“… and a man from another planet”. A depiction of men’s roles in the book Love, Pain and the Whole Damn Thing: Four Stories (1989) by Doris Dörrie including Straight Through the Heart, Men, Money and Paradise.  

This thesis examines four novels written by the German author and film maker Doris Dörrie. The selected novels are Mitten ins Herz, Männer, Geld, Paradies. They were chosen due to their distinct male protagonists that gives way to examine the male gender roles in literature. It shows a panorama of male roles and their symbiosis with the female. The theories upon which this thesis is based are gender studies and the construction of masculinity. The change in society towards masculinity and its development in a changing society are the main focus. This is accomplished by the analysis of the portrayed male protagonists and set against the theory.