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A Study Of Gentleman Morals In Jane Austen's Novels

Posted on:2006-01-24Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:X F TanFull Text:PDF
GTID:2155360152495240Subject:Comparative Literature and World Literature
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Jane Austen released six novels through her life, all of which are related to the family and social lives of middle-class people in the country. Besides, "gentleman" appeared as a key word consistently in all her novels. Partially because country gentlemen are the focus of her writing and attention, and partially because the moral characters of the ideal gentlemen in her works have become the basic principles for herself to judge individual behaviors and social life. Jane Austen has always been known as a serious moralist, and accordingly "gentleman" is the core concept of her personal system of moral value. The term "idea of Gentleman" is given in this paper to present Austen's moral ideas and further discussion around the term of "Gentleman" as well as its connotation and characteristics are also carried out in this paper.The first, the gentleman morals in Austen's novels shows the relationship between "gentleman" and "nobility". With the one's moral character for oneself, she appreciates refined and cultivated manners, as well as good and pure tastes. She shows no mercy at all to the criticism of snobbish deeds even when she is pursuing the refined manners. And dealing with personal relationships, the respect for other people is the foundation of her behavior judgment, and the benefit for other people is the key idea of her personal morality.The second, Jane Austen stresses personal development, thus all the characters in her novels bear some kind of utilitarianism. In her values, personal existence is a must, and personal development is correct and reasonable. In the later stage of her writings, personal need in the level of spirit is even got further appreciation and praise. The behaviors of all the characters in her novels are going after the goodness and trying to avoid harmness, therefore, they are all able to get some kind of benefit from their own choices. However, personal development and social demands are always in conflict. In those situations, rational demands control...
Keywords/Search Tags:Jane Austen, Gentleman, Morality
PDF Full Text Request
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