This book shows how interpretations of suicidal motives were guided by
gendered expectations of behaviour, and that these expectations were
constructed to create meaning and understanding for family, friends and
witnesses. Providing an insight into how people of this era understood
suicidal behaviour and motives, it challenges the assertion that suicide
was seen as a distinctly feminine act, and that men who took their own
lives were feminized as a result. Instead, it shows that masculinity was
understood in a more nuanced way than gender binaries allow, and that a
man's masculinity was measured against other men.
Focusing on four common narrative types; the love-suicide, the
unemployed suicide, the suicide of the fraudster or speculator, and the
suicide of the dishonoured solider, it provides historical context to
modern discussions about the crisis of masculinity and rising male
suicide rates. It reveals that narratives around male suicides are not
so different today as they were then, and that our modern model of
masculinity can be traced back to the 19th century.