Female Disguises…why?
5/22/13
Within
the story “The Red Lotus of Chastity” by Somadeva there are two main events
that both deal with women disguising themselves. The question then becomes why
are the women disguising themselves? The answer is simple, to get what they
want accomplished. Let me explain.
The
first act of disguising happens when Devasmita has one of her maids disguise
herself to look like Devasmita while the other three maids go to get a drink
filled with a powerful narcotic. The women do this because four merchant’s sons
have come to try and take Devasmita’s virtue. The male’s actions are not pure
and therefore the women have to take care of the situation. One by one the men
come to see Devasmita, and one by one they are drugged, removed of their
clothing, branded on their forehead and then thrown into a drain. (Somadeva 1277-1278) Devasmita has to have
one of her maids dress up to look like her because she could not risk herself
since the men were after her. The women wanted the men to feel like the fools
they were for trying to take advantage of Devasmita without her husband. By branding the men on their forehead they
would never be able to forget that their actions were foolish and that women
put them in their place.
The
second act of disguising happens out of necessity. Devasmita becomes fearful
that her actions may cost her husband his life. So in order to make sure that
he does not have to pay for what she has done she must disguise herself and her
maids. This time the women must dress up as a man in order to save her husband.
The women would probably not have been allowed to board a seafaring vessel
without a male escort, so they were forced to pretend to be males in order to
achieve what they wanted. Devasmita’s desired goal was to make sure her husband
stayed alive, so upon arrival of Cathay, where her husband had traveled to, she
told the King she wished to speak to the public. When she was granted her
audience she explained that four of her slaves had runaway and she wished to
have them back. She was able to identify the four foolish men because of their
branded foreheads. The men were then bought from her because they were the sons
of a caravan trader and became no problem to her or her husband. (Somadeva
1279)
The
fact that Devasmita had to disguise herself as a man shows that men and women
were not equal. If she had tried to keep her husband safe without disguising
herself she would have run into many obstacles, but because she portrayed
herself as a man she had no issue getting passage and an audience. Men could do
things much easier because they didn’t need to ask permission or have an
escort, they could simply be. However, because Devasmita was able to succeed in
her actions she proves that women can do anything men can. She can travel, she
can speak persuasively, and she can take care of herself.
The
reason why women had to disguise themselves was because society did not believe
they were as strong and capable as men, but women knew better. Devasmita
disguised her maids and herself in order to do what they wanted, which was take
care of business by saving her virtue and her husband.
Work
Cited
"Somadeva."
The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed.
Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. 1272-279. Print.
