One could perhaps argue against me by asserting the point that Rama felt the need to personally test Sita’s integrity and it was not the influence of his audience that created his response. However, Rama may have acted in this manner because of societal pressure alone. What I mean is that he chose this route of action in opposition to his personal trust in Sita. In the chapter following Sita’s trial by fire Rama explains “he had to adopt this trial in order to demonstrate Sita’s purity beyond a shadow of doubt to the whole world” (Ramayana, 150), because Rama is defending his actions by saying it was a demonstration to the world, it implies he is not demonstrating anything for himself. This implication leads me to believe that he personally did not doubt Sita because he would not have held the trial
One could perhaps argue against me by asserting the point that Rama felt the need to personally test Sita’s integrity and it was not the influence of his audience that created his response. However, Rama may have acted in this manner because of societal pressure alone. What I mean is that he chose this route of action in opposition to his personal trust in Sita. In the chapter following Sita’s trial by fire Rama explains “he had to adopt this trial in order to demonstrate Sita’s purity beyond a shadow of doubt to the whole world” (Ramayana, 150), because Rama is defending his actions by saying it was a demonstration to the world, it implies he is not demonstrating anything for himself. This implication leads me to believe that he personally did not doubt Sita because he would not have held the trial