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This paper explores how the female body is portrayed as an archive of trauma and resistance in the works of Plath and Bhattacharya.

May 10, 2026Open Access

The Body as Archive in Sylvia Plaths Medusa and Supata Bhattacharyas Draupadi

Key Points

This paper explores how the female body is portrayed as an archive of trauma and resistance in the works of Plath and Bhattacharya.
Cross-cultural comparative analysis of 'Medusa' and 'Draupadi' poems
Utilization of the Body-as-Archive framework
Theoretical exploration of trauma and physicality in literature
Both poets depict the female body as a site of accumulated histories of control and violation.
The analysis reveals that trauma is actively remembered and expressed, not just a relic of the past.
The concept of the body as an archive allows for a deeper understanding of agency and resistance in women's experiences.

Abstract

This paper presents a cross-cultural comparative reading of Medusa by Sylvia Plath and Draupadi by Supata Bhattacharya through the conceptual framework of the Body-as-Archive. Rather than approaching these poems through familiar feminist or psychoanalytic lenses, this study argues that both poets imagine the female body as a living site where histories of control, violation, and resistance are stored. The body, in this sense, is not passive; it remembers, accumulates, and reacts. Drawing loosely on theoretical ideas about the body as a site of inscription, the paper suggests that trauma in these poems does not remain confined to the past.

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