The lonely goddess : the lack of benevolent female relationships in Hindu and Shi'ite mythology

This minor dissertation engages a theoretical feminist discourse to identify the lack of benevolent female relationships in the development of religious mythology. The study explores two diverse belief systems, Hinduism and Shi'ism, in order to demonstrate that the feminine is reduced to a subservient and controlled creative force across different religious and cultural systems. The study further develops the roles of the woman in the religious tradition, as mother and nurse to the hero and the guardian of male symbols and language. I have drawn on the feminist critical analysis of Luce Irigaray, and on classical Hindu and Shi'ite myth, to discern ways in which the femaile has been alienated from patriarchal social reality, due to the male-defined construction of the sacred, divine and submissive woman.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Religious Studies

Year dc:date.issued

2003

Author dc:creator

• Isaacs-Martin, Wendy Jane

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Tobler, Judith

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10887

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/10887