Antigone and Desdemona of India

Antigone and Desdemona of India

My great-grandmother is 84 years old now. Old, right? But old enough to be a great grandmother? Nope. She was forced into an arranged marriage with an older man at the age of 13.

I remember asking her one evening to tell me more about my great-grandfather. She was not a bit hesitant before she said only this, and I quote, I got lucky that he was a good man. Women have been culturally dominated by men and it is clearly evident in my own family because it did not just stop there; my grandmother was married at the age of 16 to a man 10 years older than her, and my mom was married and had my sister at the age of 19.

Who is to be blamed here? The creator of men or men themselves?
Do not cross the line I made, Sita. Youll be safe only if you stay within the boundary, Lakshman, a Hindu god, once stated to his brother Ramr’s wife, before Lakshman headed to the forest to look for Ram. And more than half the Hindu population looks up to Lakshman, he who controlled Sita. Does that mean that we are told to disrespect women from the very beginning?

I was 10 years old when my dadr’s friend came to meet me and my family. I was sitting on the couch when my dadr’s friend walked up to me and asked me a few questions about my interests. It was all normal until I heard him mention that he accepted me to be the one to marry his son as soon as I turn 15. My dad happily shook his hand like it was a successful business meeting. My mom left my dad a month later. I still love my dad though, and Ill justify his each and every action, and I believe I do that because her’s my dad, and for that reason only.
I was doing so many things that were not normal and I didnt know why I was doing them. I never realized that I walk a step behind when walking with a man like I am following his steps, or that I treat male guests differently, or let men treat me differently. That was until my art professor pointed it out, saying, youre just doing what youre taught, and itr’s sad.

I wonder how this behavior built in me if not by reading stories and stories about men–and only men–in power. In Elizabethan times, and as seen in the play Othello, the role of a woman was to remain submissive to her husband and raise his children. Women played a secondary role in the time when Othello is set. At the beginning of Act 2, Scene 3 of Othello we see that Othello describes Desdemona as his possession when he says, Come, My dear love, The purchase made, the fruits are to ensue. Othellor’s relation with Desdemona is much like what we see in abusive relationships even today.

In these stories, women were powerful, too. Sita was the daughter of mother earth. The only difference is that Sita had power and Ram had power with authority. Sita was captured for nearly 12 months by Ravana, a man who wished to overpower all the gods, and he was the enemy of Ram. But as soon as Sita was rescued, she was accused of having intimate relations with Ravana, and she was asked to go through Agnipariksha (trial by fire) by her own husband, Ram. Just because he was her husband, does it give him the right to question her fidelity? Would Othello or Ram be questioned and asked to prove their loyalty the same way that Sita and Desdemona were? And all my life I have respected Ram.

I didnt realize that gender injustice is a strong universal behavior until I read Sophocles Antigone. Antigone has a lot in common with Sita. Although Antigone was the daughter of a king, she was still inferior to men. If a kingr’s daughter could be sentenced to death, I wonder how common women were treated. My mother is a strong woman, and so is my grandmother, my great-grandmother, and every woman, because they have faced life in a way that no other can, and just like Antigone, Desdemona and Sita, they are fearless. Unequal treatment towards women is seen throughout history: in ancient Athenian, Elizabethan times, in Indian mythology, and seen in plays such as, Antigone, Othello and in the epic, The Ramayana. Be it a kingr’s daughter, or mother earthr’s daughter, the role of a woman is still looked down upon.
We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.

Mythology plays a big role in our society. A part of human nature makes an effort to explain things which cannot be easily understood. And so, we fill the gaps with the knowledge that does not have any sort of justification or proof. But in the process we dont realize that to raise a characterr’s purpose in the story, we are putting someone down. And these stories arent just ordinary stories; people put their faith and belief in mythology. In most of the myths, women play that role of being looked down upon.

Antigone, a role model, has lived over two thousand years because her character depicts fearlessness, power. When I read Antigone, I felt ashamed of myself; I felt that I have been fighting the wrong side. A part of me had accepted that giving respect to male figures in my life is important, so much so that I had started to find peace in it. I have been brought up in a strong male-dominated culture and I have heard many stories from my mother, coming from someonewho truly loves and believes in god. ?I am a Shiva Bhakt(Devotee), it gives me joy in saying this out loud; it makes me feel more close to my culture. I have proudly told people that Shiva is my god, he has a third eye that when opens, the world will be destroyed. He is a little short-tempered but that is justified because he is powerful, right? I feel ashamed. If the stories were true then I have justified that Shiva was responsible for chopping an innocent boy, Ganeshar’s head only because he did not let Shiva enter his own house.

Ganesha is Shivar’s and Parvatir’s son. Parvati instructed Ganesha to guard the gates while she was bathing. When Parvati created Ganesha, Shiva at that time of the incident was unaware of Ganeshar’s existence and that he was his son. Is that reason enough to justify chopping the head of a child? The gods were disappointed so they decided to cut off the head of an elephant and place it on Ganeshar’s headless body. Gandhi says, The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Ganesha, known as the elephant god. Lord Shiva is a lover and a destroyer, just like Othello.

We believe that all religions are different at their core but that is not true. When Antigone wanted to bury her brother, Polynices, their sister, Ismene was reluctant because she was scared of authority, of men. This is seen in Antigone in line 600 when Creon says, No womanr’s going to govern me”no, no”not while Im still alive. In my society, women still fear men. Shivar’s first wife, Sati jumped into the fire because her husband was insulted by her father, so much for someone in power. Women in rural areas of India still perform the act of Sati when their husbands die. She innovates herself to show her loyalty. Again, a man would never be asked to do this. Antigone hung herself to death, Desdemona sacrificed her life and women burnt themselves, they are fearless. In Othello Act 2, Scene 1, Iago says to Emilia, Come on, come on.

You are pictures out of door, bells in your parlours; wildcats in your kitchens, saints in your injuries; devils being offended, players in your housewifery, and hussies in your beds. Many women in India will find the characterization of Iago as normal.
My grandmother was unhappy the day I was born because she wanted a grandson. She still talks about it without any guilt and says, men look after the business. Female infanticide is still prevalent in rural parts of India. It all starts with the society wanting to kill the little girls; if they are not successful in doing so then they sell them off to older men for money. That girl gives birth to multiple kids until she gives birth to a boy. Sher’s abused, physically and mentally and there is no law that can protect her because according to my government and my Prime Minister, marital rape is not considered an offense. It is not a crime to rape your wife in India. Both Antigone and people of India have faced a conflict between the laws of the gods and that of the government.

Shakespeare said, The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings. And I disagree because the fault is in our stars, not in ourselves, that we are underlings.