Gentleman is an indispensable literary figure in English literature, especially in English novels during the 18th and 19th centuries。 These novels created many gentlemen characters。 Their life experiences and personalities are different from each other。 In The Complete Sherlock Holmes written by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is a unique gentleman。 He is a fictional brilliant detective of the Victorian era, who first appeared in A Study in Scarlet in 1887。 Holmes said he was an "unofficial consulting detective", that is, when the other private or official detectives encountered difficulties, they often ask him for help。 Holmes is good at solving problems through observation, interpretation and science knowledge。 论文网

The purpose of this paper is taking Sherlock Holmes as an example to study the British gentleman culture in Victorian era。 In the modern society, the traditional virtues culture is declining, and the desire for material occupies people's hearts。 It is necessary to reflect the gentleman's culture, and lead the social culture in the direction of science and justice。 The gentleman culture of our country is relative to the gentleman culture of Britain。 The strategy "Chinese dream" and cultural power, advancing with the times, and innovation is our pursuit in current China, but after thousands of years, gentleman culture should not be abandoned。 We should grasp the pulse of the times, follow the direction of the development of human culture, and uphold the objective attitude to examine the gentleman culture, remove the dross, learn from the "social commitment" and "unremitting self-improvement, nourish and enrich the connotation of the social culture of our country continuously, to achieve social development and cultural construction in a positive way。 And to effectively promote the development of the society forward healthily and steadily。

1。2 Literature Review

Foreign scholars have formed a complete skeleton for the study of the "gentleman" in the English novel。 From The Eighteenth Century Novel: The idea of the gentleman(Homai J。 Shroff, 1978), The Idea of the Gentleman in the Victorian Novel(Robin Gilmour, 1981), to The Image of the English Gentleman in Twentieth-Century Literature: Englishness and Nostalgia(Christine Berberich, 2007), these papers explains the evolution of the concept of “gentleman” in different times。 Due to the concept and connotation of “gentleman” has variability and continuity, the spirit of the English gentleman can be inherited and developed。 The ideal gentleman is still the pursuit of the British nation。 Colonel Jaque: Defoe’s Definition of the Complete English Gentleman (William H。McBurney, 1962) this paper discusses Jack, a character depicted by Defoe, always makes mistake but was born with a good quality。  By comparing Jack with Moore Flanders, another main character of Defoe’s literary work, the author of this paper thought that Jack was the male version of Moore。 This paper analyzes how Defoe makes Jack become a modern gentleman in his work。 And Rakes, Highwaymen, and Pirates: The Making of the Modern Gentleman in the Eighteen Century (Erin Mackie, 2009) also analyzes gentleman's image from literary works。 These scholars have similar views, but also have some conflicting views。 However, they share the same understanding of gentleman, that is, the spirit of gentleman is an inviolable quality of British nation, which plays an important role on the development of Britain。 They made a comprehensive study of the image of “gentleman” from the social history, the history of thought and literary works。

Domestic scholars also did some research on the gentleman culture。 In The middle class’s new ideal of gentleman and moral improvement-- on the evolution of the image of gentlemen in the English novels of eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and their causes (中产阶级的新绅士理想与道德改良——论18、19世纪英国小说中绅士人物形象的嬗变及其成因, 2015) Wang Jue(王珏) discussed how the middle class used the “virtue” as the spirit weapon, and through a series gentleman characters which can reflect the values of middle-class, Wang jue proposed the standards of gentleman, and how the characters in the novels of eighteenth and nineteenth centuries became gentlemen and became the essential part of the moral improvement。 The connotation of gentleman culture is the main emphasis in domestic academic circles in recent years。 In Discussion on British gentleman culture(浅议英国的绅士文化, 2007) Cai Ying(蔡颖) generalized the origin, development and change about the British gentleman culture, and discussed the value of the gentleman culture in modern times。 In The formation and social influence of the gentry demeanor in England(英国绅士风度的形成及其社会影响, 2008) Liu Yiyao(刘译瑶) analyzed the cultural origin and connotation of the British gentleman and pointed out the function of gentry demeanor in the social development。 In recent years, the study of Jane Austen, whose novel’s theme was in eighteenth century, has been popular with scholars。 In A study on the moral values of the gentleman in Austen’s novels(奥斯丁小说的绅士道德观研究, 2005) Tan Xuefei(谭雪霏) analyzed the image of gentlemen in Austen's works from the perspective of text, and expanded discussion around the concept of “gentleman” and its moral connotation and characteristics。 In Gentlemen and Knights in Woman’s view -- Discussion on the Male Characters in Austen's Works(女性视域中的绅士和骑士们——论奥斯丁笔下的男角, 2008) Zhang Xiangping(张香萍) from woman’s view, analyzed characters and pointed out that in woman’s view, man characters should have a good image and moral cultivation。