A Psychoanalytical Deconstruction of Surpanakha in Kavita Kane’s Lanka’s Princess

Abstract

This paper endeavours to examine the character Surpanakha in Kavita Kane’s novel Lanka’s Princess. It attempts to critically follow her struggle in the androcentric space with the trapping of being a female. Breaking down her identity as a daughter, sister, wife and more specifically, as an individual, it tracks down the formulation of her own self-perception in order to reinterpret her femininity. Through the psychoanalytical lenses, this work also critically analyses her ‘repression, rage and revenge’ by connecting the dots in her journey that shape her personality. The giving of voice to the ‘unvoiced’ through revisionist myth making in the novel and the evolution of ‘Surpanakha’ from ‘Meenakshi’ due to her experiences in the oppressive and suffocating environment is the focal point of the paper.