The fall of the English gentleman

The National Character in Decline, c.1918-1970

Bibliographic Data

ID4558010
AuthorsMarcus Collins (0000-0002-1672-0278, Emory University, corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume75
Issue187
Pages90-111
Publication date2002-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistorical Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-3471 • E-ISSN: 1468-2281
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/1468-2281.00142
OpenAlexW2008368220
LanguageEN
Citations received17

The figure of the gentleman and his allied qualities of amateurism, sportsmanship and self-control dominated public discussions of Englishness in the half century after the Great War. From 1918 to the mid nineteen-fifties, gentlemanliness enjoyed strong, although by no means unanimous, support among commentators on national character. Subsequently, however, the reputation of the gentleman suffered irreparable damage at the hands of a post-war generation seeking scapegoats for the country's perceived economic, geopolitical and moral decline. This article seeks to explain when and why gentlemanliness lost its reputation as the exemplar of Englishness, and the consequent effects on national culture and identity

Aesthetics · Art · Geopolitics · National identity · Political science · Politics · Reputation · Spanish Civil War · Sportsmanship · History · Law · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Sports, Gender, and Society

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