Somadeva

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.