Reading the Female Voices in the Palace of Illusions

Anthony William, Petreena Ameesha (2023) Reading the Female Voices in the Palace of Illusions. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology.

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Abstract

This study looks at the perspective of women in The Palace of Illusions (2009). The study discusses the hard times faced by the female characters and explore their roles as mothers, daughters and wives in a great Indian story. The aim of the study include lexamining female’s point of view, exploring the struggles female characters face and exposing their capacities in the epic. The study incorporates Feminist Literary Theory works on Gender Roles Stereotypes and Marginalisation to examine the struggles female characters go face in the novel, showcasing how strong these characters are. The conceptual framework, illustrated in a diagram, intricately weaves together Feminist Literary Theory, gender roles, stereotypes, marginalisation, and the influences of Mahabharata on societal norms. The research adapts a qualitative research method, which uses close reading of The Palace of Illlusions (2009) to understand social life in ancient times. The researcher focuses on how men and women are shown differently in cultural works adapted from Mahabharata. This study goes beyond previous research by analyzing multiple female characters—Draupadi, Gandhari, Dhai Ma, and Kunti—examining their roles and struggles as wives, mothers, and daughters. The findings are expected to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the female perspective in The Palace of Illusions (2009) and shed light on gender dynamics within the cultural and historical context. The research looks into the marginalization of women followed by their struggles and capacities of roles as mothers, wives and daughters. The findings focus on important characters such as Draupadi, Kunti, Madri and Dhai Ma by extracting examples from relevant parts of the novel to answer the research questions.