The Role of a Confident Woman in Sangam Literature – Friend (Female)

Abstract

The Sangam literature guides us to live the lives of our forefathers with tradition and culture. The Sangam literature is divided into Akam, and Puram, and clearly depicts the love/family life and the social/war life. Out of the 18 books in Sangam literature, there are 8 books related to the Akam, 8 are Puram books and 2 are related to both Akam as well as Puram. The role of a friend is very important in the Akam part of the Sangam literature. Friend's eloquence, intelligence, and selfless high character are seen to excel. The friend appears as the storehouse of love and the abode of character. If she is seen in the woman-lead’s home, she would be working but treated as a daughter. She is a messenger among the man and woman leads, but she is the backbone of the Akam texts. In the Sangam literature, there is more to the statements of the friend (female), the supporting character, than the statements of the woman-lead. The main characters in Sangam literature are the man-lead, the woman-lead, the friend (female), the foster mother, the birth mother, and the friend (male). The purpose of this article is that the female character who is the most trusted of the characters found in the Sangam literature is the friend of the woman-lead.