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@article{187126,
        author = {Ms. ALAGUHARANI A B},
        title = {Becoming Sita: Identity, Autonomy, and the Female Self in the Forest of Enchantments.},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {6},
        pages = {3242-3245},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=187126},
        abstract = {Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s “The Forest of Enchantments” provides a revisionist perspective of the mythology Ramayana by foregrounding Sita’s voice, thereby challenging canonical representations of femininity, duty, and virtue within the epic tradition. This article, entitled “Becoming Sita: Identity, Autonomy, and the Female Self in The Forest of Enchantments,” interrogates the processes through which Sita negotiates and reconstructs her identity in a patriarchal socio-cultural milieu. Drawing upon feminist literary theory and narratological approaches, the research examines how Divakaruni’s narrative deconstructs the archetype of the self-effacing, sacrificial heroine and reconstitutes her as a complex subject endowed with agency, self-awareness, and ethical autonomy. The analysis further investigates how the novel employs act of narration, memory, and self-articulation as strategies of resistance, enabling Sita to transcend prescribed roles and re-inscribe her place within the cultural imagination. By situating the text within broader discourses on gender, mythology, and retellings, this study demonstrates how The Forest of Enchantments functions as a site of feminist reclamation, transforming a mythic figure into a dynamic representation of womanhood that interrogates and redefines the boundaries of identity and selfhood. Ultimately, the paper argues that Divakaruni’s re-visioning not only restores agency to a silenced figure but also exemplifies the transformative potential of literary re-narration in challenging hegemonic gendered narratives.},
        keywords = {Sita, Forest of Enchantments, Feminist Theory, Retelling, Mythology},
        month = {November},
        }