Somadeva

Disguise

When one thinks of the word “disguise,” often the words “conceal” or “mislead” come to mind. Disguises are usually used to deceive for one’s selfish gain. This is partly true in Somadeva’s story “The Red Lotus of Chastity.” Although there are multiple folktales included in the story, all with women using disguises for their own purposes, the lines become blurred between which disguises are used for understandable reasons and which disguises are used for unscrupulous intentions.

The first woman in the story who uses a disguise clearly does so for selfish reasons: “My pupil, in disguise, contrived to get herself employed in his house as a maid of all work, and as soon as the merchant had come to trust her, she stole all the gold in his house and sneaked away…” (Somadeva 1276). The pupil continues to disguise herself in order to hide and escape with the gold. By doing so, she kills one man and hurts others. Indeed, her disguise is motivated by her devious intent. 

Contrary in motives, Devasmita, a devoted and loving wife, dresses in disguise to save herself and her husband from danger: “Devasmita and her maids disguised themselves as merchants, boarded a ship on the pretext of business, and departed for Cathay where her husband was staying” (Somadeva 1279). Before the men who tried to take advantage of her, and whom she tricked by drugging and branding, seek revenge on her husband, she conceals her identity to board a ship in order to warn her husband. Although her motives are good, perhaps her methods are not entirely pure. Yet she does not act out of selfishness or greed, she misleads out of her loyalty and love for her husband.

No matter the disguise or the motives behind the disguise, Somadeva portrays female characters that get what they want. They are strong-willed, smart, and inventive. They have a goal and go after it, no matter who may get hurt in the process. These women use their cunning mind and sensual nature to achieve their goals. Even though they are not granted as many freedoms of men, the women prove there are as strong and resilient as their male counterparts.

Work Cited

Somadeva.”The Red Lotus of Chastity.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Martin Puchner et al. Shorter 3rd ed. Vol. 1. New York: W.W. Norton, 2013. 1274-1279. Print.