https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i2.053
Comparative Myth Retellings of Ahalya and Medusa: Rewriting Cursed Women
HARSHITA SHUKLA
PhD Research Scholar
Department of English and Modern European Languages
University of Lucknow
Abstract: There has been an upsurge in interest in retelling mythological stories in writing in the last two decades. These retellings are distinctive in interpreting the marginalized characters by providing them with voices, while simultaneously questioning the sensibilities of their representation. Therefore, this study explores how these curses are reimagined in Ahalya’s Awakening by Kavita Kane and Medusa: The Girl Behind the Myth by Jessie Burton, paying particular attention to the transformational experiences of both characters.
These modern retellings have reframed the curses, often portrayed as symbols of transgression and enslavement, as forces of self-reliance. Using feminist and mythological criticism, the research explores how these writings challenge patriarchal systems that silence women. Kane’s Ahalya’s Awakening challenges the moral absoluteness of Ahalya’s punishment by representing tenacity and intellectual independence. In contrast, Burton’s Medusa: The Girl Behind the Myth transforms monstrosity into empowerment. This study emphasizes the universal relevance of these themes, particularly for women who were silenced, offering narratives of resilience and tenacity that remain relevant to contemporary feminism.
The idea is to read both figures as wronged women rather than moral transgressors. Indian and Greek mythologies are very ancient and share some startling similarities. The world created by myth and fantasy is built using comparable techniques and modalities. Ahalya and Medusa are reimagined as individuals who grapple with trauma, navigate memory, and reclaim agency. The study argues that modern feminist retellings serve as acts of narrative redress, upending established mythic traditions and redefining these characters as representations of resilience, defiance, and recovered female subjectivity.
Keywords: Feminist Myth Criticism, Body Politics, Re-vision, Retelling
Read Full Manuscript PDF