Consider the role and presentation of women in the Mahaharata.

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The Role of Women in the Mahabharata
In the Mahabaratha, women are positively portrayed as part of the royalty in the epic like many men; daughters of kings or married to royalty (Brodbeck 16). Women are positively shown as being thoughtful and caring in the Mahabharata. There are four women who show us the place women occupy in ancient Indian society: Satyavati, daughter of the fishermen’s chief and mother of Vyasa; Gandhari King Dhritarashtra’s queen and mother of a hundred sons and one daughter; Kunti the mother of the Pandavas; and Draupadi renowned for her beauty in the entire Mahabharata. Hence, women espouse values that kings ought to possess.
They are negatively portrayed as dependents through over-association with men; husbands, sons, lovers, enemies and so on. They sometimes serve as lessons against promiscuity and sin (Fitzgerald 620). They are all associated with men. The society is patriarchal which values women less than men, and that makes the four women all the worthier of respect. They are powerful in the manner in which they are influential. For example, Kunti shows fairness by treating her step-children like her own. Gandhari, upon marrying the blind King Dhritarashtra ties a cloth over her eyes to show solidarity her husband. Draupadi shows forgiveness. They are victims of destiny rather than having the power to make their own choices.
All the four women named above bore great sons who either turned into leaders or sired one or two.

Women, besides being child-bearers also have the power to raise great men and women. All the women have special relationships with their sons which last their whole lifetimes except perhaps for Draupadi, the wife of all the Pandavas. Also, they seem to have favorite sons. For example, Satyavati has a special bond with her son Vyasa who helped pass on the lineage of the Kuru (Ghosh, 28). Gandhari was close to her oldest son Duryodhana, who grew up arrogant and proud but she steered her son on the right path. Kunti was close to her son Vasudeva, father of Lord Krishna. They are strict on their sons, and their authority lasts their whole life even after they have married their wives.

Work Cited
Brodbeck, Simon Pearse. The Mahabharata Patriline: Gender, Culture, and the Royal Hereditary. Routledge, 2017.
Fitzgerald, James L. “The Great Epic of India as Religious Rhetoric: A Fresh Look at the” Mahābhārata.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 51.4 (1983): 611-630
Ghosh, Baisakhi. “Women Of Mahabharata In Play Of Power And Politics: Sublimation From Deprivation To Empowerment.” (2016): 25-33 Retrieved From HYPERLINK “http://www.jirasindia.com/Publication/Vol-1-Iss-8/JDH-004-2016-FP.pdf” http://www.jirasindia.com/Publication/Vol-1-Iss-8/JDH-004-2016-FP.pdf
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