Normalized masculinity in society, or the standards of manliness, functions as a type of “dominant fiction” that men must have faith in and follow. In other words, men are continuously demanded to embody the exemplary model of masculinity defined by society. This applies to modern men, but also men in the Joseon dynasty. This research is based on R.W. Connell’s theory of masculinity, and it explores how the character Sim Bongsa– from Joseon dynasty’s later period’s pansori of The Tale of Sim Cheong– portrays the implementations of the masculine gender, and what meaning it carries. Although Sim Bongsa is born a ‘yangban’ (the aristocratic class in Joseon) in the text, due to his blindness he is depicted as a figure removed from Joseon’s dominating class’s notion of “hegemonic masculinity”. Because he is unable to see, he lives the life of a “marginalized man” and is neither able to live as a true yangban as a commoner. Sim Bongsa’s life includes the following implemented aspects of male gender: he either attempts to overcome his physical difficulties by making a tremendous effort to meet the standards of hegemonic masculinity of his time, or continues to seek masculine subjectivity but adjusts it to make it realistically achievable to create a new definition of masculinity. In this process, he makes an individualized and dynamic attempt to cope with reality. This is achieved by complexly merging the idealistic notion of masculinity required of a yangban in later Joseon (rationality based on rhetorical embellishment abilities), with the idealistic notion of masculinity required of a commoner (physical strength, courage, sexual abilities). While the beginning and middle part of the text show Sim Bongsa’s threatened masculinity through the depiction of his lethargic and incapable life, as the plot reaches its denouement, he ‘overcomes’ these threats. Thus, he is shown to have developed into a firm character. He restores his life as a yangban by becoming the father-in-law to the king, punishes woman who had caused him difficulties (Ppeng-ddeok-eomom), and gains a son by marrying a blind person with the surname of “Ahn.” Sim Bongsa’s recovery of his eyesight is accompanied by the recovery of the eyesight of all blind people in Joseon, which foreshadows the desire to recover masculinity in the national aspect. While this shows the intensified crisis of conscience regarding masculinity in later Joseon, it also paradoxically reflects the social circumstances in which patriarchal order was solidified through the reinforcement of a neo-Confucianism order of clan rules.