The English Gentleman In Literature

[WICKES]

I have to write an essay on the portrayl of the 'English gentleman' in literature- how he has been subverted and even ridiculed, but also where he has been portrayed in a more positive way.

I suppose he is associated with manners, gentlemanly or courtly behaviour towards women, a certain style or gracefulness, having 'high tea', cricket, not displaying ugly, extreme emotions etc - one thinks of David Niven, Roger Moore

I have a few ideas. It isn't difficult to find examples of criticism: D H Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh and so on. The problem is thinking of positive portrayls. Everyone is going to use Around The World In 80 Days. I thought of a passage in Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 where the American POWs are housed with the British officers and he says "the Germans loved having the British officers there, they made war seem civilised and stylish and fun" in contrast to the barbarity of the war being fought in the East. Any suggestions?

[kiki1982]

Austen walks full of gentlemen, positive and negative; stupid and intelligent; goodlooking and not goodlooking.

I think she is a good starting point, because it seems that she wrote about the notion 'man' and what he should be: 'sensible, good-humoured, lively... happy manners, good breeding and handsome if he possibly can.' (Pride and Prejudice, conversation between Jane and Elizabeth about Bingley) Austen makes a satire of it, but still, she uses the things that were normally expected from a man (and also from a woman) in order to make her characters imperfect. Ironically, this is still to be desired in the high circles: being able to make conversation (lively), reasonable with money and other things (sensible), always appear unconcerned (good-humoured), well mannered and maybe handsome (although that is not in your hands unfortunately) and also be of a good pedigree if one be so down-to-earth. It is also everything Prince Philip of England is (excuses for this comment Your Highness but you are a great example of this as you are never allowed to ask anything pertinent).

Later Romantic writers also qualify as the ideal of the gentleman has come out of the Victorian era. Charlotte Brontë with her Rochester also put down a nice portrait of him. A positive one in the beginning, which turns out negative. Anne's image of Huntington was a little worse (domestic violence and debauchery). Where Rochester has a few issues, he at least does not molest his wife (later on). Certainly in the scenes with his guests, he is a Victorian gentleman: entertaining, polite and courteous. When he is alone, that is a little different. But maybe here, Huntington also gives a dual image of politeness and on the other hand totally off the rails...

Wilde might be good for a later image.

Maybe Thackeray is also a good suggestion? I haven't read anything by him.

Provided that Dickens at some point wrote about a gentleman, you could take a look at that too. Is there not, at the end of Oliver Twist a section with his maternal grandfather who turns out to be rich?

Maybe Scott is also a possibility although he probably reworked that notion of 'the gentleman' in his plots and is not so explicit as he wrote mainly historic things from before the 'gentleman'-era.

That's all I can think of for now. I hope it helped.

I though about some more:

Arnim (here on the forum, sadly no posts). I saw a theatre-adaptation of The Enchanted April once and there was also this gentleman-like figure in it. Two in fact: positive and negative; the one young and lovely/loveable and the other married for a long time and disillusioned by it, not giving his time much to his wife, to her detriment.

Maybe Agatha Christie is also a good idea as she regularly features people of the gentry who murder others or are murdered instead.

[wessexgirl]

I have to write an essay on the portrayl of the 'English gentleman' in literature- how he has been subverted and even ridiculed, but also where he has been portrayed in a more positive way.

I suppose he is associated with manners, gentlemanly or courtly behaviour towards women, a certain style or gracefulness, having 'high tea', cricket, not displaying ugly, extreme emotions etc - one thinks of David Niven, Roger Moore

I have a few ideas. It isn't difficult to find examples of criticism: D H Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh and so on. The problem is thinking of positive portrayls. Everyone is going to use Around The World In 80 Days. I thought of a passage in Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 where the American POWs are housed with the British officers and he says "the Germans loved having the British officers there, they made war seem civilised and stylish and fun" in contrast to the barbarity of the war being fought in the East. Any suggestions?

I'm currently re-reading Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham. You could always use some of his works, with a thinly disguised Maugham as the narrator of many of the books. He must be the quintessential English gentleman, and has much to say about the differences in social status re. the author he is writing about. I also re-read The Razor's Edge recently, and again, he was in the thick of the plot, narrating about the characters and their status whilst remaining cool and aloof. He may be considered by some, a bit of a snob with some of his attitudes, but I love him all the same. His cool, calm and witty recollections are a joy to read, and I see him in a positive light.

