Emotional Consequences of Gender-Based Violence: Influences on Ratnamala’s Decision-Making in The Story of Felanee

Abstract

This study analyses how the emotional consequences of gender-based violence (GBV) shape Ratnamala's decision to elope with Kinaram in Arupa Patangia Kalita's novel, The Story of Felanee (2011). Focusing on the sociocultural practices of 1940s Assam, this research reveals how GBV, particularly the oppressive norms of widowhood prevalent in Ratnamala's patriarchal, upper-caste Hindu community, profoundly impacts her emotional landscape and ultimately fuels her act of resistance through elopement. By integrating the decision-making framework of Ernst and Paulus with Damasio's Somatic Marker Hypothesis and Kahneman and Tversky's Prospect Theory, this paper provides a nuanced understanding of the interplay between GBV, emotional responses, and Ratnamala's pursuit of autonomy and happiness.