The second part of this weeks readings seem to be a bit more action packed. I really liked all of the scenes after the introduction of Ravana and it feels like we're getting into the real meat of the story. A lot of the beginning scenes were too disconnected to really get a feel for the story but now I think it resembles what we could consider a more a traditional story. I'm sure part of this is also the nature of public domain edition, with sections coming from a number of authors and styles. If I have time, I'd really like to read the other version to see what it's like in comparison.
As I said, the episodes with Ravana and his cohorts were very engaging and they made much more compelling antagonists than the other random Rakshasa. I also think it's very interesting that the act that ultimately spurred on a lot of these scenes was Rama's rejection of Shurpanakha. Women in the Ravayana seem to get the proverbial short end of the stick. Sita is the main female character but she doesn't really seem to have her own personality or any agency in her story: she gets kidnapped by a rakshasa, and she's tricked by Ravana. The majority of the other female characters have been monsters (the rakshasi) or the women of the court, who either have very little to do with the story or are scheming and manipulating the men. I understand that the traditional epic probably places an emphasis on the male characters for cultural/ideological reasons, it's just hard to not point out the disparity.
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