[trueromantic]

Conrad explored how gentlemen react in highly ungentlemanly situations, such as being left stranded on the congo river with a pistol, a friend and a dminishing supply of kendal mint cake- weaher it was sadism or serious study of character and environment, probably somewhere between!
Positive examples do seem difficult, perhaps because of the events of the 20th century and how they shaped public and literary opinions of the gentry- your spot on with Niven and Moore though, you have the english gentleman officer and the later adaptation english gentleman spy when the former became passe. Its mainy in roles of brute but hghly efficient and well spoken force the gentleman retained his stars.
Oh, and try Jeeves and Wooster for seriously spleen-damagingly funny asasinations of all english gentiity.

[Whifflingpin]

The "English gentleman" was possibly invented in the nineteenth century, although earlier prototypes exist - Addison's Sir Roger de Coverley springs to mind.
An essential work is "John Halifax, Gentleman" by Mrs Craik.
A book that has survived somewhat better is Hughes' "Tom Brown's Schooldays."
"Ravenshoe" by the other Kingsley explores what it means to be a gentleman.
"Phroso" & "Prisoner of Zenda" by Anthony Hope provide good examples of gentlemen in action. "The Dolly Dialogues" and "The Intrusions of Peggy," by the same author, give a quite different perspective on the subject.
An interesting question might be, "How is it that Raffles is clearly a gentleman, in spite of being a thief?"

[FalseReality]

Great Expectations. Dickens. Read.

[MANICHAEAN]

Positive:
R.M.Ballantyne:"Coral Island". Three lads wrecked on a South Pacific island in the nineteenth century. Ballantyne's heroes are gentlemen and remain so throughout the novel. They have true leadership and absolute loyalty to one another. "After all" said Jack "we're not savages. We're English".This book was used by William Golding as a foundation for some of his novels.
Trollope: In general his novels reflect his belief that English gentlemen had found something close to the ideal system of values and they explore the effects of someone violating those values. Try the Palliser novels after the politician and English gentlemen Plantagenet Palliser who appears in all six books. His book "Doctor Thorne" however exposes the limitation in an English gentleman.
Subverted:
Grahame Greene: "The Honorary Consul". His character Charley Fortnum, good public school background but somehow let the side down with his drinking & marrying a whore from the local brothel.
Ridiculed:
Oscar Wilde: "The Importance of Being Earnest", "A Woman of No Importance'. Wilde's portrayals of the English gentlemen always come across in todays reading as somewhat dizzy, unconnected to life outside of society. This was very likely less so at the time of their creation.
One thing you might like to consider is to get away from the novel writer & read the actual writings of those that lived in that period e.g Churchill's "The Malakand Field Force", the writings of that character Major General Sir Bindon Blood KCB. Its essential to recognise that during the Georgian,Victorian,Edwardian era that Englishmen, (not just gentlemen),had a total confidence in themselves, their values & their place in the world. In that somewhat unkind joke about the races of the UK being distinguished by the manner in which they pray:
The Welsh pray upon their knees and upon their neighbours.
The Scots pray for whatever they can get their hands on.
The Irish are not quite sure what they are praying for, but when they find out they will fight to the death for it.
And the English, being self made men do not pray but absolve God from all responsibility.

[kelby_lake]

The Good Soldier?

[Pecksie]

The English gentleman as a creation can already be spotted in the early English novels and perhaps before. An example is Fanny Burney's Cecilia (1782), which offers a satirical view of men and women in different levels of society. The worst 'gentlemen' are greedy, rakish and unprincipled, but the 'good' ones (e.g. the one the heroine marries at the end of the novel) also suffer from flaws, usually an inordinate pride. Burney paved the way for Austen's novels, and, while it takes a while to 'get into' her books, the wait does pay off.

Nearer to our own times, Waugh (whom you have mentioned) in 'Brideshead Revisited' paints a heartwrenching portrait of an idle, extravagant young gentleman (the ultimate aristocrat) and his eventual conversion to a very different set of values. A. S. Byatt's depiction of modern gentry in her trilogy 'The Virgin in the Garden' - 'Still Life' - 'Babel Tower' is also very interesting.

[Emil Miller]

I have to write an essay on the portrayl of the 'English gentleman' in literature- how he has been subverted and even ridiculed, but also where he has been portrayed in a more positive way.

I suppose he is associated with manners, gentlemanly or courtly behaviour towards women, a certain style or gracefulness, having 'high tea', cricket, not displaying ugly, extreme emotions etc - one thinks of David Niven, Roger Moore

I have a few ideas. It isn't difficult to find examples of criticism: D H Lawrence, Evelyn Waugh and so on. The problem is thinking of positive portrayls. Everyone is going to use Around The World In 80 Days. I thought of a passage in Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 where the American POWs are housed with the British officers and he says "the Germans loved having the British officers there, they made war seem civilised and stylish and fun" in contrast to the barbarity of the war being fought in the East. Any suggestions?

