. They both have strong feelings of love for Rama and of course Sita, like any woman, isn't happy about someone else loving her husband. These women together are the most important female characters in the Ramayana and I think an opportunity for them to interact without any men around is a great idea. My other story allows Sita and Mandodari to exchange words. After Sita has a chance to cool off from talking to Surpanakha and enjoy the company of her friends for a while, she meets Mandodari while waiting in line to use the ladies room. Both of these women have already had their fair share of wine for the night so they instantly start talking about their past. Of course, you can imagine that Mandodari is pretty upset with Sita for what happened to Ravana. You'll have to read the story to see how Sita handles herself as she responds to Mandodari's accusations. I chose these two ladies for my second story because it allows Sita to be the one under fire, having to explain to Mandodari that she had no part in ruining her life. Mandodari is an important character in the Ramayana and I feel that she didn't get to say as much as she wanted to! My third and final story comes from the Mahabarata. This last story dives into the confusing idea of reincarnation. For this story I decided to use Draupadi and Nalayani who were both important women in the Mahabarata. It is no secret that Draupadi must have had strong feelings towards her former self, Nalayani, because Nalayani made several decisions that strongly shaped the course of Draupadi's life. You may be wondering how a reincarnation can meet her former self and have a conversation but you will have to check out the story for more details! |
