Feminist Enterprise Entwined with the Ecological Perspectives: A Critical Analysis of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Mythological Fiction with Special Reference to The Forest of Enchantments

Women and Nature are perceived as entwined entities within the ambit of mythology, literature, and religion owing to their association with fertility, creation and values of nurturing and caring. It is pertinent that the world will go bereft of human existence in the absence of the duo. Man has still adopted an unvaried attitude of oppression and subjugation towards both. Countless creative writers and critics of literature have brought this issue of exploitation explicitly to the forefront while depicting the nexus existing between these two. Contemporary Indian writer, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, too, depicts women’s profound connection with the natural world in her fictional endeavor The Forest of Enchantments. In this work, she portrays the protagonist Sita’s affinity with the natural world. Divakaruni weaves together quite beautifully the themes of feminism and ecology in this work as nature mirrors women’s exploitation, prowess, and resilience emphatically. The research work seeks to explore Divakaruni's mythological fiction, specifically, The Forest of Enchantments, using the eco-feminist lens to unveil the oppression of women as well as the exploitation of the natural environment while highlighting the portrayal of Sita and the representation of nature as depicted by Divakaruni in The Forest of Enchantments.