Submission And Action Of Religious Heroines Analysis

Submission and Action of Religious Heroines Written expressly to convey the main beliefs and principles of their respective religions, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Hebrew Bible are composed as epic histories and biographies of mythic figures, whose lives act as fables to teach these principles to the educated, uninitiated believers. In most cases, these fables are told through a heroic male character, blessed by God or a god, who fulfills a destiny defined by his relationship with divine will, often as a leader of the community or nation, or as a savior of his people. However, in rare cases these stories will accentuate a particular value through the use of female protagonists, thereby placing a deeper emphasis on their behavior …show more content…
As Margarita Stocker points out, “man was seduced into the Fall by the dangerous sexual lure of womankind;” therefore, she argues, Biblical texts use this as a justification to condemn the sexuality of women as a corruptive force. However, Stocker adds that in Book of Judith God is “using sexuality to vanquish the pagan and save the chosen people.” Stocker posits that Judith, as a sensual woman and eventual murderess, violates many moral standards of Judaism (Stocker 3-4). This suggests that Judith should, by all rights, be rejected by her own community; indeed, many texts, including the Torah and most Protestant Bibles, exclude the Book of Judith from their canons. I believe that the Bethulians’ acceptance of Judith in spite of her breaches of religious laws and customs derives from her otherwise strict observance of the customs of Judaism. Judith, whose very name embodies her religion and her nation, is repeatedly described by the narration as devout and chaste; she wears the appropriate clothing for a widow, and remains faithful to her husband even in death. Similarly, her piety places her in a class above the rest in regards to her religious understanding; as a model of respectability and religious devotion, …show more content…
As Angelika Malinar argues, Draupadi’s debate on dharma with Yudhishthira “serves to negotiate a relationship that has become problematic” as a result of their inability to conform to the roles their class status dictates to them. Malinar here points out that even at her most vocal, Draupadi argues in favor of conforming to social norms; she notes that the relationship is in conflict due to Yudhishthira’s deviance from his role as a kshatriya king (Malinar 79). Draupadi here proves to be a model of obedience to the role prescribed by her class; therefore, she can be trusted at her word that it is more pious and fitting for her husband to follow the rules of his own varna than to engage in the life of a brahman, as he was born into a different caste altogether. As she has also been previously established to possess the favor of Krishna, her opinions in her debate with Yudhishthira carry the added weight of views backed by a god; her views are later cemented by Krishna’s own declarations to Arjuna in the climax of the epic. Draupadi also is repeatedly shown to follow the traditions of her caste, from observation of ritual impurity during menstruation, to