ABSTRACT

Masculinity and Patriarchal Villainy in the British Novel: From Hitler to Voldemort sits at the intersection of literary studies and masculinity studies, arguing that the villain, in many works of contemporary British fiction, is a patriarchal figure that embodies an excess of patriarchal power that needs to be controlled by the hero. The villains' stories are enactments of empowerment fantasies and cautionary tales against abusing patriarchal power. While providing readers with in-depth studies of some of the most popular contemporary fiction villans, Sara Martín shows how current representations of the villain are not only measured against previous literary characters but also against the real-life figure of the archvillain Adolf Hitler.

chapter |17 pages

Introduction

Defining the Patriarchal Villain

chapter 1|24 pages

Adolf Hitler

The Threat of Absolute Villainy

chapter 2|19 pages

Big Brother and O’Brien

The Mystique of Power and the Reproduction of Patriarchal Masculinity

chapter 3|24 pages

Morgoth and Sauron

The Problem of Recurring Villainy

chapter 4|20 pages

Steerpike

Gormenghast’s Angry Young Man

chapter 5|24 pages

Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Larger than Life

The Villain in the James Bond Series

chapter 6|24 pages

Richard Onslow Roper and the ‘Labyrinth of Monstrosities’

John le Carré’s Post-Cold War Villains

chapter 7|24 pages

Michael Dobbs’s Francis Urquhart Trilogy

Democracy at Risk

chapter 8|25 pages

Big Ger Cafferty, Crime Boss

The Constant Struggle to Retain Power

chapter 9|25 pages

Voldemort and the Limits of Dark Magic

Self-empowerment as Self-destruction

chapter |6 pages

Conclusions