Forum - View topicHeaven's Feel, Hinduism, and the Sacred Feminine
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UltimateEye
Posts: 34 |
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Having been so enchanted with Fate/stay night's new Heaven's Feel films, and especially the female lead, I've been inspired to write a scholarly piece on what Sakura represents as a figure of both female victimization and agency. Her qualities bring to mind what I know of Parvati, the Hindu goddess of love. I don't think it's a coincidence that the character Parvati as she appears in Fate/Grand Order takes the form of Sakura Matou. However, I also know that a different aspect of Parvati is Kali, the fierce goddess of death. The two deities are fundamentally linked, though inherently different, and their link is to Shiva as a sacred male counterpart. It's my intention to explore the symbolism of Heaven's Feel's heroine and also Shirou's, namely the divinely self-sacrificing role he takes in this narrative, echoing Shiva's.
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HyugaHinata
 Posts: 3505 |
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I'm still plowing through the first visual novel. I loved the two HF movies. Definitely gonna watch the last one.
Sakura's probably the most tragic heroine I've encountered, and I've read hundreds of books and watched thousands of movies. The two aspects of Hindu deities (destruction and creation) were also present in Devil Survivor 2 (the DS game). |
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UltimateEye
Posts: 34 |
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One area in which I'd like to elaborate is the idea that Hindu deities unlock their full potential through union with their wives. This is the case with Shirou in his evolution through the three story routes of Fate/stay night. In Fate (wherein he pursues Saber), Shirou holds firm to patriarchal ideals, but is by no means the misogynist that Shinji is. In Unlimited Blade Works, Shirou reaches a compromise of sorts with his partnership with Rin as a fellow mage; he accepts her as an equal, though still has doubts about his role as a man and a male hero. In Heaven's Feel, Shirou uncovers the truth about Sakura's past and present struggles, and accepts that saving the world can, and very often should be about saving one person whom you love. Sakura is not a truly passive victim after being inspired by Shirou. 'Saving' Sakura is more than once equated to 'forgiving' her by Shirou. She feels guilt and shame over how she considers herself to be a bad person, and would do well to forgive herself. However, the inferiority complex Sakura suffers from is the result of gendered violence and abuse of her as a girl. Sakura Matou is innocent, traditionally feminine as Shirou is traditionally male, but she is by no means powerless. She is not so much saved as enlightened by the compassion of Shirou, who was in turn enlightened by Sakura as to the nature of individual suffering.
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HyugaHinata
Posts: 3505 |
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That's an excellent observation. When I first saw the first 2 series, I never made that connection.
I also didn't conclude that spoiler[Rin and Sakura were blood sisters.] |
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NonSteb
 Posts: 7 |
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Sakura is not a truly passive victim after being inspired by Shirou. 'Saving' Sakura is more than once equated to 'forgiving' her by Shirou. She feels guilt and shame over how she considers herself to be a bad person, and would do well to forgive herself.
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