The Reshaping Of Masculinity In The Sea-wolf

The Sea-Wolf is the third novel of Jack London. Although this novel has been attachedgreat attention from the perspective of naturalism, philosophy of superman and genderpolitics by scholars since it was published in1904, there are few studies from the perspectiveof masculinity to explore the relationship between the initiation of the individual and thesocial environment. American masculinity suffers from a sense of absence or suppressionbecause of the industrialization and the social individual’s over-civilization at the end ofnineteenth century. Masculinity is a product of social practices and it acquiredly relies onpersonal endeavor in the social environment. The leading expert in the emerging area ofmasculinity is Raewyn Connell who insists upon the importance of social practices in theprocess of reshaping masculinity. Connell defines the four patterns of masculinity in genderrelations: Hegemony, Subordination, Complicity and Marginalization. Humphrey VanWeyden’s reshaping of masculinity in The Sea-Wolf manifests the fact that the masculinetransformation is from Marginalization and Subordination to Hegemony and Complicity inthe state of absence or suppression.The dissertation applies the theories of masculinity to explore the interaction betweenmale initiation and social practices, which presents Jack London’s reflection on patriarchalculture as well as the construction of harmonious sexual ethics. The dissertation consists ofthree chapters. Chapter One discusses the improvement in physical and mental quality of theself-role, which promulgates the weakening of masculinity is caused by over-civilization. Themale individual abandons sentimentality on the psychological level and heels a robust bodyon the physiological level so that he can beneficially relocate his masculinity. Chapter Twoanalyzes the well-healthy Weyden’s adaptability in competition from the male world, whichindicates that the construction of masculinity is closely related to the recognition from othermen. The male role can scientifically sublate his traditional hegemonic masculinity under thescrutiny of other men by overcoming homophobia from the peer group and arrogating thepower from the authority. Chapter Three interprets the competitive Weyden’s reformation incomplicity with the female role, which elaborates that the participation of female is anindispensible prerequisite for the reshaping of masculinity. Man’s complicity with woman by cultivating responsible vision of love and overthrowing absolute domination of patriarchy isthe key to reshape masculinity.The reshaping of masculinity in The Sea-Wolf is based on the deep thinking aboutmasculinity crisis. Unlike those writers who advocate the traditional hegemonic masculinitywith a strong sense about male-dominated culture and sexuality, Jack London not onlycreatively breaks through the limitation of judging masculinity in gender relations, but alsoperfectly rectifies the narrow-mindedness that masculinity is equal to patriarchy andmale-dominated culture. Weyden’s initiation, from the weakness to the mightiness, from theevading of liability to the assuming of responsibility, indicates that masculinity can beconstructed, developed and reshaped in the nurtured growth environment so as to provide thepossibility for the reconstruction of male identity in American masculinity crisis at end of thenineteenth century.