Manhood is defined as, “the condition of being an adult male as distinguished from a child or female” (Webster 1). This very idea is extremely toxic because what exactly does it mean to be a child or a woman versus being a man? Showing basic human emotions is seen as childish or girly, so are our men supposed to be robots? Even today men struggle with what it means to be a “man” in a society that has unrealistic expectations for them. Authors have done well to show how this ideology is an issue through the characterization of male characters. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet and James Baldwin’s Giovanni’s Room, we see how two distinct characters struggle with their society’s expectations of manhood and how it affects their authentic selves and relationships.
