The Idea of a University

While reading Victorian Ladies and Gentlemen, I noticed something that was pretty interesting. In the opening lines of John Henry Cardinal Newman's work "The Idea of a University," he states, " Hence it is that it is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain. This description is both refined and, as far as it goes, accurate (563)." The real interesting thing that comes to mind whenever I read this is how this definition of a gentleman seems to conflict with some of the views on how women were treated by men during the Victorian period. Although Newman seems to be descibing the way men acted in this period, I believe that that society's perception of how women should act and be treated gave men the ability to treat women the way that they did and still be able to be viewed as gentlemen. However, it seems to contradict the definition that Newman presents in the opening sentences. Although I do believe that men were part of the problem towards women, I believe that society created the bigger problem which led to this treatment of women.