DRAUPADI: THE UNINVITED DAUGHTER

This paper examines Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's The Palace of Illusions and employs close reading of the text to understand the author's unique portrayal of Draupadi, one of the most popular heroines of Indian mythology. Female subjectivity and its impact on the characterization of the protagonist is studied in detail. How the author renders Draupadi as every woman and how an uninvited daughter becomes the universal voice for the dreams, desires, longings, struggles, follies, vulnerabilities, heartaches, heartbreaks and resilience of women over the ages is the main focus of this paper.