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1981
Volume 10, Issue 1-2
  • ISSN: 2977-6813
  • E-ISSN: 2977-6821

Abstract

This article analyses the concepts of patriarchy and fragility as presented in Sally Rooney’s . Drawing from bell hooks’s theories on masculinity in , fragility is understood as a fundamental underside to the performance of domination in patriarchal identity. After analysing the aggressive yet insecure behaviours of the novel’s secondary male characters, I focus on Connell, whose sensitivity has been embraced in popular culture as contributing to new forms of masculinity. I argue it is through him that Rooney most thoroughly explores the damaging persistence of patriarchal ideology in post-Celtic Tiger Ireland. Literary form, particularly free indirect style, is seen to capture the fragility of his subjectivity in relation to the hegemonic order of patriarchy. I examine his (limited) passage from compartmentalization, which results in toxic secrecy with Marianne, towards integrity, a state which is inverse to, yet partially manifests out of, fragility.

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2025-10-28
2026-04-14

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References

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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Celtic Tiger; gender; integrity; Irish; literature; masculinity; millennial
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