The story of Sita is the longest in this book at 43 pages, so this post will be solely about her story. As of the first page, I already have a few thoughts. First, this is the first story in this particular book that is broken up into sections, and from what I can tell, they're all indicative of the author's breakdown of the phases in Sita's life. Second, I had no idea what Sita's origin was. All of the stories I've read about her so far only tell her story relative to Rama, so I'm glad I found this book so that I could read about her in her own story. In this version of her origin, her maharajah father found her in a golden pitcher while plowing a field, which I thought was quite fascinating. All of this and I'm only through the first paragraph...
It also makes me happy that in this story, Sita was the first child, essentially adopted, and then three sisters were born who were the biological children of the king and queen, but there was no bad blood. The story says specifically that they all loved each other well, which I appreciate. It's also good that so much background is given about Rama I suppose. For example, I didn't know from any of the other readings that he was the Sun-Prince and she was the Moon-Princess. I also hadn't read anywhere else that Rama's three brothers and Sita's three sisters were to also be married.
There was a bit of foreshadowing in this version. When Rama and Sita were heading out of her kingdom after her marriage, her father told Rama to always be faithful to her, because she is a treasure, and he swears to. Not so much later... It makes me sad to think that he'll be betraying her eventually, but for now it's just sweet to read about how anxious she was for Rama's people to love her and to know everything about the people he loved. There is yet another foreshadowing in this section where she straight up asks him if he'll ever leave her, and he says no. Hm.
Next is the well known queenly temper tantrum that leads to Rama being sent away from the kingdom so his father can keep his word. Throughout all of this there are so many references to the supposed perfect happiness and blessedness of everyone in the story, but little glimpses here and there of the sorrow to come. This was the most heavy story I've read as far as these kinds of hints go.
For a long while, the story is pretty much the same as everything in all of the retellings, just with some more detail. That's the thing I love best about this particular author - she pays attention to the details that add the most depth to the story, but knows when it is time to pick up the pace and just move through the story.
Sorry, but WHAT IS WRONG WITH RAMA. She's proven her faithfulness in so many ways, she's carrying his child, and yet he forces his brother to go and leave her in the forest. Pregnant. Alone. Betrayed. The book says she cried gently after she was left alone, but I would have been full on ugly crying, so even her grace and dignity in this moment is unparalleled.
And then he can't just leave her alone. He has her raise twin sons into teenage-hood by herself in the forest, and then decides he finally can't handle his sadness and won't just let her live out her life in peace now that she's used to it. Oh no. And finally her last possible source of consolation from him was asking the earth to swallow her up.
I apologize for the bitter tone of this story - I just really loved how the author wrote it, and she did such an incredible job of conveying the intense sadness of the whole thing. Despite all of her love, faithfulness, and proven devotion, Rama continued to test her, eventually driving her to suicide. Ms. Devee nailed this retelling. Sometimes it can be a refreshing thing to read a story that doesn't end with a happily ever after like most of them, and I appreciate that Ms. Devee was unafraid to face that side of this story.
Devee, M. S. (2018). Nine Ideal Indian Women. London: Forgotten Books.
It also makes me happy that in this story, Sita was the first child, essentially adopted, and then three sisters were born who were the biological children of the king and queen, but there was no bad blood. The story says specifically that they all loved each other well, which I appreciate. It's also good that so much background is given about Rama I suppose. For example, I didn't know from any of the other readings that he was the Sun-Prince and she was the Moon-Princess. I also hadn't read anywhere else that Rama's three brothers and Sita's three sisters were to also be married.
There was a bit of foreshadowing in this version. When Rama and Sita were heading out of her kingdom after her marriage, her father told Rama to always be faithful to her, because she is a treasure, and he swears to. Not so much later... It makes me sad to think that he'll be betraying her eventually, but for now it's just sweet to read about how anxious she was for Rama's people to love her and to know everything about the people he loved. There is yet another foreshadowing in this section where she straight up asks him if he'll ever leave her, and he says no. Hm.
Next is the well known queenly temper tantrum that leads to Rama being sent away from the kingdom so his father can keep his word. Throughout all of this there are so many references to the supposed perfect happiness and blessedness of everyone in the story, but little glimpses here and there of the sorrow to come. This was the most heavy story I've read as far as these kinds of hints go.
For a long while, the story is pretty much the same as everything in all of the retellings, just with some more detail. That's the thing I love best about this particular author - she pays attention to the details that add the most depth to the story, but knows when it is time to pick up the pace and just move through the story.
Sorry, but WHAT IS WRONG WITH RAMA. She's proven her faithfulness in so many ways, she's carrying his child, and yet he forces his brother to go and leave her in the forest. Pregnant. Alone. Betrayed. The book says she cried gently after she was left alone, but I would have been full on ugly crying, so even her grace and dignity in this moment is unparalleled.
And then he can't just leave her alone. He has her raise twin sons into teenage-hood by herself in the forest, and then decides he finally can't handle his sadness and won't just let her live out her life in peace now that she's used to it. Oh no. And finally her last possible source of consolation from him was asking the earth to swallow her up.
I apologize for the bitter tone of this story - I just really loved how the author wrote it, and she did such an incredible job of conveying the intense sadness of the whole thing. Despite all of her love, faithfulness, and proven devotion, Rama continued to test her, eventually driving her to suicide. Ms. Devee nailed this retelling. Sometimes it can be a refreshing thing to read a story that doesn't end with a happily ever after like most of them, and I appreciate that Ms. Devee was unafraid to face that side of this story.
 |
| Sita, praying that the Earth take her since she has never had the consolation of a mother. She was faithful and pure until the very end. |
Comments
Post a Comment