One big thematic question I have is is Rama such a good guy? He lives his life by dharma and Laksmana, Bharata, and Sita are unquestionably loyal to him but there are some red flags that have tripped me up. Firstly, the way he treats and makes Sita feel upon rescuing her was very odd to me. She is humiliated by his coldness towards her and goes into a fire to prove her fidelity (38). This speaks very highly to Sita’s character but it calls Rama’s character into question. It’s obvious that he doesn’t trust Sita or women in general. He has an odd and toxic jealously streak when it comes to her. Another reason why Rama seems to good to be true is because he has a streak of continually “poking fun” and bullying women around him. Because he bullied Manthara so severely is the entire reason why he is in this mess in the first place. Manthara is the one who convinced Kaikeyi to change the King’s mind just to spite Rama for his abhorrent treatment of her from years past. Rama also pokes fun at Surpanakha when he realizes she wants to marry him. He laughs at her and him and Laksmana are both heavily sarcastic with her and when she doesn’t understand she goes to attack and Laksmana mutilates her (211). Rama has a bit of a mean streak as well as being rather heartless when he becomes jealous and possessive Sita. I wonder why he is perceived as such a selfless and perfect man when he has these odd outbursts of rage and negative emotions.
KG, I wrote about the same question. I wrote about how Rama shot Vali when he was facing away. I viewed this scene as extremely adharmic. Rama and dharma have such close ties, yet his actions don't always display such characteristics. You brought up some interesting points. Why does Rama have a tendency of "poking fun" at women? Why does the Ramayana represent this? Is this how men viewed women should be treated and men should act? It's a bit confusing to me.
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KG! Great thoughts. Rama is such an odd and complex character to me. You pointed out traits of Rama that seem, like Sam said, extremely adharmic. However, he is perceived as an example of dharma. I wonder, especially in his treatment of women, how engraved that could be with the Indian society and thus how Rama treats Sita reveals those gender dynamic issues present.
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I had these same thoughts! Rāma is theoretically a good guy, but his actions seem to contradict that. Throughout the Rāmāyana we see Rāma committing actions that don't appear to be dharmic, yet he's still thought to be following dharma. He's viewed a loyal, gracious, and courageous person even though his actions don't necessarily represent those behaviors (364). You mentioned Sīta's loyalty to him, but is he really loyal to Sīta in return? That hot and cold attitude makes it hard to understand how Rāma is applying dharma to his life.
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I have to agree with this because even though Sita passes the test he still denies it and sends her away
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