초록 열기/닫기 버튼
This paper aims to examine Daniel Defoe’s understanding of gentility in Colonel Jack (1722). The first half of the novel, drawing a sharp contrast between the eponymous hero’s claim for gentle birth and his criminal life, identifies the respectable source of wealth as the first requirement of being a gentleman. But the second half, which portrays Jack’s challenge to a duel and his ruthless revenge on the captain, reveals that wealth does not guarantee the making of a complete gentleman. Defoe’s intention to describe Jack as a gentleman manqué does not denunciate his hero’s desire to be a gentleman as unjust and improper. Rather, Defoe suggests the need for education as the legitimate way of becoming a gentleman. Showing that Jack’s notion of honor at face value primarily originates from the contemporary absence of a virtuous model, Defoe implies that a more specific discussion should follow in order to establish the new ideal gentleman.
