Abstract

This paper tends to do an extensive comparative study of the Greek mythological figure Medusa and the Indian folk deity called Goddess Manasā. Both these mythical figures are ambivalently represented in mythology and folktales and they have both been considered as tragic characters who were ultimately liberated through male validation. Through the feminist-folklorist lens, this paper attempts to conclude that hierarchically even in divinity, patriarchy performs a significant role in attempting to tame the female self into subsuming the very characteristics of ‘nurture’ and a mother goddess figure. The paper attempts to look into the socio-historical construction of women and female figures in folklore and mythology. Psychoanalytically ‘the Electra and reversed Electra complex in the female’ will also be examined in the paper. The moving away from the standard goddess-like figure and the metamorphosis of both these characters into dark figures, historically, is a testimonial to their both being life-givers as well as destroyers. Both the goddesses are a symbolization of death, resentment, prejudice, and fear. Through the contemporary feminist reading of Medusa and Manasā tales, this paper will attempt to trace them in folklore and mythology and prove that both these figures have succeeded in evolving in a patriarchal culture by defending their continuation and actions into women-empowering figures.