Elizabeth Gaskell 's Construction Of The Ideal Man

In a perfect world, men and women would live as equals, sharing power in all aspects of life. While this may be an appealing notion, it is nonexistent in society. Strong men are seen by women as abusive and dominating, while strong women are seen by men as castrating and emasculating. The text of Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, in many ways, conforms to the structure of conventional male myth and asks the reader to accept that myth as a heroic pattern. From a masculinist perspective, it offers a charismatic hero in Randle Patrick McMurphy, a figure of spiritual strength and sexual energy, whose laughter restores the patients of the mental institution to life and confounds the combine’s “machines,” or authoritarians.

Masculinity has changed and evolved since the beginning of human creation. Males have had to adhere to the social norms of their time to survive without undue persecution. In the beginning of the 19th century, there was a shift in the way men could attain manhood. It was no longer easy for a man to enter into manhood with straightforward expectations and rituals. The state of manhood became difficult to obtain because of its precarious nature. During the same period, the industrial revolution was in full bloom giving birth to mass information outlets like newspapers, magazines, and advertisement: media. This set a prevailing state where boys and men alike could gain material on how to become or be men

Throughout the Victorian Age, male dominance deprived women from freedom of choice. In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre repeatedly struggles to become an independent young lady due to the troublesome men in the story. There are several male characters who control, humiliate, and abuse their power over Jane. The author manages to depict patriarchal dominance through the characterization of John Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester.

In today’s society, masculinity has changed throughout time. Fast forward one hundred years ago, masculinity is defined as being strong and having a good paying job. But as the world is changing so is the representation of manliness. You don’t have to show your dominance over men or women today, but you should support your family nowadays and we have all been brainwashed by the thought of masculinity from our ancestors. As men our reputation is always being valued but now it isn’t so much about our reputation but about caring for one another and especially for our families. Perspective of manhood is also a significant factor in portraying what masculinity is in the eyes of other people. Masculinity has been shown through money, appearance, and providing protection for your family members but as we shift into the modern world, masculinity is not seen as displaying the most discipline but caring for one another by taking out some of your time to help one another. Throughout the paper, I will be writing about my interviews from a broad spectrum of ages from one of my younger sisters to my dad with not friends not at Seb’s in between so I can get what it really means to be a man from all ages.

Theroux, P. “Being a Man” English 102 Reader. Bedford/St. Martin’s. Boston, 2013 pages. 358-361. Print

conception of productive masculinity; many follow in the tradition of early-twentieth-century home front novels by women to consider the value of female work, in wartime and beyond […] and most conclude with a look to the future (which is now the present) and a sense of promise that is decidedly free from irony. (21-22)

John Barton resists any feminine qualities and abides by the “rules” of masculinity. “The noble aim of mobilizing the feelings of

Charlotte Perkins Gilman does a remarkable job letting us get inside the head of her unnamed main character in “The Yellow Wallpaper” giving us a taste of the female psyche, in particular showing how historically some women subject themselves to the control of men. Alternatively, Nick Hornby does something altogether similar with “High Fidelity”, introducing us to Rob Fleming, whose male psyche reveals, among other things, how men focus and base their success one expectations influenced by gender roles. In the paragraphs that follow, I will attempt to compare and contrast Gilman’s and Hornby’s findings regarding the male and female psyche. In particular, I hope to explore how gender divisions have vastly influenced society.

The concept of manliness came about through participation in sports, hunting, and other various activities, which allowed men to develop the skills necessary to run the empire. By the 1870s, there was a lower rate of middle class British men who did not marry, but chose to venture out into the empire, which allowed for the spread of British masculinity. For example, Sir Horatio Herbert Kitchener—a prime example of British hypermasculinity—was permeant bachelor who served the empire and England during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) and World War I. Accordingly, some cultural historians believe that between 1870 and 1914, “the imperatives of empire celebrated a militaristic and robust hypermasculinity, which found its apotheosis in the homosocial world the boy’s adventure story.” This version of masculinity developed within the British school system, but it was essentially shattered after the Great War when men felt the need to return to the home and become far more domesticated.

Social standing, and moral values were vital elements in Victorian society, and the fundamental doctrine of establishing this ideology, began at home. The home provided a refuge from the rigour, uncertainty, anxiety, and potential violence of the outside world. (P, 341) A woman’s role was to provide a safe, stable, and well-organised environment for their husbands and families. However, change was on the horizon with an underlying movement of business and domestic changes both home and abroad, with industrialization, and the suffragist movement. Women were beginning to gain autonomy and began to grasp their opportunities, thus significantly curtailing male supremacy and the definable acceptable ‘role’ of the woman.

In the Victorian era, the status of women in society was extremely oppressive and, by modern standards, atrocious. Women had few rights, in or outside of the home. Married women in this period relied on men almost completely as they had few rights or independence. With this mindset in focus,

This develops the idea that her future with this man as a married woman provided a stable lifestyle where she would not have to live by the rigid patterns of society, reinforcing a modern day feminist reader’s view of the expectations and restrictions placed on unmarried women during the Victorian era.

Virginia Woolf criticizes the oppressive expectations British society imposes upon men. Traditional male characters, like Sir William Bradshaw, preserve conformity in society by suppressing people who are different from the social norms of society. Hugh Whitbread embodies the conservative values of the British man and exemplifies this conventional image to society with his political influence. Richard Dalloway also exemplifies traditional British masculinity as he holds a lot of influence in society with his upper-class status in society. Dalloway, Whitbread, and Bradshaw exemplify the authoritative and patriarchal forces of British society. A man must keep his emotions in proportion and hold a social or political influence on society is highly associated with the role of a man. Masculinity is defined during the late Victorian period in England as “neo-Spartan virility as exemplified by stoicism, hardiness, and endurance” (1). A proper Englishman was a man who controlled his emotions and was in proportion to self-control. These characters resemble the idealistic values British society has on masculinity ad the aspect of traditional gender performance. In Mrs. Dalloway, Virginia Woolf criticizes the conventional male characters who preserve the authority of patriarchy in society and idealize conforming to the gender stereotypes.

Through the Victorian Age, male dominance deprived women from a certain freedom. In Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre, Jane Eyre repeatedly struggles to become an independent young lady due to the troublesome men in the story. John Reed controls Jane, Mr. Brocklehurst humiliates Jane, and Mr. Rochester sees women, in general, as objects. The author manages to depict patriarchal dominance through the characterization of John Reed, Mr. Brocklehurst, and Mr. Rochester.

Written by John Stuart Mill in 1860-1861, as the Victorian era took place in England, “The Subjection of Women” is a critical piece of analysis in regards to the status of women in society and their unequal relationship with the opposite sex. During Mills lifetime, women were considered to be inferior to men by custom and laws, therefore, it was expected of them to be submissive in nature and to drive their aspirations as far as those of a homemaker, wife and mother could go. Deeply influenced by the ideas of his wife Harriet Taylor Mill, and John Stuart Mill’s own beliefs, “The Subjection of Women” was published in 1869, becoming a piece of literature that would not only challenge the common views of society at the time, but will advocate for different approaches in light of modern times.