The “Triumph” Of Hegemony

John Updike’s seventeenth novel In the Beauty of the Lilies(1996)delineates the everyday-life trajectory of the Wilmot family through four generations in 80 years from the 1900 s to the 1980 s,offering a vivid glimpse of the social,historical,and cultural panorama of twentieth-century America.Probing into various social relations the male characters interact with,this thesis examines the problematic masculinities demonstrated in the novel.Utilizing the theory of masculinities proposed by Raewyn Connell and her sociological research approach,it scrutinizes divergent masculinities from a situated,dynamic,and contextualized perspective.The study’s main body consists of four chapters.Chapter one analyzes the marginalized masculinity represented by Clarence,a formerly decent priest who resigns from the church and consequently loses authority in various social relations,which declares his invalidity for the hegemonic masculinity.From then on,the following generations all fail in achieving the aspiration of hegemonic masculinity,the wellrecognized cultural “ideal” for men to pursue.Conversely,they develop various but less celebrated ones respectively under specific social contexts.The second chapter probes into the subordinated masculinity,whose bearer Teddy is at the bottom of the power hierarchy in three dimensions of gender relations,which announces his ineligibility for the hegemonic masculinity.Chapter three discusses the complicit masculinity embodied by Jared,who fanatically embraces the hegemonic “ideal” successively through bodily strength and material wealth.It turns out that his ambition does great harm to himself and others,converting people into accomplices of hegemony.Chapter four is to explore Clark’s toxic masculinity.Fantasizing about getting rid of his mother’s stardom and becoming a cinematic superman in real life,the overshadowed Hollywood child joins a cult and retorts to violence and sex.Nevertheless,his authority remains unconvinced;and he is subject to the toxic masculinity,performing a parody of hegemony at the cost of his life.With his death,hegemony has gained a complete“triumph”.This thesis argues that the four generations of the Wilmot are essentially identified with the cultural “ideal” of hegemony,whether they readily resonate with it or get involved in it unwillingly.In this way,the dominance of the hegemonic masculinity is entrenched whereas the legitimacy of other masculinities is denied.Pursuing hegemony as well as its masculine norms causes great harm to both sexes;and typically creates anxieties and hazards for its male victims.Debunking and subverting the hegemonic masculinity as the cultural norm,the novel also reflects upon the problems of various masculinities and their holders’ actions and inactions when confronting the hegemonic“ideal”,indicating Updike’s profound solicitude for masculinity in twentieth-century America.