The changing fictions of masculinity Book

 In a sensitive and provocative   study of six great works of British literature, David Rosen traces the evolution   of masculinity, inviting readers to contemplate the shifting joys and sorrows   men have experienced throughout the last millennium, and the changing but constant   tensions between their lives and ideals. Focusing on Beowulf, Sir Gawain   and the Green Knight, Hamlet, Paradise Lost, Hard Times, and Sons and   Lovers, Rosen shows how the actions of heroes fail to resolve tensions between   masculine ideals and male experiences.