Lavengro · Chapter
On Gentility Nonsense explained
The chapter examines the concept of gentility in England, arguing that it is defined by glittering, tawdry appearances and varies by class.
What happens
The chapter examines the concept of gentility in England, arguing that it is defined by glittering, tawdry appearances and varies by class. The aristocracy idolizes imperial military figures, the middle class admires the aristocracy, and the lower classes worship wealthy railroad contractors like Mr. Flamson, who amasses a fortune through dubious means while corrupting rural innocence and ruining investors. The chapter critiques the moral decay and superficial values underlying these ideals.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Gentility
The chapter dissects how different English classes define gentility, from the aristocracy's admiration for imperial military figures to the lower classes' worship of wealthy contractors, revealing a shallow, materialistic standard.
Honor and Morality
Borrow critiques the moral corruption behind the pursuit of gentility, highlighting the ruin of widows and orphans and the corruption of rural innocence by unscrupulous speculators.
Characters to notice
- The Reverend Mr. Platitude
Referenced indirectly in the critique of aristocratic values and religious hypocrisy.
Key passages
“What is gentility? People in different stations in England entertain different ideas of what is genteel, but it must be something gorgeous, glittering or tawdry, to be considered genteel by any of them.”
The concept of gentility varies by social class in England, but all agree it requires something showy, flashy, or cheaply ornate.
Opening definition of gentility as a superficial, class-dependent ideal.
“The beau-ideal of the English aristocracy, of course with some exceptions, is some young fellow with an imperial title, a military personage of course, for what is military is so particularly genteel, with flaming epaulets, a cocked hat and plume, a prancing charger, and a band of fellows called generals and colonels, with flaming epaulets, cocked hats and plumes, and prancing chargers vapouring behind him.”
The aristocracy's ideal of gentility is a young imperial military officer, complete with flashy uniform, plumed hat, and a retinue of similarly adorned generals and colonels.
Satirical description of aristocratic taste for military pomp.
“But he is worth a million pounds, there can be no doubt of the fact—he has not made people's fortunes, at least those whose fortunes it was said he would make; he has made them away; but his own he has made, emphatically made it; he is worth a million pounds. Hurrah for the millionaire!”
Though he ruined others, the contractor is undeniably a millionaire, and the crowd cheers him for his wealth regardless of the harm he caused.
Ironic celebration of the millionaire's success at others' expense.