The Test of Manhood. Ernest Hemingways's "A Farewell to Arms" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls"

      Аннотация: The present study discusses the masculine identity of two main characters, Frederic Henry and Robert Jordan, in Ernest Hemingway’s two novels. Henry is the main character in A Farewell to Arms, and Jordan is the main one in For Whom the Bell Tolls. In the past, literary critics had identified Hemingway’s main male characters as individuals that demonstrate tough masculine traits. In contrast to the previous critics’ views, I argue that Hemingway’s central male characters, namely Henry and Jordan are in struggle with regard to their masculine social positions and they are hardly able to prove their masculinity. In marked contrast to the previous emphases on biographical readings and psychoanalytical analyses of the novels, this study pays careful attention to the construction of the masculine identity. My discussion of the subject is based on the social construction of manhood. This involves examining the motives that lead Henry and Jordan to participate in the First World War and in the Spanish Civil War.

Ключевые слова: gender roles, Jordan, Crisis of Masculinity, Henry, Construction of Masculine Identity, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls.