Masculine Identity in Hardy's Novels

Masculine Identity in Hardy's Novels

In Hardy's novels, masculine identity is explored, evolving from the solid, monolithic, patriarchal role of the mid-1800s, to less typical, nearly feminine styles of manhood. With the increasing power of women during the Victorian Era, Hardy creates men who are in a state of ambivalence about their sexuality; they either reach for the well-worn stereotype of the "manly" man, or they attempt to explore their own complicated emotions, sensitive to the needs of the emerging New Woman. Though action in Hardy's novels centers predominately around the female, life is often seen through the eyes of the males in his works. The "typical" male is often associated with money, power, and prestige, while the realists and chaste men are almost "unmasculine" in thoughts and action, and frequently fall victim to the New Woman. By depicting a man like Henchard, who goes from being an obsessive power seeker to one who is, in a sense, "unmanned," Hardy shows readers the male identity which he tends to favor.

The state of the economy and the political events of the 1880s and 1890s were unstable, and in their public roles, men began to feel gradually overwhelmed. Their personal lives were even more chaotic, as women began to challenge "old ideas" with their new, feminist ones. The "Woman Question" was ubiquitous, and women were gradually given rights that they never before had; the Married Women's Property Act, two Matrimonial Causes Acts, and the Maintenance of Wives Act, were three laws which allowed for more equality in marriage. The introduction of birth control literature also significantly changed women's attitudes toward their sexuality and matrimonial duties. Federico maintains that as a result of these changes, ferment existed during the era. "Men meditated upon their patriarchal inheritance, and by the end of the century, contradictory middle-class attitudes still existed, contributing to the sketchy construct of Victorian masculinity" (Federico 18-19).

Southerington has placed some of Hardy's male characters into one of four categories (although it is important to note that these groupings are permeable, and characters are not confined to any one category): the virile; romantic; realist; and chaste. Though virility in such men as Fitzpiers, Troy, Wildeve, and Alec d'Urberville was believed to be the "keynote to all that is best and most forcible in the masculine character" (according to Grant Allen in the Fortnightly Review, October, 1889), inwardly their egoist self-assurance was steadily eroded by perceived threats to their masculinity.