THE LIVING ARCHIVE
About Suruchi
Uttanapada’s other queen is Suniti, Dhruva’s mother. Uttama and Dhruva are paternal half-brothers. Suruchi uses the king’s preference for her to claim that only her own son deserves the intimate and political privileges attached to the royal household.
Her influence matters because the king does not oppose her in the opening scene. What she says to Dhruva therefore carries the force of a judgement the palace accepts. The child experiences rejection from his father as well as hostility from his stepmother.
