The Roles of the Women

Pia.
Pia takes the role of the sweet sister of the two brothers in "Saat Phere." For my study it is unnecessary to focus on the other characters unless they directly affect the representation of any of the female characters.

Pia is beautiful, intelligent, well educated. She has strong familial and traditional ideologies of the Indian society instilled within her.

Important factors to address with regards to her role are the following:
*She marries the guy her brothers oppose to. Saloni aids her in doing this.
*She is a victim of domestic violence but says nothing to her family.
*She is then a victim of rape.
*Her husband dies in prison, accused of her rape, when infact the rapist was her admirer who her brothers then tell to marry.

Saloni.
Saloni, being the protagonist is instantly identified as the hero because of her quest of always helping others.

Important factors to remember about her are the following:

*She follows the path of 'truth' and holds a strong belief in God.
*Being an elder sister, she suffered discrimination from her younger sister who was ashamed by Saloni's dark complexion, and her mother who frowned upon this too.
*The dark complexion led to difficulites in marriage proposals, -when she is married it is because her husband wanted a constant reminder of his first wife; Saloni's dark complexion would always remind him of the fairness of his first wife's countenance.
*She is a loyal daughter and wife, wearing the red powder symbolising her role constantly.
*In the lastest storyline, she is pregnant but wants to abort the baby in order to pursue her career.

Kaveri.
Kaveri is the female the audience identify as the villain. She is trechorous and cunning, and extremely selfish.
She acts as an opposition to the path Saloni takes and here we see the confrontational battle of the traditional good vs evil myth.
Important things to remember about her character are the following:
*She mistreats her father and mother in law which rejects the social norm of the respectful way in which elders should be treated in an indian society.
*She is the agent of change in every storyline, deliberately creating problems thus adopting a villainous persona.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060219/spectrum/tv.htm


Saraswati.
Named after the goddess for goodness, Saraswati is the oldest daughter. She is well cultured and extremely family orientated. She doesn't speak against the family when she knows injustice is being done and is another mother figure to her sisters.
Important things to remember about her are:
*She is forced to marry the guy her family choose for her, and not the guy she is in love with.
*She then turns into a victim of domestic violence..

Durga
Named after the goddess of immense power, Durga will not accept any form of injustice against her and her family. In doing so, she will not openly speak up but rather use more discreet means to teach lessons.

Laxmi.
Named after the goddess for wealth, Laxmi is the youngest born and also the rebel. She cannot stand being treated differently because she is a girl and unlike all of her sisters, will speak back to her father and the figures of authority in the household. She is the daughter that seeks to find truth and ultimately becomes the key figure that the narrative revolves around.







Menika
Menika is the woman that ruined the peace of saints in Indian myths. Using her name as a reflection of her character, Menika is the second wife of Surykant and is extremely deceitful. She is connving and sly, and adopts the persona of the villain for she deliberatly creates problems in the household.

Important things to remember about her are:
*Despite being a female, she still discriminates against the four daghters by considering them inferior to her son.
*In the latest storyline she discovers her son has actually married a prostitute and has decietfully gained access to the whole Garoria wealth and fortune.
*She is now being badly treated by her daughter in law.

Savitri
Surkyants first wife, whose name stands for Lord Rama's dutiful wife. She adopts this role perfectly, obeying all of her husband's wishes and trying her hardest to keep the family together.
Taking on the mother and wife persona, it is interesting to see how she has indirectly passed on her qualities to her daughters too. -They become suppressed housewives who readily accept their fate just as she once did.

Baa
Suryakant's mother and the instigator, along with Menika, of the familys main conflicts. She too places importance on having a heir and through this mistreats the daughters and Savitri badly. She stands for the traditional norms of an indian society, enforcing them wherever possible at all times.