During the time of The Ramayana India 's society was largely patriarchal and women were expected to be perfect wives that were submissive to their husbands (Trautmann, 88). This idea was especially present among castes that were of a higher class, much like the lives that Rama and Sita were born into. Upon first glance it appear as though Sita is nothing more than a product of her time; a young and naive princess that is all too willing to sacrifice everything for her husband and follow the rules of society at the time. While an argument could be made for that, it is important to note that when the text is more closely analyzed, it becomes obvious that there are several instances where Sita breaks from the traditional idea of the perfect wife.
…show more content…
Sita, a princess, made the decision to leave the palace and all the luxuries it provided in order to remain by her husband’s side. She was not persuaded in any way to go with him, in fact just the opposite occurred; Rama was insisting that Sita remained at the palace. This is very important because this is the first, but certainly not the last, time that Sita goes against the wishes of a man, nonetheless her husband. At the close of the story we see another event where Sita has the ultimate power. After being banned from the kingdom by Rama Sita is discovered years later after giving birth to her sons and Rama begs her to return to the palace and be his queen once more (Arni, 144). She states that she has already proved herself to Rama countless times and she wishes to return to mother earth (Arni, 147). This is the first time in the story that we see Sita rejecting Rama, up to this point she was always by his side and wanted nothing more than to be with him. She had proven herself to be pure countless times and this is her last stand. She is no longer willing to be doubted and disrespected, she is strong enough to choose her own fate and she does. While this could be viewed as more of a defeat than anything it is important to note that it was what Sita wanted and it was something she chose for
Sita, a princess, made the decision to leave the palace and all the luxuries it provided in order to remain by her husband’s side. She was not persuaded in any way to go with him, in fact just the opposite occurred; Rama was insisting that Sita remained at the palace. This is very important because this is the first, but certainly not the last, time that Sita goes against the wishes of a man, nonetheless her husband. At the close of the story we see another event where Sita has the ultimate power. After being banned from the kingdom by Rama Sita is discovered years later after giving birth to her sons and Rama begs her to return to the palace and be his queen once more (Arni, 144). She states that she has already proved herself to Rama countless times and she wishes to return to mother earth (Arni, 147). This is the first time in the story that we see Sita rejecting Rama, up to this point she was always by his side and wanted nothing more than to be with him. She had proven herself to be pure countless times and this is her last stand. She is no longer willing to be doubted and disrespected, she is strong enough to choose her own fate and she does. While this could be viewed as more of a defeat than anything it is important to note that it was what Sita wanted and it was something she chose for