It was probably the last time the Germans, or anyone else, could meet English gentlemen as a recognisable types. Immediately after the war the Labour party set about levelling them out of existence and they no longer exist either in literature and only sporadically in actuality.

[LitNetIsGreat]

It was probably the last time the Germans, or anyone else, could meet English gentlemen as a recognisable types. Immediately after the war the Labour party set about levelling them out of existence and they no longer exist either in literature and only sporadically in actuality.

The death of the English gentleman?

That's probably true actually, see them start to fade away in Woolf too perhaps, as the world of master and servant starts to crumble.

Wilde was clearly having fun in most of his work with the idea of gentleman and society. Got me thinking of the cucumber sandwiches and muffins in IOBE, very amusing.

[Hank Stamper]

great expectations (as mentioned) satires the cult of the english gentleman and as you are looking for, pretty much ridicules the idea and what it stands for..

as for 'positive' representations, king solomon's mines exalts the myth of the english gentleman, being as it is a bit of shameless propaganda for the british empire and supposedly how great and superior the english gentleman was to everybody else.. you could also look at robinson crusoe...

[kiki1982]

Hank Stamper madme think of another:

Swift's Gulliver's Travels would be a statire in the English superiority/inferiority (Lilliput and the country of the giants). Maybe you could do something with that?

[The Comedian]

I know little of English gentlemen, but I thought that the Alan Quatermain character created by H. Rider Haggard in novels such as King Solomon's Mines, Alan Quatermain. . . was a good example of that distinguished character.

[Nightshade]

Daniel Deronda by elliott. Also Belinda by Edgworth, though less in the latter being more concerned with ladies and theior behaviour and attitudes.

[trueromantic]

21st century English gent: Hugh grant. - a tad more exoteric than his contemporary nominees here but perhaps a character you might find useful.

[andave_ya]

Percy Blakeney from the Scarlet Pimpernel and Lord Peter Wimsey from Dorothy L. Sayers' mystery series are some splendid examples of the English Gentlemen.

[Pecksie]

21st century English gent: Hugh grant. - a tad more exoteric than his contemporary nominees here but perhaps a character you might find useful.

What novel is he in?

[MarkBastable]

I'd say that Wooster and Jeeves are pretty much the dual representation of the English gentleman, the first by social position and the second by moral attitude.

If you can't get hold of the books -and you should, even if you have to sell you mother to slave traders to raise the money - then check out Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry portraying them in the dramatised version, which is affectionate, respectful and pretty damn convincing.

[trueromantic]

Quote:
Originally Posted by trueromantic
21st century English gent: Hugh grant. - a tad more exoteric than his contemporary nominees here but perhaps a character you might find useful.

What novel is he in?

apologies, its just that he essentially plays variations on himself :)
I meant the roles Hugh Grant has played, i.e the chracters in Four Weddings and a funeral and Nottinghill, the gentleman as loveable precisely because his supposed superiority is subverted...

[Buzzby]

Portrait of a Lady, ironically enough, has some potentially more fascinating "portraits" of men in it!

Also, Wilde, obviously. Anything by him, really. If you want bitingly satirical but overwhelmingly accurate gentlemen, you know Wilde's your man.

A Room With a View is another good one for the contrast between two potential lovers; try combining that with Casaubon/Lydgate/Ladislaw in Middlemarch. Those two texts would be good if you wanted to explore tensions between male and female characters, breakdowns and illusions within relationships, and what forms the "ideal" from both genderal perspectives.

[mono]

Quick question, WICKES, though your essay aims at the subject of an "English gentleman," do you restrict your search only to English writers?

I have to write an essay on the portrayl of the 'English gentleman' in literature- how he has been subverted and even ridiculed, but also where he has been portrayed in a more positive way.

I suppose he is associated with manners, gentlemanly or courtly behaviour towards women, a certain style or gracefulness, having 'high tea', cricket, not displaying ugly, extreme emotions etc - one thinks of David Niven, Roger Moore
Interesting project. The "English gentleman" of literature stereotype got me laughing a bit, but I suppose that only supports the ironic intent of the project, much like Southern belle, the "good ol' boy" of the Southwest, the snobby French, the adventurous Aussie, the polite Asian, or the refined Italian - ah, all these stereotypes and labels! :lol:
As to the project itself, many have had some good suggestions that I second - Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, the Brontës, Henry James (I strongly second this one). I do not think D.H. Lawrence or William Somerset Maugham would do well at feeding into the ideal "English gentleman" stereotype; both authors did amazingly well at portraying their characters, inside and out, physically and emotionally, male and female, but I think better examples exist, as Lawrence and Maugham did too well at exposing weaknesses, blunders in politeness and etiquette, and exposing extreme emotions.
F. Scott Fitzgerald did beautifully at not only inventing these ideal English gentlemen, but also portrayed them in sarcastic manners from time to time, explored their psychology, and studied their intermingling with individuals of different social classes. Additionally, you can find English gentlemen in novels by E.M. Forster, George Eliot (especially Middlemarch), Virginia Woolf (perhaps only the more minor male characters, however), Herman Melville (especially in Moby Dick, for the same reasons as Fitzgerald), and Geoffrey Chaucer (because The Canterbury Tales seems bound to have at least one of every type of character).
Good luck!

