Draupadi by Mahaswetha Devi
Channel: Innyasamma Gade
Date: 2020-06-04

Mahasweta Devi is aware of the different forms of victimization that the women face in society one way or the other. In Draupadi, she has taken the case of Dopdi with a mythical parallel from the epic. She does not romanticize Dopdi but presents her case, her subjection to male tyranny as she becomes the victim of the lust in the male-dominant world. Draupadi is unlike any other female characters in the stories of Mahasweta Devi. She is the representation of a female figure ready to stand up for her rights and her beliefs and is the only female to maintain power over her torturer. She can make Senanayak feel the fear. 

In short, she asserts herself as the male figure and Senanayak becomes the female figure. He is terrified by Draupadi and is unable to anticipate her next move. So, Draupadi is representative of millions of tribal women who are fighting against oppression and who can dare to challenge imperialism and patriarchy. The tribal woman is marginalized in more than one way as she lives in constant fear of victimization. This clearly shows that Mahasweta Devi’s Draupadi is a metaphorical resistance through an elegy of the subaltern.