Characters:
Rama would be the main character that has a lot of conflict.
He is in love with Sita but is beginning to also fall for Shurpanakha. He can
come off as a jerk and definitely thinks of himself first, but at the end of
the story he starts fresh so he can be happy.
Sita is Rama’s wife but doesn’t like what he is doing with
his life. She doesn’t like the idea of sharing him or losing him to another
woman, so she doesn’t let this happen. She leaves before he can do anything.
Shurpanakha seduces Rama and is successful in the sense that
he is attracted to her and is considering leaving Sita, but this isn’t enough.
Shurpanakha is greedy and only want himself to her and is jealous that he still
has feelings for Sita. She eventually leaves Rama as well.
Styles:
A possible style could be to focus on one character’s point
of view. If I were to do this, I would choose Rama and see the struggles that
he is going through.
A possible style would be to make it like a reality show
where a scene happens and then each character in the story shares their
thoughts about the scene. This would create different sides of the story to be
seen and a lot of detail could be obtained.
A possible style is making Rama be a huge jerk. I kind of
plan on making this happen anyway, but I may make him more or less of a jerk
depending on which style of the story I go with. He will obviously be a jerk if
he is having major thoughts of wanting to be with another woman that isn’t his
wife.
A possible style would be to write an alternate story to the
original. This would mean that Rama would chose Shurpanakha, he doesn’t love
Sita anymore, Khara would win the battle and so much more.
Research:
I have decided to do research on marriage in India. Here is
what Wikipedia told me
For females, part of the family’s wealth is presented at the
time of the marriage since there is no legal ties to the family fortune. This
can include a variety of objects. Arranged marriages are common in Indian
society. The marriage age is very young as well (on average 21 years old for
women). Love marriages are becoming more common in India today. Weddings and
marriage are taken very seriously. Weddings are a time of celebration and unity
for the couple and the family. In my story, I plan to have a shift in the
marriage between Rama and Sita.
Unity between husband and wife, online source
Bibliography:
Culture of India, Wikipedia, Marriage in India
Public Domain Ramayana written by Donald A. Mackenzie, Romesh Dutt, Gould, and Sister Nivedita, online reading
I’ve never gotten to comment on a story planning post before, so this is really interesting! It looks like you’ve got loads of material for a strong story. I especially like the idea you raised about portraying Rama in a way that emphasizes the fact that he’s kind of a jerk; it would be refreshing to read a take on him that acknowledges that instead of glossing over it. Your idea of exploring what would happen if Rama had chosen Shurpanakha has a lot of potential, too, since it would be interesting to see the road-not-taken option. Anyways, I look forward to seeing what you end up choosing!
ReplyDeleteIt's cool to see interpretations of these stories from other people. I like the idea of taking the Ramayana and making it into a reality show--it would be interesting to see the different characters in that light. I'm also interested to see how you incorporate the marriage aspect into your story as Rama and Sita had a more atypical meeting. Regardless, I am excited to see what you write.
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