Making and re-making the female self: A study in the notion of reconstructing women in classical Indian narratives

Abstract

From the pre-Vedic era, the predominantly male narratives have always been fascinated with the idea of fitting the female into a rather customized, lenient mould of femininity. Racial and cultural differences have often projected women in a largely non-desirable light (for instance, lustful or inhibition-free women like Surpanakha in the Ramayana or Hidimva in the Mahabharata), often subjecting them to embarrassing or ill-fated endings. At times a same female character has garnered sophistication and finesse while undergoing the changing parameters of womanhood in the post-Vedic era (for instance, the rugged character of Sakuntala of the Mahabharata ends up becoming the epitome of feminine prerequisites in the dramatic art of Kalidasa). Beginning from Mohini (the female avatar of Vishnu) and ranging from Shikhandini/Shikhandi to Arjuna/Brihannala or the warrior princess Chitrangada (all appearing in the Mahabharata), Indian mythology never shied away from integrating the trans-genders into the mainstream. And yet, all these stories are somehow related to the act of appropriation; i.e. the notion that in order not to be considered as subversive figures, these characters must submit themselves to the binary oppositions of gender division in our society. The current study aims at analyzing and critiquing this element of subversion which forces individuals to compromise with their respective identities in the society.