The Earth, the Pillar and the Stone: Does Testing the Female Mean Empowering the Female in Valmiki’s Ramayana, Shakespeare’s the Winter’s Tale and the Turkish Tale Sitti Nusret?

This chapter discusses three memorable female characters: Sita from Valmiki’s Ramayana, Hermione from Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and Sitti Nusret from the eponymous Turkish fairytale. It will focus on the universality of the many trials that the characters have to undergo, in order to prove their innocence, chastity and capacity to endure, both in front of their male counterparts and society at large.