Epic Stories ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘The Ramayana’ Essay

The Ramayana and paradise muddled keep in line stories of ancient times that tend to explain the existence of deuce contrary cultures in the take world. Milton, the author of promised land Lost, concerns himself with the Christian story of the rejoin of man while Valmiki, the author of The Ramayana, tries to bring out an explanation to the goals of gentleman life. In this assignment, I would like to compargon authors wasting disease of two female functions in both The Ramayan and heaven Lost as I try to explain the mythological themes expressed in these two old myths (Jung 64). eve in Paradise Lost and Sita in The Ramayan atomic number 18 the two female characters used extensively by the authors in these offend stories in an attempt to explain the goals of human life and likewise the undercoat for the surrender of man.The story exhibited by Milton in the retain Paradise Lost has been told in countless stories and withal visualised in pictures in to the highest de gree religious places as well as paintings to that effect. Similar stories that relate to the book The Ramayana can as well be found in chaste mythology (Fryer 233). Jung explains the term myths to be fatal experiences whose effects are normally matt-up in personal life. He classified myths according to its unconscious mind temperament because he believes that by doing so, they will be accepted by the alliance hence help shape their traditions and culture. The contents of the personal unconscious are chiefly the feeling-toned complexes while the contents of the collective unconscious are know as archetypes (Jung 66). Different interpretations have been made in relation to the tend of Eden story with most Christians clinching the legal opinion that it was actually true, another(prenominal) interpretation tries to portray it as a story that gifts transition in the way of life of the ancient people while a final exam interpretation tries to show that the truth behind the myth i s baseless, though universally people live in accordance to the values it shows (Fryer 248). correspond to the unconscious nature possessed by people about myths is what constitutescomplex feeling-tones of several(prenominal)s private and personal psychic life. eve, in the book Paradise Lost has widely been regarded as the symbol of unconscious. She is fixn as the figure of the shake principle and overly as one that develops the growth of this principle. Franz holds the same look on and explains further that she makes us believe that life may be lived. He says even is full of traps and snares and in order for man to fall, he should effectuate himself there, reach the earth and stay caught so that he should live a full life (Jung 68).This he believes that Eve accomplished by not resting until she had convinced Adam of the goodness of the forbidden apple. Eve does not see the apple as evil but as an opportunity to catch wiser (Franz 56-74). Empson argues that Eve sees the con sume of the apple as a test of her fortitude to break the commandment and graduate to a new stage of consanguinity with God Almighty (Empson 45-57). In attempting to comment on the serpents witty advances to Eve by explaining the good that comes with breaking the commandment and the benefits that take the apple brings, Empson agrees that Eve feels that she has to break the commandment so as to show her courage and whether her desire to get to Heaven is real enough to describe her courage out.He does not accept the notion that Eve is a female symbol that is used to bring out the unconscious belief in the book Paradise Lost. Empson differs with Jungs belief of consider eating of fruits as a sign of new beginning of life. According to Empson, the test is rooted in hermeneutics. He believes that the reason why Eve dis come aftered God was because she thought God never meant what he give tongue to (Empson 122-247). The two, Empson and Jung, though both believe that Eves contributio n to the fall is delinquent to her desire.She does not choose to eat the apple because it is evil, but because it is an opportunity to excise another good in the book Paradise Lost, Milton differs with his predecessors who had excessively written stories about Adam and Eve. Milton predecessors portray Eve as substandard in virtuous enterprise. They blamed Eve for the woes of the world and their concept of Eve rooted in dualism, a view that is not depicted by Milton in the book Paradise Lost. Milton, represent Eve as a literary figure separating her from primitive conception by those who hold on tradition yet they are unconscious of prime examples of Eve in the society.Paradise Lost is a literary epic of a personal effort while The Ramayan, but, is a non-literary epic. Sita is the dominant female character in the story The Ramayana and thus is comparable to Eve in Paradise Lost in their contribution to bringing the mythical themes to the two stories as they are both mythical sym bols. Paradise Lost is a produce of a single individual and thus it is possible to conclude that the characters mingled in the story are a projection of the authors ideas on how he wants the characters to appear. It can thus be said that the characters in Paradise Lost are truly Miltons characters. This cannot be said of the characters in the epic story The Ramayana since it is a collective effort of different people in bringing out the epic story. It is due to this that the parity of the two primary characters in the two separate stories becomes interesting.Sita is first introduced in the epic story at Janaks wedding. She is regularly referred to as faithful, gentle, nuts and sweet. In the epic story, a marriage of husband and wife is regarded to as a linkage. This resembles the marriage as depicted in the bible in the book of Genesis, where Adam is quoted as referring to Eve as shape of my flesh. The epic story also shows man as superior to the woman, as it indicates that the woman is the shadow to the mans masculine substance. Sitas point of accumulation occurs when she gets obsessed with her attraction to the deers beauty that she sends Rama out to go and look for it. Her obsession is magnified when she gives an option that if Rama cannot catch the deer alive, past at least he brings her the deers body so that she may use it as a rag.Rama becomes enraged after Lakshman refuses to obey his orders when she sends him out to look for him. Her desire exposes her to Ravans desires which force him to kidnap her and draw her away with him to Lanka. This situation is in sharp contrast to that of Eve in the epic story Paradise Lost. In The Ramayana, Sitas fall is her desire for a good that is illusory which separates her from Rama her protector and thus becomes under attack(predicate) to capture, while to Eve, it makes her vulnerable to temptation by the serpent which later leads to her eating of the apple.The two scenarios depict the same theme content, a nd that is a womans desire that leads to unfortunate endings. In the case of Paradise Lost, the exorcism from the Garden of Eden, while in The Ramayana, a war ensued. The contrast in the way the two characters are shown in the two epic stories is also different. The author individualize Eve right from the start of the book however in the case of Sita, the author individualize her after the incidence where she became angry with Lakshman for not obeying her when she sends her to go fetch Rama. Of the two, Eve as portrayed in the book Paradise Lost is in contrast with how she has always been portrayed by people generally and other poets too. She is shown as an object of desire, her figure out in the garden and her sexual relations with Adam.She is thus the authors portrait of an ideal woman with an exception being her desire for intimacy which indicates her as a cultural symbol. Sita on the other hand is more(prenominal) of an ideal character. The psychological reality that is show n by Sitas story and her deprivation is evident too in other classical myths and is also present in the Biblical myths of the Garden of Eden. The nature of The Ramayana epic story also helps in suppressing many other authors ideals and aspirations as it is a collective work of individual elements. The analysis of the two characters gives the conclusion that a characters thematic condition is reliant on the poets capacity of showcasing his own ideals.Works CitedDutt, Romesh. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata. London Dent, 1910. Empson, William. Miltons God, London Chatto & Windus, 1961. Franz, M,-L. The march of Individuation. Man and His Symbols. ed. Carl G. Jung. New York Dell, 1964.Fryer, Northrop. Anatomy of Criticism Four Essays. Princeton Princeton University Press, 1957.Jung, Gustav. The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious. Princeton Princeton University Press, 1969.Milton, John. Paradise Lost An Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Sources, Criticism. Ed. Scott Elledge. New York Norton, 1975.