Marxist and Foucauldian Perspectives on Power in Imayam’s Beasts of Burden and A Woman Burnt

This paper is an exploration of how power, oppression, caste, and gender function in Imayam’s novels Beasts of Burden and A Woman Burnt through the combined perspectives of Karl Marx and Michel Foucault. It argues that the main reason for exploitation in Imayam’s works is not economic inequality alone but the disruption in social norms, caste hierarchy, and internalized oppression. Using Marxist theory, the paper explains how poverty, labor exploitation, and caste-based economic systems shape the lives of marginalized Dalit communities. Through Foucauldian theory, it further shows how power operates invisibly through family, culture, religion, and societal expectations, making oppressed individuals accept suffering as natural. Overall, the paper highlights the realistic portrayal of both the material and psychological dimensions of oppression in Indian society.