A masculinist look at Meredith’s One of Our Conquerors: Hegemonic, ethical and religious masculinity norms as determinant factors in the formation of male anxiety*

Abstract

The field of masculinity studies is a recent branch of research, which seeks answers to questions concerning the construction of masculinities and examines how the construction process differs in different societal, cultural, and historical contexts. Primarily aiming at investigating how male individuals respond to hegemonic masculinity norms either through their rejection or internalisation, the field emphasizes that the close analysis of the concept of masculinity is of great importance since it is impossible to find solutions to problems regarding to gender issues without understanding masculinities. Literary masculinity studies empower this close analysis by foregrounding the construction of masculinities in literary texts. George Meredith’s One of Our Conquerors, which was written in 1891, at the beginning of the nineteenth century fin de siècle, is a successful example of literary texts which present a kind of critique of the prevailing patriarchal ideologies and of the damaging effects of hegemonic masculinity norms on psychologies of male individuals. Through its portrayal of a male protagonist who experiences a striking failure in conforming to the hegemonic masculinity expectations, the novel demonstrates the severe consequences of hegemonic gender expectations on non-hegemonic or alternative masculinities. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the role of hegemonic, ethical, and religious norms in the construction of masculine identities as well as in the occurrence of male anxiety through analysing masculinity portrayals in the novel.