Tears, blushes and beating hearts: Masculinity, emotions and feelings in Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South, Thomas Hardy's Far from the Madding Crowd and Sara Jeannette Duncan's The Imperialist.

Abstract

This dissertation explores the relationship between masculinity, emotions and feelings in Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South (1855), Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) and Sara Jeannette Duncan’s The Imperialist (1904). The Introduction gives an overview of gender theory and the ideology of masculinity in general, explains the terms ‘emotion’ and ‘feeling’ and discusses the relationship between the ideology of masculinity, emotions and feelings in the nineteenth century. Chapter One examines the relationship between masculinity, emotions and feelings in the industrial setting of North and South and studies the tension or discrepancy between them. In addition, it demonstrates the different functions of the display of emotions and feelings. Furthermore, it challenges the assumption that the expression of male emotions and feelings automatically emasculates a man. Chapter Two looks at the depiction of masculinity and emotions in relation to nature descriptions, such as landscape, weather and animals, in the rural setting of Far from the Madding Crowd. It further shows how the display of emotions changes in the second half of the nineteenth century to an indirect expression through nature descriptions. At the same time, this chapter indicates that emotions and feelings are natural for men and that their suppression can have destructive consequences. The final chapter investigates masculine identities in the imperial setting of The Imperialist. It shows how at the-turn-of-the 20th century the expression of male emotions and feelings is replaced by an increasing self-control. The Conclusion indicates the realignment of gender identities that are defined through the inclusion of feminine and masculine characteristics and demonstrate their application in further nineteenth-century texts.