In a sensitive and provocative
  study of six great works of British literature, David Rosen traces the evolution
  of masculinity, inviting readers to contemplate the shifting joys and sorrows
  men have experienced throughout the last millennium, and the changing but constant
  tensions between their lives and ideals. Focusing on Beowulf, Sir Gawain
  and the Green Knight, Hamlet, Paradise Lost, Hard Times, and Sons and
  Lovers, Rosen shows how the actions of heroes fail to resolve tensions between
  masculine ideals and male experiences.