Representations of Masculinity in Thomas Hardy’s Novels

Abstract

, This study intends to add to the work so far composed on Hardy and critically analyze the representation of masculinity in Thomas Hardy’s novels. More specifically, the books that will be examined, evaluated, and explained are; The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and Jude the Obscure (1895). The male characters in these books align themselves to masculinity, social class structures and cultural norms of their time. What is less clear, in these novels, is the degree to which characters are obliged by these powers and the degree to which they oppose them. Hardy in these books, illustrate to the readers the importance of the social structure among the people and how it leads to the construction of masculinity. Hardy, in these books, further demonstrates how the male characters were expected to carry themselves in the contemporary social and show their masculinity power.