Portrayal of Alternative Masculinities and Depiction of Male Anxiety in Gissing’s Novel: New Grub Street

Abstract

This study aims to contribute to the development of literary masculinity studies by investigating the construction of alternative masculinities in George Gissing’s New Grub Street, which was written in Victorian fin de siècle, during which British society witnessed great transformations in its social structure and gender order. In fin de siècle Britain, because of the societal pressures, men who found it difficult to fit into pre-determined hegemonic masculine roles either suffered from male anxiety, or they created their alternative masculine identities themselves. Tracing the reflection of these two occasions by applying the tenets of masculinist theory to the novel, and focusing on male protagonist Edwin Reardon, the study demonstrates that the novel can be classified as an early example of masculinist texts, in its portrayal of alternative masculinities and exhibition of the devastating effects of hegemonic gender idealizations on male individuals which resulted in the formation of male-specific anxiety.