It was no longer strictly a title given to those of high birth.

The idea of the gentleman was changing during the Victorian era. They give Jane and Lucy models to learn from and enemies to fight against, and in the end, allow them to surpass the ideal male 'hero' and create a new feminine hero for the Victorian age. These characteristics, not only break with the Victorian ideal and give us more realistic heroes, they serve another, more important, purpose for Charlotte. John Graham and Paul Emmanuel in Villette we have male characters who are either greedy, prone to jealousy, dishonest, hypocritical, or some horrible combination of the above. From Master John, Brocklehurst, Rochester and St. It seems then that this need to denigrate her male characters, at least from that societal ideal, comes from a desire to make her female characters supplant their male counterparts while still maintaining their respectability and their 'proper' place in society. Charlotte was a strong woman and her beliefs about gender inequality are widely known.

Beginning with Alfred the Duke of Zamorna in her juvenilia, Bronte creates male characters that may fit certain characteristics of that male ideal, but generally fail to meet the high standards. However, the male characters in Charlotte Brontë's works do not follow this tradition. Anne Brontë demonstrates this in Agnes Grey. While this characterization is not terribly realistic, it was the societal ideal and for many authors of the time, their heroines could only marry such men and thereby secure a happy life. The ideal Victorian male should have certain characteristics such as honor, loyalty, intelligence, moral uprightness and it does not hurt to have a good income.

Mr weston anne bronte