Male leads experiencing women problems

[anduil99]

I'm in need of suggestions for any fictional literature that particularly features a male lead undergoing deep emotional issues when it comes to connecting personally with women. Basically the lead is suffering a kind of feminine complex.

[kev67]

Pinkie from Brighton Rock?

What do you mean by feminine complex? Do you mean the male protagonist is feminine himself in some way, or that he cannot form a sexual relationship with a woman?

[anduil99]

It would be an issue forming a genuine relationship with women, perhaps stemming from the protagonists own internal issues with their own feminine/creative impulse.

[*Classic*Charm*]

Unless you define what you mean by "feminine impulse" or "feminine complex" or "women problems", you're going to face a couple issues:

1. People may have a problem with you categorizing life experiences as relating more to females than males (IE, gender bias)
2. These terms are subjective and therefore difficult to answer unless you perhaps, provide an example.

[kev67]

Pip from Great Expectations possibly, especially with the original ending of the book.

[Scheherazade]

If I understand what you require correctly:

~ The Collector by Fowles

~ Middlesex by Eugenides

~ Hamlet by Shakespeare

[ennison]

Feminine complex wtf!

[kelby_lake]

Hamlet would be the obvious choice :) Though saying that, Iago's not great with women but then he's spending his time being evil.
Alec D'Urberville in Tess of The D'Urbervilles.

To be honest, the characters probably aren't going to be very likeable.

[chrisvia]

Mailer, Updike, Roth--those to whom David Foster Wallace referred to as "the Great Male Narcissists who've dominated postwar American fiction." I would definitely say that most characters in the novels of espeically Updike and Roth are suffering from a female(s)-related complex.

And to quote kelby_lake, "...the characters probably aren't going to be very likeable."