Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Victorian Concepts Of The Ideal Man As Evidenced Through His Relationships With Animals: "If She Don't Carry You, You May Shoot Her" Or "Remember Gyp When You Get Home", Mary Ann Peebles Soles

Theses & Honors Papers

In Victorian fiction, the relationships between male characters and the animals with which they come in contact with are interesting. The way Victorian male characters are shown to treat animals revels something about the nature of the men themselves. Therefore, it is important to examine the concept of masculinity at the time. The gender stereotypes that prevailed in Victorian England had a tremendous impact on the portrayal of men and women in the novels written at that time. Male writers, the dominant sex, chose to preserve ideals already present. Female writers did the opposite. The Victorian novelists examined were influenced …