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International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

A Study on How Women Contribute to Toxic Masculinity in “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller

Sharliana binti Che Ani, Sundari Subasini Nesamany, Rynnaas binti Azlan

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v13-i12/20403

Open access

This qualitative study aims to investigate how women contribute to toxic masculinity in the novel “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller. Thetis, Achilles’ mother, who interestingly, is also the most powerful female character in the novel in terms of strength and uses other women as pawns in her scheme to make Achilles immortal. Achilles’s son Pyrrhus under the influence of Thetis, also made slaves of the free, raped women and died because of this. By using Transactional Reader-response theory and content analysis, based on Achilles and Pyrrhus’ behaviors and actions, the researchers’ idea is confirmed that women can contribute to toxic masculinity just as much as men can. The results of this study also showed that women in the novel can contribute to toxic masculinity, by both practicing it and teaching it to their sons.

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(Ani et al., 2023)
Ani, S. binti C., Nesamany, S. S., & Azlan, R. binti. (2023). A Study on How Women Contribute to Toxic Masculinity in “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 13(12), 6159-6171.