Chapter 3 “Conversations Between Rama and Sita from the Ramayana”, Chapter 4 “The Book of Mencius”, and Chapter 5 “Aristotle, On the Family and On Slavery, from The Politics”. I chose these three primary source documents because I felt they were very interesting and they helped me learn, and obtain a very good understanding about what each chapter was about. In Chapter 3 I learnt that the average Indian house is composed of Parents, Children, Uncles, Aunts, and Grandparents. The Husband/Father is the head of the household, and he can marry up to two or more wives. The women of Ancient Indian Societies at the time occupied very important positions for example in the ancient Bharat Varsa women held a far superior position to men. For Instance, Valmiki Ramayana teaches us that Ravana and his entire kingdom was destroyed because he abducted Sita. I feel the story of Rama continues to be so popular because it teaches Hindu life lessons which has been taught throughout Indian History. Each author carefully considers how to select the appropriate primary source document to help in the understanding of material, social, and cultural life in Ancient India. I feel the authors chose this primary source document because it really explains and summarizes the story of the Ramayana and then it also informs readers about the conversation between Rama and Sita from the Ramayana. The information shown in this primary source document relates very well to the chapter because it teaches
Ramayana, translated by William Buck, is an ancient Indian epic telling the story of a prince named Rama who fights against his adversary, Ravana. Although there are many important female characters throughout the book, they are often seen as subordinate to their male counterparts where intelligence and strength are concerned. One character who proves this stereotype wrong is Sita, Rama’s wife, who often shows that she has the capacity of being just as powerful as the men of the story. By being more mindful than most people around her, Sita defies the expectations that many characters have placed on her. Sita lets the reader see another side of women’s power and shows us the strength that women could have. The reason that Sita proves to be powerful is that she seems to have an understanding of the deeper meaning of her life; precisely the quality that men don’t expect her to have.
I. Write one important quote from each chapter with the page number and explain its significance to the plot of the novel. Think about why that quote was particularly significant within the plot and to the main characters.
scholarship. I feel that chapter four is more important than chapter three because the topic is
If in the final reflections you decide to quote or paraphrase other scholars, you MUST provide references
The Ramayana is an Ancient Indian epic poem that follows the story of a young prince named Rama who is a mortal incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. The plot follows a narrative that starts from his first time outside the royal palace, through his banishment from the kingdom and his quest to save his beloved wife Sita from Ravana, the evil King of Lanka, all the way to his coronation as King of Ayodhya, the kingdom from which he was originally banished. Throughout the whole narrative, there is one factor that remains constant, the role of women in the culture. The acceptance, or rejection of these cultural values by the women directly corresponds with how their character is perceived by the reader and how their role directly influences the
This paper attempts to examine the fictional projections of Indian girls, to see how they emerge in ideological terms. Their journeys from self-alienation to self-adjustment, their childhood struggles against the hypocrisies and monstrosities of the grown-up world, eventually demolishing the unjust male constructed citadels of power that hinder their progress- are the highlighted issues. The point of comparison between the two novels focused on here is the journey of Rahel in The God of Small Things and Sai in The Inheritance from a lonely childhood to a tragic adulthood passing through a struggle with the complex forces of patriarchal society. Both the novels portray the imaginativeness, inventiveness, independence, rebelliousness, wide-eyed wonder and innocence associated with these young girls.
