Reading Notes: Nine Ideal Women Part C

I read the stories of Shaibya and Promila.

This is a depiction of Shaibya with her child.

The story of Shaibya seemed to have a lot more references to modern day locations than many of the other stories. I appreciate when authors include the old and modern names of places because it creates more of a connection to the stories. It also stood out to me that this story had a personified Debt - it made it much more similar to modern fables and tales, and even reminded me of the Christian allegorical book A Pilgrim's Progress. This is the first time I have noticed that a vice was named and interacted with a character directly, rather than just being described as coming from within, or being a main characteristic of another character.

A depiction of Promila.

This story stood out to me because it was the first one where the main female character is glorified for NOT being docile and quiet. She was worried about her husband, so she donned armor and went and told Rama that she would be willing to fight her way through his camp to get to her husband.

Devee, M. S. (2018). Nine Ideal Indian Women. London: Forgotten Books.

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