Romantic Fantasies of the Gentleman of Yesteryear

I watched the recent adaptation of Great Expectations (not as faithful as the one with Justine Waddell and Ioan Gruffudd, though my memory of the novel by Dickens is rather hazy). While men may not dream about being Victorian (or Regency) gentlemen as much as women do about being a lady of that time, no one aspires to be a member of the 19th century working classes. And yet can the gentlemen of the rising bourgeois class and the disappearing landed class be dissociated from the imperial order, and all that is represented by it, especially the exploitation of the time? Is it so wrong for Austen readers to have guilt-free fantasies of the time? We should instead try to correct our understanding and moderate our desires for outward extravagance.

What about the clothing of the gentlemen? Can we dissociate the modern Western suit from its origins disassociate it from its origins with the moneyed and ruling elites? Even if the suit was designed by clothing-makers serving the elites, it was adopted by them as a uniform of sorts, symbolizing their position in society. It is because of this prestige that others sought to wear it as well, in order to identify with those elites as a member of their group. (Pip desires to be a gentleman, despite his ignoble origins.) Is it too late to recover the clothing of the working classes. (The were already wearing clothing of similar patterns, just made of coarser material and dirtier?) There may be something to the Amish desire for simplicity and retention of older standards for clothing, but dressing like a medieval peasant would not garner us much respect. We are stuck with the modern Western suit and shirt, however much some of us may dislike them.

Liberals often to seek moral purity by disassociating themselves from anything "evil" in their family's or nation's past. Can they really be extricated from a bad system? After all, they are not living like the Amish.
Instead of a self-made identity should they not seek forgiveness from God for their actual sins, while working to improve things and keeping the memory of their ancestors, and of their works, both good and bad? More on this at another time.

Radicals often use language linked to destruction. (E.g. "tearing down the system." Even "revolution" is not such an innocuous word.) As conservatives we should be working to build up community, as that is what is truly missing. For this to be perfected it may require the passing of a political order, but the emphasis in language should be more positive than negative, if we are to gain the support of others. Even so, what is permissible to construct a new society? Violence or rebellion? Anarchists and others may dream of reacting violently to oppression and "punishing" the unjust. While defending one's family and community from those who seek to destroy them is an important duty, that of building community and civic friendships is more noble and difficult.

Gillian Anderson on ‘X-Files,’ ‘Downton Abbey,’ ‘Great Expectations’
BBC One Great Expectations