Regency Honor and Glory
The Place of Honor and Glory in Regency England
How does one improve his standing in society? During the Regency, it was referred to as seeking glory. When maintaining or repairing a reputation, one’s social standing and family name, it was called a matter of “honor.” It was a term originally meant the esteem accorded nobility, though by the Regency it had become linked to the respect demanded of any upper-class family. The 1776 Declaration of Independence ends with these words:
“… we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.”
Note that their lives and fortunes are not sacred. The respect and unblemished reputation maintained and passed on to future generations was seen as more important, sacrosanct. Titles, family, wealth, and possessions established honor and glory in England.
Thus, glory and honor were tangible objectives for the men of the Regency. As the father concludes with his advice to his newly commissioned son in The Military Mentor (1809):
“ . . . . If the principles which I have impressed upon your youth, cannot inspire you with this generous emulation, without which the path to glory and to honour, is a path only of difficulty, --stop here, and unite yourself at once with the humbler rank of citizen; I should feel less mortified by your obscurity, and it would be less disgraceful to yourself, to live unknown and undistinguished, than to fail in a career upon which you ought not to enter without the resolution to arrive at honourable distinction, or to die crowned with the applauses of your sovereign and your country.”
Men could gain this glory and honor directly through achievements in the military like Wellington or Nelson, through politics like Pitt and Castlereagh, or in the case of Beau Brummel, by dressing and speaking well. It could also be accomplished by increasing one’s wealth significantly, even through gambling and marrying well. Glory was gained through unique or magnificent possessions, art, architecture, and libraries. What this often produced was a class of recognition seekers and spendthrifts.
The French Privateer Robert Sucrouf captured the British ship Fortune in 1807, a captive British officer challenged Surcouf to a duel with the words "You French fight for money while we fight for honour", Surcouf replied "Each of us fights for what he lacks most.”
This is the same family honor Darcy fears he will diminish by marrying Elizabeth Bennett. Throughout Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, he is a gentleman attempting to uphold his honor and distinction, particularly when among those of a lower station. Elizabeth believed honor involved right character, ethical virtues and amiable manners.
This change in the concept of honor and glory, from keeping and enhancing honorable distinction to acts of unjustified pride of place is one of the central themes of Jane Austen’s novels and a major conflict during the Regency. Right behavior and equal treatment of others were seen as the true cornerstone of honor rather than the claims of Lady Catherine de Bourgh to family, wealth and connections. This transition in the meanings of glory and honor was a revolution in the midst of Regency society.