DECONSTRUCTING THE MYTH OF OBEDIENCE: A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE OF SITA’S JOURNEY IN THE FOREST OF ENCHANTMENTS

Abstract

This paper explores how Sita is portrayed in The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, providing a postcolonial analysis that questions conventional interpretations of Sita's submissiveness and obedience. In this narrative, Sita—often seen as the embodiment of virtue and obedient wifehood—is recast as a strong, self-aware woman whose journey exemplifies the fortitude and autonomy of colonised people. By examining how Divakaruni's narrative reclaims her voice, wants, and conflicts as essential components of her story, this research dismantles the myth of Sita's obedience. The study shows how Sita's tale symbolises the complexity of female agency under repressive frameworks, the reclaiming of identity, and the resistance of suppressed voices through the prism of postcolonial philosophy. Presenting  Sita's decisions as deliberate acts of autonomy. In her search for identity and independence, The Forest of Enchantments redefines obedience as a form of agency and challenges readers to reevaluate her as a postcolonial figure of resistance.