Women from the Margins: Divakaruni's The Forest of Enchantments in Perspective

Divakaruni’s The Forest of Enchantments is the retelling of Ramayana from Sita’s perspective. It becomes unique as Sita probes into the untold tales of the marginal women characters of the epic. All these women are somehow related to her. Some are relatives and others are enemies and a few mere acquaintances. Yet Sita devotes time to bring out their repressed histories. She tries to unravel the mindset of Kaikeyi who risked all for the sake of her son only to be berated by him later on. Sita tries to rationalize Ahalya’s return to her unjust husband Gautam. She feels guilty for Surpankha’s disfigurement. She is touched by the devotion of Mandodari to her demonic husband. Urmila’s surrender to sleep for the sake of her husband moves Sita. She questions these events and tries to find rational explanations for them.