Volume VI Special Issue III March 2026

Name of Author : Sonal

Title of the paper : The Controlled Body and the Illusion of Freedom in Manjula Padmanabhans Escape

Abstract: What does freedom mean when safety becomes a form of control Manjula Padmanabhans Escape raises such a question through the portrayal of the protagonist Meiji, the only girl raised in isolation in a dystopian world where all women have been exterminated. Through a close reading of Meijis upbringing, the study explores how her body is regulated through hormone suppression, controlled movement, and restricted knowledge about the body. Rather than reading Escape merely as a dystopian novel or political allegory, this paper focuses on the inner workings through which power operates through and upon the body. This paper argues that such practices function as mechanisms of oppression that manoeuvre in the name of care, freedom, and safety. Instead of depicting domination as an external force, Escape reveals how power is internalized within the body, reshaping subjectivity and constraining the scope of resistance. By foregrounding bodily regulation rather than an overt political authority, this paper offers a new reading of Escape that reveals how freedom can be carefully staged as an illusion while bodily autonomy is denied.

Keywords : Escape, Bodily control, Feminist dystopia, Power, Illusion of Freedom

DOI :

Page Number : 296-301