[*Classic*Charm*]

21st century English gent: Hugh grant. - a tad more exoteric than his contemporary nominees here but perhaps a character you might find useful.


What novel is he in?

Yes, and was he not caught picking up a hooker?

[MANICHAEAN]

French kings with courtesans.
Ottoman pashas with concubines.
Presidents with lovers.
Politicians with mistresses.
English gentlemen with fallen angels.
Is the distinction really that great?

[curlyqlink]

P.G.Woodhouse... is Bertie Wooster really a negative portrayal of the English gentleman, or a positive?

It's parody, but a fond parody-- one based on quite deep understanding. And really, is there anything wrong with the life Bertie leads? Innocent, well-meaning, gentle, self-deprecating, comfortable, sweet, a life full of friendship and adventure, innocent of tragedy or pain?

[Emil Miller]

Yes Bertie has many of the qualities of an English gentleman but one that also disqualifies him; he is a silly ***. Were he to be as astute as Jeeves, he would be much nearer the mark.

I see that my reference to a stupid animal has been misconstrued by the moderators and confused with the American connotation. Damn George Washington!

[MarkBastable]

Yes Bertie has many of the qualities of an English gentleman but one that also disqualifies him; he is a silly ***. Were he to be as astute as Jeeves, he would be much nearer the mark.

I see that my reference to a stupid animal has been misconstrued by the moderators and confused with the American connotation. Damn George Washington!

I don't think it disqualifies him at all, having met a few English gentlemen.

I suspect, by the way, that if you'd referred to him a silly arse, you'd have got away with it.

Edit: Yep. You would. So in the Religious Texts thread, it will become apparent (as soon as I get over there to make it so) that the Biblical murderer smote his victim with the jawbone of an arse.

[mono]

If we can include plays, I almost forgot to add George Bernard Shaw - quite gentlemanly characters, but also very strong, determined, blunt, and occasionally aggressive. He writes of the types of characters who grab life by the throat in one hand, and have a cup of tea in the other. :D
I tossed around the idea of Thomas Hardy, too, upon reopening this thread this morning, but, for the same reasons as Lawrence and Maugham, especially in Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Hardy portrays the English gentleman quite well, yet exposes those darker emotions, desires, and whims a bit too thoroughly to classify some of his male characters in that English gentleman category.

[Night_Lamp]

A good source would be John Fowles 'The French Lieutenant's Woman'. Written in the late 1960s, it as a piece of metafiction presents a good modern look at what the 'English Gentleman' really was. Charles, as a Gentleman of pleasure, is horrified when his future father-in-law offers him (GASP!) a job.

Also investigate the 'hobby scientist' rich gentleman angle; rich 19th century men with nothing better to do with their time played at science from fossils to chemistry.

[bluosean]

A Christmas Caroll by Charles Dickens. I say this because it is short. I guess that you have a lot of sources to read/look at. hope this helps. good luck.

[trueromantic]

BluoSean, A Christmas Carol is an interesting choice, can I ask what provoked its selection?

[mollie]

Jane Austen's a great source for this. Captain Wentworth of Persuasion, Colonel Brandon of Sense and Sensibility and Mr Darcy of Pride and Prejudice, Mr Knightley in Emma are English Gentlemen par excellence, and are all positive portrayals.

Waugh's Handful of Dust is good for this also; it is a positive portrayal of the gentleman, but scathing of the society around him and how he is treated by it. Thomas Hardy's Gabriel Oak is quite an interesting one to look at - you might explore those gentlemen who are not of the class to be described as "gentlemen", but who are superior and more deserving of the title than those of the upper classes around them.

[dafydd manton]

My dear old thing, it would be positively ripping if one were to take a look at the stuff by that PG Wodehouse chappie. Positive coruscating, shows the pukka types in their best light, don't you know. The chappie is rummy to a degree, what? We went to the same school, you know, the old Alma Mater.

[plainjane]

To find an English gentleman under great duress, read Geoffrey Household's Watcher in the Shadows or Rogue Male. The former takes place mostly several years after WWII, and the later just before.