Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


ucin1259076061.pdf (698.35 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Masculinity Under Siege: Gender, Empire, and Knowledge in Late Victorian Literature

Sinha, Madhudaya
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1259076061

Abstract Details

2009, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences : English and Comparative Literature.
Using the works of Rider Haggard, Jules Verne, Rudyard Kipling, and Bram Stoker, this dissertation critically reassesses the state of masculinity in the Victorian fin de siècle. The last quarter of the Victorian era witnessed a proliferation of narratives emphasizing the role and importance of the ‘manly man.’ Rejecting the comforts of domesticity and household duties, men fled to the far corners of the British Empire. Here they hunted both man and animal while establishing an authoritative presence through the appropriation of native customs and cultures. I also contend that a stable masculinity was shaken and the ‘flight from domesticity’ was a reaction against anxieties both at home and abroad. The empire itself was perceived to be in danger since other European nations were also entering the imperial arena. Further, a language of degeneration and the rise of Social Darwinism led people to fear for the virility and vigor of the British man. Moreover, the rise of the New Woman created a great degree of anxiety on the part of men. My dissertation discusses the ways in which men, reacting to these disturbing new developments, rebuilt and refashioned masculinity both at home and abroad. In order to support my argument I make use of the hunting grounds of Africa in Rider Haggard’s She, the cosmopolitan traveler in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days, the adolescent who ‘passes’ as the native in Kipling’s celebrated novel Kim, and the tussle between masculine rationality and the feminine occult in Bram Stoker’s Mystery of the Sea. In conclusion I consider the early twentieth century hero, T.E. Lawrence and the ways in which heroism continued to be constructed by new media forms.
Wendy Heller, PhD (Committee Chair)
Jana Braziel, PhD (Committee Member)
Barbara Nell Ramusack, PhD (Committee Member)
110 p.
English literature
Masculinity; Victorian; Empire; Gender; Knowledge

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Sinha, M. (2009). Masculinity Under Siege: Gender, Empire, and Knowledge in Late Victorian Literature [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1259076061

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Sinha, Madhudaya. Masculinity Under Siege: Gender, Empire, and Knowledge in Late Victorian Literature. 2009. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1259076061.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Sinha, Madhudaya. "Masculinity Under Siege: Gender, Empire, and Knowledge in Late Victorian Literature." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1259076061

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1259076061
927
© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.