https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i2.068
The Epic Wait: A Comparative Study of Culture and Women in Classical Literature
MS. LAVANAYA SINGH
M.A. English
Department of English (North Campus)
University of Delhi, India
Abstract: Classical literature and mythology function as cultural narratives that serve as ideological sites of discourse, shaping and reinforcing dominant power structures and hegemonic cultural norms. One such gendered cultural norm that emerges as a recurring motif in literature is the trope of the Epic Wait, wherein the female protagonist is relegated to endure a fatalistic wait that serves as a testament to her chastity, loyalty, and moral virtue within the narrative. This paper undertakes a feminist and counter-hegemonic analysis of this women-in-waiting trope in Indian and European classical literature, with particular focus on Homer’s The Odyssey (8th century BCE) and Kalidasa’s Abhijñānaśākuntalam (5th century CE).
It seeks to critically deconstruct the seemingly neutral act of waiting by unmasking it as a gendered role that ascribes passivity to femininity. Building upon Roland Barthes’ conception of myth in Mythologies as a cultural system that naturalizes ideology, the paper traces the origins of the waiting woman trope in literature and argues against the enduring, deeply gendered legacy of the Epic Wait that continues to shape contemporary cultural narratives. Employing a comparative framework, the study highlights convergences and divergences in female representation and in the narrative construction of waiting across Indian and European literary traditions.
Additionally, the paper attempts to redefine waiting as an active form of emotional labour and resistance against masculine temporality. It aims to reclaim the voices of hitherto silenced waiting women in literature and mythology.
Keywords: Classical Literature, Mythology, Cultural Norms, Epic Wait, Comparative Study
Read Full Manuscript PDF