I mean,i do understand the "revenge" perspective to start with...but how did he get so carried away that he started wooing her?!(that too in captivity...DUH!!!)
We all know he was a semi-brahmin (his mother was a demon). And we all know that he was super-intelligent. In his childhood, he could put Vibhishana (the full-brahmin half brother to shame,with his cunning). Brother Kumbhkaran was never any match anyway. We also know that he had 10 heads, so you can imagine the IQ(lets make it 180*10)!!!
Unless he was susceptible to 10 times as much confusion too, one can easily assume Ravan to be a pretty rad guy with psychic n telekinetic powers (what,with all the additional brain strength!)
So why did he take such a foolish step? Why did he ruin his marriage? Why did he go after a married woman? Why did he become so stubborn that he even fought till death for a lady who was not ready to accept even his courtship? Why did he sacrifice his whole kin for this madness?
People have wondered a lot, i know. A convenient take on this is "when the end is near,people stop thinking right". But i don't agree. Of the 10 heads he had, at least 1 must have been thinking right!!! That little voice in that one head must have been shouting - "come on dude, she wont go for you...and have you considered the havoc this Hanuman guy can create,if Ram asks him for it??? I mean,he's the avtaar of your deity!!!"
Hence it can be presumed that Ravan's head(s) must have had some other forces at play when he made such rash decisions.
(Male) EGO for instance pops up into mind! I mean,who goes for abducting and loses his heart in the process too? Its a known fact that Ravan had a beautiful wife (even though she was a demoness as well) and all these years he had been dedicated to her. But when Sita rejected him, it turned into an ego-issue. Think about a king who can have it all and now the girl he wants doesn't want him. Imagine the dent in the EGO!!
MIDLIFE CRISIS is another factor. After all, Ravan had an adult son, so that must mean he himself was at least 40! With the monotony of ruling over Lanka and getting entertained and tended to by demons day in and out, one can easily start craving for some adventure!
Oh and how can i forget, an OLD FLAME can be at play here as well. Ravan attempted to tie the Parshuram's dhanush on Sita's swayamwar as well (ofcourse he failed)! Now if the opportunity will present itself, why wouldn't one want to get back with the old crush and have some fun?
Lastly, I can concede, Sita must have been a real beauty... This argument doesn't even need any explaining.
So now that we have some idea about what made him go after her its worth contemplating that is it fair to burn him year after year? Bechara... "Budhi bhrasht" or not, we "bhrasht" him every year for doing something he hardly had any control over!
