Whether they hold the door someone, compliment their apparel, or tend to luxurious
needs of others, does it mean they’re a gentleman? A gentleman in the dictionary is “a
chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man”, otherwise a man of kindness and respect. In the
victorian era novel my class is reading, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, a gentleman is
way more than just having table manners. A gentleman of this time needs wealth, a lot of
inherited money in order to even be considered close to a gentleman, and atop of this he needs to
have past family wealth to hold respect. Past money and background, a gentleman would need to
display social and political power on some level, needing to stand out a little to be a true
gentleman. What absolutely disgusts me the most about being a gentleman of the victorian era
are two things of equal immorality: someone of the lower class could never be considered a
gentleman, and the gentleman of the upper class could beat and abuse their wives with no
problem. These are both astonishingly opposing of my idea of a gentleman in today’s world.
I’m confident in saying my opinion of a gentleman is far more expanded than the original
definition online, and far different from the victorian era idea. A gentleman to me is someone of
morals, someone who doesn’t have to think to hold the door for someone in order to do it,
someone who subconsciously compliments ones clothing choice, or voluntarily does certain
work for others’ luxurious wants. A gentleman is a person of respect, always listening to others’ opinion or another’s feelings, whether they truly care or not, and continues to further their
conversation for the benefit of the other. One who makes someone else happier than they were
before is a true gentleman, one who can completely change someone’s mood for the positive. An
optimistic is needed to be a gentleman, and atop of that it wouldn’t hurt to have the clean, tedious
look of a one. When a situation is going wrong for someone else and drowns them in
embarrassment, a gentleman would not even hesitate to surrender his own dignity of it helps the
person become less humiliated. However, these are all traits seen by the public? what does a man
need personally to be a gentleman?

In non­public behavior, a gentleman has to think like one in order to be thought of as a
complete gentleman. When it comes to gentleman and woman, it is quite obvious what I and
many others would expect? loyalty is one of, if not, the most important aspect of a man in a
relationship to be considered a gentleman. He would stay loving to that one and only girl, and
past that he would need to do what his lady wants more times than most. If his lover wishes to go
out to dinner somewhere, he would take her there and also pay for the bill. The little things on
the way to this restaurant apply like opening her door for her, clichely placing his jacket over
puddles, and respectively having her able to hold to his arm. Choosing a perfect, well brewed
wine, starting conversation when there is none and having patience for her choice in food are all
little things that are a big part of a date. Treating one’s lady with chivalry is the true key of being
a gentleman, whether it’s in public or not.

In the end, being a gentleman pays off more than acting for oneself. I know for a fact that helping others with their wants and needs, covering for someone’s embarrassment, being courteous to many people, doing little things to show that you give effort and hundreds of other gentlemanly actions are what truly can make someone happy throughout their whole life. People will repay you with many different things whether it be money, food, compliments, help intellectually or other repayments, one time or another people will pay you back for being a moral man if you truly were.