• Shruthe S

ABSTRACT The present research entitled House of Cards: A Feminist and Sociological Study undertakes a comprehensive interdisciplinary investigation of House of Cards by Sudha Murthy through feminist literary criticism and sociological literary analysis. The study critically examines emotional labour, patriarchal conditioning, institutional ambition, relational imbalance, silence, invisible caregiving, psychological suppression, and female identity within contemporary Indian middle-class society. The investigation emerges from the recognition that modern institutional culture increasingly prioritises professional achievement, authority, productivity, ambition, and social recognition while simultaneously weakening emotional reciprocity, relational accountability, and psychological stability within interpersonal relationships. Although women today participate actively within educational and professional spheres, emotional caregiving, relational maintenance, psychological endurance, and invisible emotional labour continue to remain disproportionately associated with femininity. Such emotional responsibilities frequently remain socially unrecognised because patriarchal culture normalises caregiving as natural feminine behaviour rather than emotionally demanding labour. The primary objective of the study is to examine how House of Cards represents emotional inequality and institutional modernity through domestic relationships and middle-class social structures. The research seeks to demonstrate that emotional suffering within the narrative cannot be understood merely as individual psychological experience but must instead be interpreted within broader sociological systems regulating gender roles, emotional responsibility, institutional expectation, and relational behaviour. The study adopts a qualitative, interpretative, analytical, and interdisciplinary methodological framework grounded primarily in feminist literary criticism and sociological literary analysis. Close textual analysis serves as the principal research method through which narrative structure, symbolism, emotional development, silence, institutional conflict, and relational dynamics are examined. The theoretical framework of the investigation is primarily informed by the feminist perspectives of Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Elaine Showalter, and Bell Hooks. The research additionally incorporates insights from emotional labour theory, psychological feminism, institutional sociology, mythological feminism, and contemporary Indian feminist discourse represented by Devdutt Pattanaik and Nilanjana Bhowmick. The investigation reveals that emotional labour constitutes one of the most significant yet socially neglected dimensions of gender inequality within domestic structures. The female protagonist consistently performs emotional caregiving, psychological regulation, relational maintenance, and emotional endurance while receiving limited emotional reciprocity or recognition. The study further demonstrates that patriarchy within the narrative operates primarily through emotional conditioning, silence, relational expectation, and invisible caregiving rather than overt domination alone. Another major finding of the research concerns the influence of institutional ambition and professional culture upon interpersonal relationships. The narrative critically exposes how modern institutional systems prioritise productivity, status, authority, and external success while gradually destabilising emotional intimacy and relational balance. Marriage within the novel consequently emerges not merely as a personal relationship but as a sociological institution shaped by gendered emotional responsibility, middle-class aspiration, and patriarchal expectation. The study additionally analyses silence as both a psychological condition and a sociological mechanism preserving emotional hierarchy within patriarchal structures. Silence within the narrative reflects emotional suppression, psychological endurance, relational accommodation, and fear of institutional disruption. The investigation further demonstrates that the female protagonist undergoes gradual psychological transformation and emotional self-realisation through recognition of emotional invisibility and relational imbalance. Her journey symbolises the movement from internalised emotional conditioning towards emotional consciousness, personal dignity, and psychological selfhood. The symbolic significance of the title House of Cards occupies an important position within the study. The title symbolises emotional fragility, institutional instability, relational imbalance, and the superficial appearance of social success concealing psychological vulnerability beneath external respectability. The research ultimately concludes that House of Cards constitutes a sophisticated feminist-sociological narrative capable of contributing significantly to contemporary discussions concerning emotional labour, gender inequality, institutional modernity, psychological well-being, relational ethics, and invisible caregiving within modern society. The study contributes original interdisciplinary scholarship to feminist literary criticism, sociological literary analysis, emotional labour studies, and contemporary Indian English literature while simultaneously repositioning Sudha Murthy’s narrative within advanced academic and publication-oriented literary discourse.

"Fragile Foundations of Success: A Feminist and Sociological Study of Sudha Murthy’s House of Cards", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 5, page no.l925-l975, May-2026, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRTHE2235.pdf

"Fragile Foundations of Success: A Feminist and Sociological Study of Sudha Murthy’s House of Cards", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.13, Issue 5, page no. ppl925-l975, May-2026, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRTHE2235.pdf