Sita In Forest: A Critical Analysis of Ecofeminism in Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s the Forests of Enchantment

Abstract

The focus of this paper is to study the theory of Eco-feminism in context to the character of Sita, in the prominent work The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. Divakaruni is an Indian-American writer who in her work discusses the connection between Sita and forests. The text is a retelling of Ramayana and also discusses the theme of Sita finding her voice in the forest. The paper also determines to bring forward the viewpoints of Eastern and Western eco-feminism. The conclusion states that the opinions and perspectives of Western eco-feminist are different from the Eastern eco-feminists, as West views the relationship between Nature and woman as the result of the subjection from the patriarchy whereas east views this relationship as the result of the connection that humans share with the nature. In Staying Alive by Vandana Shiva, a prominent Indian environmental activist and a scholar, in-depth discusses the relationship between nature and woman. Therefore, the eminent works by Shiva and Divakaruni are considered as the primary text to reach the desired conclusion.