Article summary
Abstract
The Mahabharata, one of the grandest epics of world literature, encapsulates an intricate web of human emotions, moral dilemmas, and social hierarchies. However, its traditional interpretations have largely been filtered through patriarchal sensibilities that glorify masculine valour while marginalizing women’s voices. Kavita Kane’s Karna’s Wife: The Outcast’s Queen revisits this ancient narrative through a contemporary feminist lens, reimagining the epic world as experienced by Uruvi, the wife of Karna. Through Uruvi’s critical consciousness, the novel interrogates the nexus between gender, power, and myth, exposing the systemic oppression embedded in patriarchal narratives. This paper explores how Kane reconfigures myth as a space of feminist resistance, where Uruvi’s voice destabilizes the binaries of dharma and adharma, privilege and marginality, silence and speech. Drawing on feminist theorists such as Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, and Chandra Talpade Mohanty, the study situates Karna’s Wife within the broader context of feminist mythmaking in Indian English literature. Kane’s retelling transforms the Mahabharata from a tale of divine destiny into a discourse of human empathy and moral agency.