“I am my own revolution”: A Mythocritique on Thomas Shelby’s Hegemonic Masculinity in Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders

Abstract

This dissertation aims to examine masculine manifestations in Steven Knight’s acclaimed TV series Peaky Blinders. It is particularly interested in Thomas Shelby, the gang’s leader and main character, and how his masculine identity is constructed through the influence and manipulation of male myths to achieve a hegemonic masculinity. This last term, coined by R.W. Connell, will present a naturalised form of masculinity desired by Thomas and the Blinders. In addition, the study of his identity will be complemented by an approach to homosociality to highlight the relevance of male interactions to both enhance and contest other masculinities. Furthermore, it will be discussed how he profits from different forms of communities and male bonds—the army, the business, and the gang—to aid his personal project. Ultimately, the project intends to conduct a mythocritique to scrutinise the damaging consequences the aspiration to a hegemonic masculinity has on identitarian masculine processes.