This thesis explores how honor is portrayed in Hollywood war films and how it intersects with traditional ideas of masculinity and Stoic philosophy. To better understand the concept of honor, four major themes - heroism, brotherhood, leadership, and patriotism- will be analyzed in how they are portrayed and combined in four popular movies’ narratives: Fury, Braveheart, Gladiator, and 300. This research looks at the stoic qualities that these characters exhibit in particular scenes and relates them to the core four themes as well as to the reflection of honor onto them. The aim is to understand why the specific virtue of honor is identified in Hollywood war productions as highly desirable and how important its preservation appears to be. 

Three core literature pieces have established the theoretical framework, each contributing respectively with a relevant theoretical concept. Drawing on the ideas of manhood, feminine reinforcement of masculinity, the narcissistic ego, and survivability, this study explores the greater meaning of the virtue of honor. Material relevant to these theoretical concepts has been chosen accordingly, established mostly on other literature pieces contributing with other relevant building blocks to broaden the knowledge of what honor entails. The method used for this thesis was a deductive thematic film analysis.

The concluding results of this thesis are that Stoicism emphasizing the virtue of honor has strongly reflected the idea that honor is admirable and rare. In addition to other concepts, honor is seen as something to be achieved and demands socialization.