Emotional Exile and the Female Self: Existential Feminism in M. T. Vasudevan Nair’s Mist

Abstract

This paper examines the concept of emotional exile and female subjectivity through the lens of existential feminism in Mist by M. T. Vasudevan Nair. The study explores how the narrative portrays women’s inner loneliness as an existential condition shaped by alienation, emotional isolation and the search for identity within patriarchal structures. Drawing on existential feminist thought, the paper argues that the female characters experience a profound sense of displacement, becoming existentialist exiles in their own worlds where freedom, selfhood and authentic existence remain elusive. Their lives are marked by waiting, longing and unresolved emotional desires that deepen their sense of isolation and intensify internal conflicts. The novel reveals how patriarchal confinements blur the boundaries between imagination and reality, trapping women in a whirl of emotional uncertainty and self-negation. Through its nuanced representation of female consciousness, Mist exposes the tension between individual aspirations and social expectations, highlighting the struggles for autonomy and self-definition. Ultimately the paper contends that emotional exile functions as both a psychological and existential state, illuminating the complex ways in which women negotiate identity, freedom and subjectivity in a world structured by gendered limitations.