Manthara's persuasion techniques The Story, Stripped to Its Mechanics In the Ramayana, Kaikeyi is not a villain by nature. She's a queen who loves her husband and stepson. Manthara, her maidservant, doesn't hand her a bad idea — she hands her a feeling. Over the course of one conversation, Manthara takes a mildly happy Kaikeyi and turns her into someone who will burn every relationship she has to secure her son's future. Manthara doesn't do this with facts. She does it with