In today’s society men are expected to have only wife and not multiple and it is also the same for a woman and if that is broken then it is considered cheating which is a unacceptable thing. That was not the case in the Ramayana. In our current time men and women rule. An example of this is the ruler of England Queen Elizabeth II is the current leader of England and is a female. Also America had a women run for president and even though she didn’t win there is out to be a time soon that a female will become the next president for the United States. This would of never been heard of in the time of the Ramayana. For war and battle it is acceptable for a women to be enrolled into the army with men now. There are quite a bit of women
Out of all the chapters I think chapter 6, The Roman Empire, was the most interesting to me. I liked learning about Augustus and all that he did. Augustus was a good leader and accomplished a lot. He created a new constitutional order, he retained the senate as the chief deliberative body of the Roman state, and held the office of consul. After he gave that up he was granted maius imperium, greater imperium than all others giving him the power to veto and conduct laws without having to hold a certain position in the office. Augustus had a lot of control over the government (law making) along with control over the army. He had increased the Roman army in size and made it become more professional with legionaries who served longer terms. He strengthened
As Rama obeys his father, Sita, Rama’s wife, convinces Rama that she shall go with him, thus fulfilling her dharma s being a
You all must be aware of the epic tale of Ramayana that begins as Lord Rama was exiled to a forest for 14 years with his dear wife, Sita and brother Laxman. To get to the main point straight away, Sita, the epitome of grace and beauty was abducted by the main antagonist of the Ramayana written by Valmiki- Raavan. My mention on Valmiki as the writer is on purpose because it was according to him that Raavan was termed as the villain but in reality,
This joint family, like any social organization, must face problems such as acceptable division of work, relationships and specific family roles. These familial relationships are managed on the basis of a secular hierarchical principle. In fact, all Indians owe respect and obedience to the head of the family, who usually is the father or the oldest man of the family community. In The Gift of a Bride: A Tale of Anthropology, Matrimony and Murder by Nanda and Gregg, it is explained that, “females [are] placed under the perpetual guardianship of first their fathers and elder brothers, then their husbands.” (Nanda & Gregg 22) Thus, all the spending decisions, studies and profession, or marriage, are exclusively the responsibility of the father after the possible discussions with the other men of the family. Age and sex are the basic principles of this hierarchical system. The eldest sons enjoy greater unchallenged authority than their cadets. Of course men have more authority than women, but older married women have an important role within the family. In fact, the authority of a woman depends on the rank of her husband inside the group. Traditionally, the wife of the patriarch rules over domestic affairs and has considerable power over the other women in the community, especially her daughters- in-law.
The epic story of Rama and Sita, as portrayed by Valmiki’s Ramayana and the modern day film Sita sings the Blues are two different versions of the same story which contain several contrasts as well as similarities. The Ramayana is the ancient version which was written by a sage named Valmiki in 550 B.C.E, featuring a love story between an ideal prince and an ideal woman. It outlines the adventures of Rama in his journey to find his abducted wife Sita. Rama is portrayed as an avatar, being the eighth incarnation of one of the Hindu gods Vishnu, while Sita is representing Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of light. The modern day version of the Ramayana is seen in Sita Sings the Blues, where the animator Nina Paley is relating her love story to that of Sita’s predicament. This paper will compare and contrast the epic story of Valmiki’s Ramayana and Sita Sings the Blues in the quest for power, honor, faithfulness and the conflict between good and evil.
In an imperfect world torn apart by religious wars, cultural differences, and a more recent social disconnect, perpetuated by the rise of technology which has helped to isolated individuals rather than globally unite them, it becomes apparent that evil is prevailing. It appears as though the modern individual has reason to fear the “other”, rejecting those different from their selves. Such demonization and aggression towards one another has allowed the evils of the world or “Ravana” to arise. Never before have people needed a reason to believe in a figure who could help rid the world of corruption, greed, desire, and ego created by Ravana, more than they do now. In William Buck’s version of the Ramayana, he retells the ancient epic of
The role of women in the Mahabharata makes an interesting and fascinating study providing insight into the strengths and weaknesses of their character. In the Mahabharata, four women play pivotal role in the course of events. The men play dice and wage wars in Mahabharata, as anywhere else; but it is the women who hold power and influence. It is the women who direct the course of events and unconsciously determine the fate of men and their generations to follow. The women are the true leaders of the Epic. These women displayed that the truly powerful do not cling to power. They knew when and how to wield it but also, even more important, to when not to use it.
The Ramayana by R.K. Narayan's is an epic story that provides insights into many aspects of Indian culture and still today influences the politics, religion and art of modern India. He based his novel on a poem from one of India's great Sanskrit epics also called "Ramayana." He revived this ancient story and condensed it and set in modern times. This is story of adventure and friendship as well as a story of psychological insight, spiritual meaning and of wisdom. R.K. Narayan does an excellent job of portraying all these aspects throughout his novel. The meanings of The Ramayana are found through the actions and personalities of its principal characters. It is part of the sacred literature for the Hindus because