“I Can’t Help It” Readings of Gender Performativity and Heteronormativity in Ruskin Bond’s Susanna’s Seven Husbands: A Critical Examination of Patriarchal Constructs and Female Autonomy

Abstract

Ruskin Bond’s novella Susanna’s Seven Husbands offers a compelling lens through which to explore the intersections of gender, desire, and societal expectations. This paper examines how Bond’s narrative critiques and reflects the gender dynamics within a patriarchal framework, using the story of Susanna—a wealthy, aristocratic woman whose repeated marriages and eventual murders of her husband reveal underlying tensions between gender, autonomy and societal constraints in India. Through the lens of Butler’s concept of gender performativity, the paper explores how Susanna’s identity is constructed and deconstructed by the patriarchal gaze, and how her repeated need for marriage reflects a deeper quest for validation within a restrictive heteronormative framework. By situating Susanna’s Seven Husbands within the broader discourse of gender transformation and queer theory, this paper aims to illuminate how literature can act as both a mirror and critic of evolving gender norms, and how Susanna’s story serves as a provocative commentary on the limitations and possibilities of female autonomy within a patriarchal context.