https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i3.104
Dignity, Discipline, and the Collapse of Self: Performing Masculinity in The Remains of the Day
MILCAH R
Ph.D. Research Scholar
Department of English
Faculty of Science and Humanities
SRM Institute of Science and Technology
SRM University, Kattankulathur, Chennai, India
mr2900@srmist.edu.in
DR. MUTHU DEEPA M
Assistant Professor and Research Supervisor
Department of English
Faculty of Science and Humanities
SRM Institute of Science and Technology
SRM University, Kattankulathur, Chennai, India
muthudem@srmist.edu.in
Abstract: This paper examines the creation, enactment, and ultimate deconstruction of masculinity in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day through the theoretical framework of hegemonic masculinity and gender performativity. Based on the works of R. W. Connell and Judith Butler, it argues that masculinity in The Remains of the Day is not a natural trait but a performance governed by class structure, emotionality, and allegiance to institutions. The character Stevens personifies a strict form of masculinity associated with control, rigour, and denial. Yet, such a form of masculinity leads to emotional isolation and ontological disintegration. Through its focus on emotional suppression as a means of constructing masculinity, the paper reveals a significant void in masculinity studies while also adding to literary gender theory by placing British postwar literature in the larger discourse on performativity and power.
Keywords: Hegemonic Masculinity, Gender Performativity, Emotional Repression, Identity Crisis
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