Poetics of Dystopian amidst Female Subjugation in Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh

Abstract

Females from the ancient till the postmodern times are confined in myriad roles which are circumscribed by the chauvinistic society. The multifaceted roles which are assigned to the females vary from culture to culture. In the postmodern arena, different canvases have been used to illuminate the voices of the females in different fabrics of the societies and one of the narratives is dystopian narrative that amalgamates the voice of the females in a very idiosyncratic way under the postmodern lens. The aim of this research appear is to bring into limelight the celebrated novel Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh, published in 2020, that portrays that women’s lives are destined by the lottery machine that give each female either a white or a blue ticket. White ticket females can cherish the family life and they can experience the feeling of motherhood. On the contrary, blue ticket females are ostracized to have family life and can lead a free life which is coloured with taking drugs and having relations with different men. It takes us on the journey of the female character Calla who received the blue ticket, was utterly crushed and exploited by the society. The research would be qualitative and exploratory in nature focusing on the method of textual analysis of the Blue Ticket. As the thematic and stylistic concern is feministic in nature, hence Objectification Theory by Fredrickson and Roberts has been used which is closely interwoven in the literary matrix of the novel that how

females have been dehumanized in the wide social spectrum. The discussion is also synergized by the critical trajectory of ‘body and space’ by Elizabeth Grosz to cultivate more critical appeal to the discussion. Moreover, this research would be a fruitful attempt as it illuminates the bleak aspect of contemporary society. The novel is exquisitely interwoven into the dystopian narrative and questioned the power structures of the society like female oppression, circumscribed role of females and ownership of female body.