Gender Roles In Ramayana

In a world where most women in life and literature are objectified and powerless, Sita, the wife of Rama in the Indian epic, Ramayana, proves to be a woman who exercises control over her own destiny. By rejecting physical limitations placed upon ordinary women, speaking her mind, and proving herself to be a capable, independent mother, Princess Sita breaks free from the confines of many traditional Indian female stereotypes. Early on in the epic, Sita challenges the stereotypical expectation that Indian women should be obedient and abide by the physical restrictions placed on them for their “safety.” When King Rama is banished to the forest by his father, he warns his wife to stay in Ayodhya. Rama relates, “There is danger. Lions roar and keep pitiless watch from the mouths of their hill-caves, waterfalls crash and pain the ears, and so the wood is full of misery” (William Buck

Sumantra, Rama’s father’s most trusted aide, tells Sita that, “Rama will live alone from now on, apart from you” (Buck 394). Sita sadly, but bravely takes on the challenge of raising her children without their father’s care and protection. Tara, King Vali’s wife, cannot bear to live without the make presence in her life and commits suicide by driving an arrow through her heart after he is shot and killed by Rama (Buck 198). In contrast, Sita resiliently raises her children beautifully on her own without the support of a man. Upon seeing his sons and hearing them sing his story, Rama calls to Sita and requests that she takes her place by his side once again. Holding Valmiki’s view that “A husband is a wife’s lord” (Buck 411), the expectation is that Sita will come back to him as if the 12 years of separation meant nothing. Instead, she rejects the embrace of her former husband to rest in the arms of Mother Earth forever. She lives on as a legendary independent