The present thesis aims to explore how masculinities and femininities are performed in the context of the family in the novel Lessons (2022) by IanMcEwan, which follows the lives of individuals across generations and depicts the changing social and cultural climate in Europe from the 20th to the 21st century. Drawing on the theories on hegemonic masculinity by R.W. Connell, symbolic violence by Pierre Bourdieu, and motherhood as an institution and as an experience by Adrienne Rich, and by employing close reading, I critically analyse how gender dynamics and notions around motherhood and fatherhood manifest in the novel, taking into account the social and cultural context in which their stories unfold. I argue that the portrayal of the family unit and its members in Lessons serves as a reflection of the wider social and political changes occurring in Europe at that time and offers valuable insights about the intergenerational aspect and construction of gender norms. My discussion concludes with emphasizing the capacity of historical fiction to evaluate and shed light on the dynamics of transmission and perpetuation of gender beliefs and attitudes in society.