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- Title
"SITA PUTS OUT THE FIRE": SOME DEPICTIONS OF THE TESTING OF SITA'S VIRTUE IN INDONESIAN, MALAY, AND THAI LITERATURE.
- Authors
Aveling, Harry
- Abstract
The Ramayana has been known in many forms throughout South and Southeast Asia for almost two thousand years. This paper deals with one incident in the epic: Sita's trial by fire as proof of her chastity and loyalty to her husband Rama immediately following the defeat of Sita's captor, the ten-headed monster Ravana, and her residence in the monster's palace for four years. The story is told somewhat differently in the classical Malay Hikayt Seri Rama and the Thai Ramakien-partly for religious reasons but retaining a patriarchal emphasis. There are also modern retellings of this incident in Indonesian and Thai. These sympathetically describe Sita's response to Rama's harsh demands and might be considered "anti-Sita" works in as far as they contradict the traditional representations of Sita as a virtuous and obedient wife in favor of contemporary understandings of human freedom and autonomy, especially as these relate to women.
- Subjects
SITA (Hindu deity); RAMA (Hindu deity) in literature; VIRTUE; INDONESIAN literature; SOUTHEAST Asian literature
- Publication
Kritika Kultura, 2012, Issue 18, p25
- ISSN
2094-6937
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.13185/KK2012.01802