BLUE-BLOODED OR WHITE-COLLARED? THE GRADUAL DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE CONCEPT OF GENTLEMANLINESS IN SELECTED EXAMPLES OF VICTORIAN FICTION
BLUE-BLOODED OR WHITE-COLLARED? THE GRADUAL DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE CONCEPT OF GENTLEMANLINESS IN SELECTED EXAMPLES OF VICTORIAN FICTION

Summary/Abstract: Gentlemanliness may be regarded as a significant hallmark of Victorian culture and a key term in contemporary definitions of masculinity. One of the reasons why manliness came to be so closely associated with gentlemanliness is the substantial reconceptualisation of the latter notion in the nineteenth century: from an appellation designating, by and large, noble birth to a universal moral quality attainable by men, regardless of their family origin or material status. The gradual evolution of Victorian views on gentlemanliness can be traced in Victorian fiction, which actively participated in public debates on the meaning of the concept.

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