Representations of Masculinity and Femininity in Miguel Street It has been said about V.S. Naipaul's novel Miguel Street that "One of the recurrent themes... is the ideal of manliness" (Kelly 19). To help put into focus what manliness is, it is important to establish a definition for masculinity as well as its opposite, femininity. Masculinity is defined as "Having qualities regarded as characteristic of men and boys, as strength, vigor, boldness, etc" while femininity is defined as "Having qualities regarded as characteristic of women and girls, as gentleness, weakness, delicacy, modesty, etc" (Webster). The charcters in Miguel S