The Living Landscape: Post-Human Perspectives on Nature in The Palace of Illusions

Abstract Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's The Palace of Illusions is a retelling of the Mahabharata in the voice of Draupadi. A story that critiques human exceptionalism while it provides a definition of bonds between human and nonhuman beings, Divakaruni writes Draupadi as an empowered figure who rejects anthropocentric narratives. This research engages with thinkers like Rosi Braidotti and Donna Haraway to locate the novel within the discourse of posthumanism, foregrounding the interrelations of identity, agency, and power. The critical exploration of how Divakaruni's feminist reconfiguration of myth incorporates ideas from posthumanism concerning non-human agency. Many works analyzed Draupadi's battling patriarchal restriction, she is often skirted, passing over all of more than wonderful relations with both the supernatural and natural. The paper suggests the point where the natural world and the divine presence make Draupadi grow. As she reflects on herself and mentions, “The humor of the gods is cruel; or perhaps they see more than we do. I was reborn as Drupad’s daughter. The moment I set eyes on the garland-thatnever-fades, my past returned to me, and with it my rage.” (Divakaruni 49) we can note nature as an enabler for her process of forming an identity. It is quite similar to what Haraway suggests about her idea of "companion species," in which even the nonhuman species form and define human identity and agency. The other important point in trying to understand how this novel redefines identity is through Braidotti's theory of posthumanism and how she crosses the classical boundary of humanism. For her, identity is an always-fluid and interconnected process. In this novel, with Draupadi included in the cosmic tapestry, Divakaruni also tries to focus attention on the need to recognize agency through all beings. This paper integrates feminist literary critique with post-humanist theory to synthesize the way Divakaruni critiques human exceptionalism into arguing for a wider scope of agency. Keywords: Environmental Symbolism, Post-Humanism, Identity, Draupadi, Nature, Agency, Interconnectedness