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Shakespeare and Masculinity
Author(s) -
Feather Jennifer
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
literature compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.158
H-Index - 4
ISSN - 1741-4113
DOI - 10.1111/lic3.12221
Subject(s) - masculinity , flourishing , ideology , dominance (genetics) , object (grammar) , power (physics) , gender studies , resistance (ecology) , sociology , space (punctuation) , psychology , aesthetics , social psychology , philosophy , politics , law , political science , ecology , biochemistry , linguistics , physics , quantum mechanics , biology , gene , chemistry
The peculiar challenge posed by studying Shakespearean masculinity is its resistance to inquiry. Patriarchal ideologies function precisely by taking a specific form of male power, the power of the father, as neutral, given and, therefore, not an available object of study. Scholars have faced this challenge by examining masculinity at those very moments when it falters and fractures. The study of Shakespeare's male characters has an extensive history, and for much of that history, these characters were interesting and significant because they told us something about mankind, about human beings in general. Examining masculinity rather than men, scholars rethought the study of maleness as a feminist project and made a fertile space for historical study that draws out the contours of manliness in all its historical specificities. Such study lays the groundwork for new analyses that interrogate the association between masculine attributes and culturally valued forms of self. These analyses do more than simply question the dominance of men but propose alternative ideas of the masculine and alternative forms of human flourishing.