Reimagining Sita’s Voice in Select Retellings of the Ramayana

Abstract

This paper examines the retelling of Sita in contemporary Indian English Fiction within the framework of revisionist mythmaking. In the narrative structure of the Ramayana, Sita has long been understood, within traditional and critical discourse, as an embodiment of virtue, endurance, and self-sacrifice, an ideal that has shaped cultural perceptions of womanhood across generations. As noted in feminist reading of the Ramayana, her interior voice remains only partially visible. Adopting a character-centred approach, the study engages with select contemporary retellings such as The Forest of Enchantments, The Liberation of Sita, Sita: Warrior of Mithila, and The Missing Queen to explore how narrative strategies reshape her presence. Across these retellings, Sita is no longer confined to relational roles. She begins to reflect, to question, to interpret her own experience. The shift is gradual, but it alters how she is encountered. Identity, in this context, is no longer simply assigned, it begins to emerge. These rewritings do more than offer alternative versions of a familiar story. They intervene in the ways meaning has been stabilised, opening the narrative to reconsideration. Myth, as a result, does not remain closed; it becomes dialogic, a space where tradition and reinterpretation exist together. Sita’s shifting representation signifies a transition in the interpretation of her character, developing from a static ideal to a more intricate and introspective persona. These retellings do not provide a singular, definitive portrayal of Sita; rather, they give several viewpoints that redefine her identity