The Images Of The Victorian Gentlemen In Elizabeth Gaskell's Novels And Its Cultural Connotations

The core value in the Victorian novel is the concept of the gentleman. The gentleman in the Victorian Age refers to those men who were born with nobility and gentility, with manners due to fine education. The concept of the gentleman, which reflects Mrs. Gaskell's personal faith, is closely connected with social and political environment as well as religion, morality and class attributes in the Victorian Age.The introduction part gives a brief account of Elizabeth Gaskell's life and her literary career as well as critical reviews. Chapter one explores the origin, history and change of the concept of the gentleman before the Victorian Age and meanwhile briefly examines the relationship between the Victorian gentlemen and class attributes in the Victorian Age.Chapter Two delineates the images of the gentlemen in Elizabeth Gaskell's novels. The gentlemen characters in her novels are very carefully portrayed and given distinctive individual characteristics. What is noticeable is that those gentlemen in Elizabeth Gaskell's novels are different from other gentlemen. They are unique. They don't consider rank or class seriously and they hold humanitarian and evangelical attitudes towards others.Chapter Three explores the cultural connotations of the uniqueness of the images of the gentlemen. The emphasis is on the social and political background as well as religion and morality at that time. Under the influence of Unitarianism and Evangelical humanitarianism, the Victorian gentlemen in Gaskell's novels are upright, honest, intelligent and responsible. Chapter Four reflects on the concept of the Victorian gentleman. The gentlemen in her novels cannot be separated from her Unitarian belief and Evangelical humanitarianism. The concept of the Victorian gentleman is in fact a core value system. The gentlemen in Gaskell's novels who concern about social reality and moral conditions are in fact strong social forces. The forwarding of the concept of the Victorian gentleman and the shaping of the images of the Victorian gentlemen reconcile and mitigate the social conflicts to some extent and meanwhile helps to create a harmonious society and promote the development of the nineteenth century industrial society. The last part is conclusion.