From Silence to Voice: Feminist Reclamation of Uruvi and Urmila in Kavita Kane’s Retellings of the Mahabharata and Ramayana

Abstract

Kavita Kane’s reinterpretations of mythological narratives Karna’s Wife: The Outcast’s Queen and Sita’s Sister resituate Uruvi and Urmila from the margins to the centre, granting them agency, voice, and moral complexity. Through Uruvi, a princess who defies caste hierarchies by marrying Karna, Kane critiques entrenched patriarchal and social structures, portraying her as an autonomous and ethically engaged protagonist. Urmila, traditionally depicted as a silent, dutiful wife in the Ramayana, is reimagined with intellectual strength, emotional resilience, and narrative authority. These reimagining’s challenge normative gender roles and expand the concept of dharma. Utilizing feminist revisionist myth-making frameworks, this study examines how redefining these “silent pillars” disrupts canonical epics, foregrounds female subjectivity, and enriches contemporary literary discourse. Drawing upon theories of gender, power, and narrative voice, the research argues that Kane’s feminist interventions actively resist symbolic erasure and elevate the cultural significance of these characters.