PARALLEL PORTRAITS: MASCULINITY AND ITS DEPICTION IN MODERN FICTION BY MALE AND FEMALE AUTHORS – A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF DAVID NICHOLL’S ONE DAY AND EMILY HENRY’S BEACH READ

Abstract

Through comparative examination of David Nicholls' One Day (2009) and Emily Henry's Beach Read (2020), this thesis explores the impact of author gender on masculinity representation in twenty-first-century fiction. Using integrated psychoanalytic critique, and feminist literary analysis, this study considers the intersection of writer identity and literary representation of masculine experience in best-selling novels. The research fills holes in literary scholarship about comparative studies on masculine characterization by men and women writers, and the academic avoidance of popular commercial fiction in spite of its cultural significance. Using qualitative comparative analysis through close textual reading, this research explores masculine representation along five aspects: emotional vulnerability, professional identity, interpersonal relations, physical embodiment, and social performance. The analysis demonstrates a pervasive pattern: Nicholls operates in conventional norms of masculinity, depicting the emergence of Dexter Mayhew as redefining conventional masculinity, while Henry defies normal frameworks, indicating possibilities for rebirth within the masculine experience through Augustus Everett's characterization. In an analysis of masculine vulnerability, Nicholls uses a "crisis model" by which emotional breakthrough comes through rare events, while Henry builds a "developmental model" with gradual incorporation of emotional genuineness. On professional identity, Nicholls continues with traditional relationships between career success and masculinity worthiness, while Henry separates these items significantly. On relational dynamics, Nicholls sets up a "feminine reform narrative" while Henry uses a "mutual transformation model." The combined theoretical framework is useful in explaining these trends both at psychological and at sociocultural levels. The study makes a theoretical contribution through integration, methodological advancement, and content findings regarding how author gender affects conceptual models for comprehending masculinity. Although considering such limitations as sample size and binary gender model, this study shows that author gender has a significant impact on masculine characterization approaches. The results indicate essential differences in male and female authors' understanding of masculine identity with far-reaching implications for literary studies and overall cultural discussions of gender representation.