Masculinity In Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain defies traditional masculinity of the western with the story of tragic love between the two male protagonists ‘Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist’ in a small town where homosexuality was seen as a sin. Ennis’ character represents the masculine hero of the western with his large frame, deep voice and rugged looks. The love interest in Western texts is usually a female damsel in distress that needs saving from the daring hero who saves not only her but also the town. Lee switched up this impression by having Jack as Ennis’ lover and his character is influenced by beliefs is attached with femineity. Jack is portrayed as the seducer throughout the film, and on Brokeback Mountain it is Jack who tempts Ennis into the tent and makes the first advance onto a confused Ennis who declares, “You know I ain’t no queer”.
Their relationship is doomed to end badly when one character accepts his homosexuality and the other disregards it. Brokeback Mountain offers the two men an opportunity to act on their desires without feeling the pressures of modern society and unhappy relationships. Tompkins (1992, 84) argues that the ‘west functions as a symbol of freedom and opportunity’. This is seen throughout the film when the two men reminisce about their time on Brokeback Mountain and how they always seem melancholy about how their relationship will never progress from what it was once like back on the mountain. The film explored the repercussions of suppressing homosexuality in the west and the struggles that one experiences because of