Meat makes the man : the hierarchies of masculinity and meat eating in Shakespearean drama.

Abstract

This thesis explores how Shakespeare's dramatic works highlight the complex relationships between the hierarchies of masculinity and meat eating. The theoretical backing consists of both gender-based and ecocritical writings. The works of Carol J. Adams and Rasmus R. Simonsen focus on the basic, binary relationship between meat and masculinity and veganism and queerness; and the works of R. W. Connell and Julia Twigg, two scholars whose works neither Adams nor Simonsen discuss, explain the hierarchies of masculinity and meat eating, respectfully. By combining the hierarchies of masculinity and meat eating and using that combination as a gastromasculine lens through which to read the works of William Shakespeare, this thesis will argue that Shakespeare's use of meat often reflects the across-the-board connections between masculinity and meat eating.