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| (Image of Mandodari and Hanuman: image from Wikipedia) |
Sita is the wife of Rama, but my husband claimed her because he had heard of her beauty. Rama didn't care much for her anyway. Who leaves his wife alone and unprotected like that? Ravana would never do that to me.
Ravana is the great and strong ruler of Lanka, so I was not surprised to find another woman joining his large number of lovers. This one was different, though. Ravana has never become to overwhelmed by any other woman except me, his queen. Sita refused to give herself over to him and be done with his attentions. I suspect she is secretly wanting to take him from me, so she is pretending not to be in love with his many charms. The more she rejects him, the madder Ravana becomes. It takes all of my tricks to get him to even look at me now!
Now, I am walking with him for his daily trip to Sita's grove. His many faces show a variety of emotions, all of them unpleasant. He wants her badly. As he approaches her, I stand back out of respect for my husband, but that doesn't stop me from staring at Sita disgustedly. Several of my attendants had already commented on how strangely similar we are. I think I am more beautiful, although some of the concubines have been whispering that Sita is the most lovely woman they had ever seen. Fools!
As usual, the disrespectful woman spurns Ravana's sweet words and offers. I gently take one of Ravana's arms and lead him away. I can feel his arm trembling with anger, and his eyes are very angry. I tell him to come with me. After all, how could a lowly insect love such a majestic creature such as he? Sita is a mere insect, and she belongs with her insect human lover, Rama. She does not deserve my husband.
As we walk, I tolerate Ravana's rants about Sita. I offer him empty platitudes while burning inside. How dare this woman hurt my husband so! I must find a way to make him love me again and crush Sita!
Author's Note: Although Mandodari is a background character in the Ramayana, she holds much power over Ravana and the story's progression. I thought it would be interesting to explore her animosity towards Sita and perhaps why she was angry. In the story, she speaks quite harshly about Sita but then completely changes her manner to soothe Ravana. She's quite a complicated character, so it was fun to explore her thoughts more.
Bibliography:
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
This was a very interesting take on the character and sheds a bit of light on what she may be feeling. Mandodari must struggle with the actions of her husband but in the end she always seems to look out for his best interest and be there for him. Sita obviously wants nothing to do with Ravana but Mandodari is too clouded to possibly see that this is the case. Great job uncovering the inner workings of this background character.
ReplyDeleteI like how you portrayed Mandodari throughout your story. I think you did an excellent job showing how she always had his best interest in mind. She has a difficult time dealing with the stuff her husband does, but I think you make a great case stating that Sita does not want anything to do with him but Mandodari still does. Great job describing a hard character in the story!
ReplyDeleteGood job shedding some light on this character. My biggest qualm was that the story ended so soon. I was totally in on her deviousness and I wanted to learn her plot through your writing and follow it through to the end! I think you did a great job getting the characters down while also getting some of your voice in there!
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