Masculinity in Renoir's Grand Illusion Anonymous College

In Jean Renoir’s 1937 film La Grande Illusion,[1] the complex discussion the director raises about war leads into an equally complex discussion about masculinity and, specifically, the different ways in which masculinity is performed based on someone’s socioeconomic status. The different types of masculinity that are explored in the film are closely related to some of the class conflicts that fractured Europe and maybe even led to the tragedy of World War II. This is because the different men in the camp all show different “types” of masculinity, ranging from the sophisticated Captain de Boieldieu to the wealthy and worldly Rosenthal to the more blue-collar Lieutenant Marechal. These three men are united in their cause and the military is supposed to be a meritocracy, but the personality conflicts that arise in the camp show how the multiple versions of masculinity, tied as they are to social class and wealth, have led to social conflict, and Marechal’s specific status as the most traditionally “masculine” of these three men creates additional conflict. The specific things that happen to Marechal in the film show how there could have been resentment for the less traditionally masculine wealthy men who escaped some of the war’s...