Women, Marginality, and Ethical Selfhood: A Feminist Reading of Sudha Murthy’s Novels

Kovuru Sara Grace^1* & Lavanya Sivapurapu²
¹Research Scholar & ²Associate Professor, Department of English, Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (Deemed to be University), Vaddeswaram, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India. Corresponding Author.

^{Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 18, Issue 2, 2026. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v18n2.12
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Abstract

This paper examines how Sudha Murthy reimagines the relationship between the centre and the margin through the lived experiences of women in her fiction. While marked by stylistic simplicity, Murthy’s novels expose entrenched patriarchal and cultural hegemonies through narratives of resilience and ethical selfhood. Drawing on feminist theory, intersectionality, trauma studies, and resilience theory, the study offers a comparative textual analysis of Gently Falls the Bakula, Mahashweta, Dollar Bahu, and House of Cards. It argues that the protagonists like Shrimati, Anupama, Vinuta, and Mridula challenge patriarchal structures not through overt rebellion but through moral agency, emotional resilience, and self-realisation. The paper further employs the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 4, 5, 10, and 17) as a critical framework to show the contemporary relevance of Murthy’s feminist vision. It concludes that Murthy redefines marginality as a site of ethical strength by advocating empathy, gender justice, and inclusive social transformation while foregrounding the transformative agency of women in everyday life.

Keywords: Sudha Murthy, Feminism, Intersectionality, Trauma, Resilience, Sustainable Development Goals