The Representation Of Gender In Ian Mcewan’s The Cement Garden, Amsterdam And Saturday

Ian Russell McEwan (1948-) is one of the most creative writers in contemporary Britain. His early works are controversial for their presentation of violence, death, incest and many other morbid themes. Nevertheless, during a career of nearly half a century, he dedicates himself to the exploration of moral, ethical, political and social problems through his unique writing style. With the continuous innovations in feminist theories, he pays attention to the construction and crisis of masculinity. This thesis, on the basis of previous studies, analyzes the representation of gender in Ian McEwan’s The Cement Garden, Amsterdam and Saturday from the perspective of masculinity construction. These three novels depict the confusion and anxiety of male characters in their own dilemmas.In light of Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity and R. W. Connell’s theory of the social construction of masculinities, this thesis puts the gender practices of the protagonists in a triadic structure constitutive of social norms, subject and other, and analyzes the social construction of gender and the paradoxical relationship between bodies and social norms in McEwan’s novels. Chapter One discusses the construction of hegemonic masculinity within the three-fold structure of cathexis, power relations and production relations. According to Butler, the major motivation for constructing masculinity is the longing for recognition—receiving recognition or not has a great impact on the construction of masculinity. What is more, the construction of masculinities is dynamic and changing, which will not completely abide by the requirements of social norms. Therefore, on one hand the influence of social norms should not be underestimated, on the other hand it should not be exaggerated. In spite of the influence of regulative discourses, the protagonists are still able to perform the agency of the body to maintain a critical and resistant relationship with social norms. Chapter Two adopts Jessica Benjamin’s theory of Other’s complementarity to examine the complementary effect of female characters in the gender practices of the male characters. The female characters in McEwan’s novels, such as Julie and Sue in The Cement Garden, Molly in Amsterdam, and Daisy in Saturday, are signifiers of morality and humanism and can exert considerate influence upon the gender practices of the male characters. Chapter Three studies the results of gender practices from the perspective of body agency, and explores the possibility of reconfiguration and transformation of masculinity for male subjects. According to this thesis, the protagonist of Saturday, Perowne, is aware of the risks brought by constructing hegemonic masculinity after encountering various challenges. Through actively changing the meaning of masculinity, he finally finds the rationalized masculinity.Although the three novels vary from each other in style and theme, they reveal McEwan’s ideas of gender construction in different stages. By portraying different characters in various life dilemmas, McEwan explores a method to reconcile with hegemonic masculinity and realize a balance between social norms and bodies, and between subject and other. This thesis holds the view that after depicting several extreme cases of hegemonic masculinities, McEwan finally finds a way to realize the possibility of reconfiguration and transformation of masculinity in Saturday. As the product of the reconfiguration and transformation, rationalized masculinity is a result of a neutralization between rationality and the impulsive and extreme parts in masculinity after the male subject has been aware of the limits of body and the complementarity of other. Rationalized masculinity establishes the foundation for a balance in the triadic structure.