Revolutionary Road as Representation of Masculinity in Crisis
Keywords:
Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road, Masculinity Studies, Cold War America, SuburbiaAbstract
As covered in masculinity studies, American men have been in a crisis about the gender roles since the eighteenth century due to the rapidly changing types of masculinity. The crisis is felt acutely in the Cold War era in particular because of the contrasting forms of masculinity that require conformism and nonconformism at the same time. Frank Wheeler, the protagonist of Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road, is, too, caught in the dilemma between social conformity and individual authenticity. He is already a man that struggles hard to project certain images of himself so as to look like a man in control, which rendered him a man devoid of an authentic self and a man who must deal with his fragile masculinity by rationalizations and justifications. Benefiting from masculinity studies and focusing on the hegemonic masculinity forms during the Cold War America, this paper will analyze Frank’s identity crisis as experienced by a man rather than an individual.
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