Irish Masculinity In Bull Mccabe's The Field

The Field (1990) captures one rural Irish man’s attachment to his land and the life-threatening lengths he will go to in order to keep it in his possession. The Field not only tells a story of extreme passion and the importance of place in relation to identity, but it also gives the viewer significant insight into Irish masculinity. Through analysis of Bull McCabe’s actions, one can clearly see how land, violence, fatherhood, and sexuality are tied to the construction of masculine identity and how the dire pressure it places on McCabe’s son to conform ultimately results in his death. Bull McCabe nurtured a patch of barren landscape into a small field that supports his sheep, cattle, and family. He worked relentlessly to restore the land into …show more content…
He aggressively holds his walking stick and demands that Peter leave first thing in the morning and never set foot in Carraig Thomand again. Peter seems baffled by this confrontation, telling him: “I hope you realize you’re breaking the law.” McCabe slowly begins to laugh at Peter’s words. As Tadgh tentatively watches how his father is reacting, he begins to laugh along with his father, only after he observes that is the appropriate reaction. Tadgh clearly longs for his father’s approval; he realizes that beating Peter is a task that will earn him that approval. “Go ahead, boy,” McCabe tells his son, as he takes off his jacket and pushes him towards Peter. Tadgh eventually fails at asserting his violent dominance over Peter, as his father stands to the side with his head down, the anger and disappointment on his face showing how he feels about his son’s failure to live up to his duties as a man. After Tadgh is thoroughly beaten by Peter, McCabe then begins to attack both Peter and his son. As he shoves their heads under water, he aggressively asks Tadgh: “Will I ever make a bloody man of you? How can you look after the land? How can you ever look after the bloody land?” McCabe is expressing his frustration with Tadgh’s failure to be a “real” man. He relates Tadgh’s defeat by Peter to his inability to take care of the land, demonstrating how his masculine identity is directly …show more content…
The Traveller’s daughter serves as a catalyst to put into question masculine ideals. Challenging a room full of men, she asks: “Is there any one of you man enough to dance with me? Who’s the biggest man among ye?” In this scene, she effectively calls into question each man’s masculinity. Jane Helleiner, in her discussion of gender and Irish Travellers, notes that depictions of Traveller women are often masculinized when their “active participation in rows, brawls, or tribal feuds” are emphasized (163). The realm of constructed masculinity often defines itself in relation to femininity. If masculinity is defined as the opposite of femininity, then masculinity can be achieved by objecting any behavior that may be seen as feminine. When Traveller women are shown as aggressive or adopting a masculine discourse, this threatens the idea of what it means to be a man – even more so if you are a man having relations with a “masculine” Traveller woman. Furthermore, the idea of dancing with the Traveller’s daughter threatens the men’s land: “You’re all afraid of me. The tinker’s daughter. You’re all afraid that if you touch me you’ll lose the soil under your feet and end up sleeping under the stars.” If a man dares to touch the tinker’s daughter, he fears he may lose the land that is the basis of his masculine