I was struck, in this section of reading, by the very complex and troubling stories of women in the Ramayana. Of course, we saw this in Narayan too, but now there is just even more to add to the list.
On the one hand, there is the story of Rambha. This story actually seems to be protective of women, and obviously the moral of the story is that rape is bad. Reading this story, though, I was reminded of the story of Ahalya. For one, both women were at one point turned to stone, an interesting parallel, though Ahalya was turned to stone after her 'transgression' and Rambha was turned to stone and later raped by Ravana. But, more importantly, I saw that both these women were raped - Ahalya through elaborate trickery - yet one, Ahalya, was blamed and punished for the event, while Rambha's husband comes to her defense and curses Ravana for what he has done. I found this parallel, and the different treatment of these women, troubling. Not so much in the case of Rambha, I guess, but it only reminded me of how wrongly Ahalya was treated.
More shockingly, this section of reading contained two examples of women killing themselves when their husbands had died. First there's Savari; self-immolation was mentioned and suggested in Narayan's version, often by Sita, but here it actually happened. Just the thought of it, of dying that way and willingly stepping into a fire, is quite gruesome. And the way it's handled as something noble and, even worse, normal for a woman to do when her husband has died is just terrible. It's like the women have no purpose for living without a husband. And Savari seemed like a pretty important character - obviously, she was able to fulfill a purpose in helping Rama, even on her own. It seems like there's a mixed message there. Then, there was also Vali's wife, who stabs herself after his death. Pretty dark.
Showing posts with label Week 5. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Week 5. Show all posts
Monday, September 15, 2014
Week 5 Reading Diary A: And More Sages
Seriously, this version is so full of sages! Compared to Narayan, it seems like this version is just the story of Rama hopping about from one sage to another hearing their stories. In one way, it is very interesting, for the sages' stories sort of fill out the religious/pantheistic mythology of Hinduism, really making this a wide-reaching epic. But, to me at least, it seems to slow down the main narrative of Rama - like, by the time I'm done reading another sage's story I have to be like, oh yeah - so what is happening with Rama right now?
I thought Atri's story about the apsarases. They sort of reminded me of Greek myths, like a cross between water nymphs and sirens. I also noticed that this version tells you how Atri's wife gave Sita gifts and jewelry - I remembered in Sita Sings the Blues that the little narrator puppets talked about this, asking: If Sita left all her fancy clothes behind when she left the palace, where did she get the jewelry to throw down when she was being kidnapped? It's a minor detail, not one I would have noticed otherwise, but it does show that there are those little things that you miss out on when you read a vastly summarized version like Narayan.
Agastya's story, on the other hand, was... strange. And not quite like anything I'd read or heard before. It was quite gruesome to picture. And it didn't really make all that much sense - I mean, when any of the other sages ate Vatapi he would already have been all chopped up and partially digested, but I guess he was able to come back together - but then it seems being digested wouldn't have been a problem when Agastya did it... but then again, the whole premise is pretty wild, so I guess you just gotta take it as myth. Still, though... ick.
There seems to be a lot of trickery, too, throughout these stories. The one above, the thing with the horse, and then Garuda stealing back the amrita he paid for his mother (ha ha, it's like cliche mobster type movies where someone pays a big briefcase full of money, only to steal it back later... a very old trope, I suppose). It's interesting, too, that both "bad guys" and "good guys" use trickery in these stories. It seems like there's a large theme of power struggles and family strife, even outside of the main narrative, and that the characters use their wit to come out on top, even against stronger enemies.
I thought Atri's story about the apsarases. They sort of reminded me of Greek myths, like a cross between water nymphs and sirens. I also noticed that this version tells you how Atri's wife gave Sita gifts and jewelry - I remembered in Sita Sings the Blues that the little narrator puppets talked about this, asking: If Sita left all her fancy clothes behind when she left the palace, where did she get the jewelry to throw down when she was being kidnapped? It's a minor detail, not one I would have noticed otherwise, but it does show that there are those little things that you miss out on when you read a vastly summarized version like Narayan.
Agastya's story, on the other hand, was... strange. And not quite like anything I'd read or heard before. It was quite gruesome to picture. And it didn't really make all that much sense - I mean, when any of the other sages ate Vatapi he would already have been all chopped up and partially digested, but I guess he was able to come back together - but then it seems being digested wouldn't have been a problem when Agastya did it... but then again, the whole premise is pretty wild, so I guess you just gotta take it as myth. Still, though... ick.
There seems to be a lot of trickery, too, throughout these stories. The one above, the thing with the horse, and then Garuda stealing back the amrita he paid for his mother (ha ha, it's like cliche mobster type movies where someone pays a big briefcase full of money, only to steal it back later... a very old trope, I suppose). It's interesting, too, that both "bad guys" and "good guys" use trickery in these stories. It seems like there's a large theme of power struggles and family strife, even outside of the main narrative, and that the characters use their wit to come out on top, even against stronger enemies.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)