Masculine Interludes: Monstrosity and Compassionate Manhood in American Literature, 1845-1899

Abstract

This dissertation examines the textual formulation of "compassionate manhood"--a kind, gentle trope of masculinity--in nineteenth-century American literature. George Lippard, Mark Twain, J. Quinn Thornton, and Stephen Crane utilize figures who physically and morally deviate from the "norm" to promote compassionate manhood in texts that illustrate dominant constructions of masculinity structured on aggressive individualism. Compassionate manhood operates through the concept of the "masculine interlude," the space where men perform kindness between the narrative's other scenes. Both compassionate manhood and masculine interludes allow the authors to critique the types of men produced by market capitalism, reform movements, western expansion, and euthanasia debates. Though each author negates the compassionate figure at the end of his text--and thus we witness the conclusion of the masculine interlude--the moments of compassion throughout prevent the narrative as a whole from endorsing the aggressive, masculine trope it has critiqued.