The Fragility of Manhood: Hawthorne, Freud and the Politics of Gender

Merging psychoanalytic and queer theory perspectives, The Fragility of Manhood: Hawthorne, Freud, and the Politics of Gender reframes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work as a critique of the normative construction of American male identity. Through a queer theory lens, Greven reopens the question of Freud’s relevance to gender theory and to Hawthorne’s work. Greven argues that Hawthorne offers a powerful critique of normative American masculinity.