GENDER PERFORMATIVITY OF THE PROTAGONIST IN LUCY STEED’S THE ARTIST

Abstract

This research focuses on The Artist (2025) by Lucy Steed as a modern literary text that interrogates fixed ideas of gender. The main objective of the study is to explore how gender roles are constructed, performed, and resisted within the novel, particularly through the protagonist Ettie. To achieve this, the study adopts Judith Butler’s theory of gender performativity as its theoretical lens, which argues that gender is not an innate quality but something continuously produced through repeated actions, language, and social interaction. Methodologically, the research employs a qualitative textual analysis approach, closely examining selected passages from the novel to interpret patterns of dialogue, behavior, and character interaction that reveal underlying gender norms. The analysis is centered on how Ettie’s language, social relationships, and subtle acts of resistance either conform to or challenge dominant expectations of femininity and masculinity, allowing the study to trace how gender is enacted rather than inherently possessed. The findings reveal that Ettie simultaneously conforms to and resists traditional gender roles, often performing conscious and unconscious acts of defiance, thereby exposing the instability of gender categories. The novel ultimately highlights the tension between societal expectations and individual identity formation. In conclusion, the study affirms Butler’s argument that gender is a performative act constructed through repetition and social conditioning, that The Artist contributes significantly to contemporary literary debates on identity by revealing how gender norms are maintained and contested. For future research, it is recommended that The Artist be further analyzed through alternative theoretical frameworks such as psychoanalytic criticism, postcolonial theory, and Marxist criticism in order to gain a more layered understanding of identity, power structures, and social influence within the text.