Honor, Reputation, and Duty Theme Analysis

In Around the World in Eighty Days, Phileas Fogg is considered “a gentleman of honor” and a man of his word among his acquaintances, despite his mysterious reputation.  The novel takes place during the Victorian Era, when the notion of being a gentleman was highly esteemed and typically associated with a certain level of wealth and privilege along with values like morality, generosity, and proper etiquette. Upholding this image is important to Fogg and is the primary motivation behind his wager; he makes the claim that it is possible to go around the world in eighty days, and thus must preserve his honor and dignity by proving his convictions to be true. Although the other male characters in the novel do not hold the same social prestige as Fogg, nearly all of them are similarly driven by a sense of duty to act forthrightly, uphold their own reputations, and establish a sense of masculine honor. The pervasiveness of this attitude suggests that the admirable ideal of a Victorian gentleman is not entirely dependent upon wealth and status—rather, it can and should be embodied by any man willing to act honorably and fulfill his duties.

Although Fogg is described as cold, calculated, and eccentric, he is also a man of honor who acts as an admirable role model for the other men in his life. Fogg is extremely generous, donating money “quietly and sometimes anonymously” whenever it is needed for “a noble, useful, or benevolent purpose.” Along with donating money to strangers and gifting an elephant, Kiouni, to his loyal guide in India, Fogg is willing to sacrifice his wager (and his own safety) when duty calls. Though obsessed with sticking to a schedule, he selflessly sacrifices the two days he gains near the beginning of his journey in order to save Aouda, a young Indian woman, from being burned alive by her captors. In extreme circumstances, Fogg is even willing to physically fight for his honor. After being senselessly attacked by a man named Colonel Stamp Proctor in San Francisco, Fogg resolves to return to America just to retaliate against him. Fogg’s servant, Jean Passepartout, observes that “It was clear that Mr. Fogg was one of those Englishmen who, while they do not tolerate dueling at home, fight abroad when their honor is attacked.” This is a clear example of the Victorian gentleman ideal—Fogg is nonviolent and reserved in his daily life, yet will go to extreme lengths to defend his honorable reputation when provoked.

Though other male characters in the novel do not measure up to the wealth and status of Fogg, they are similarly motivated by a sense of duty to uphold their reputations and act honorably. This suggests that being a gentleman is not merely a matter of social class, but a deeply rooted sense of morality, loyalty, and dignity. The clearest example of this is Passepartout, who is fully committed to serving Fogg throughout their chaotic journey despite his desire for a calm, quiet life as a domestic servant. Sacrificing his own wants for the benefit of his master, he becomes just as dedicated to the wager as Fogg and continually puts himself in dangerous situations (such as dressing up as the rajah of Bundelcund to save Aouda) in order to expedite their travels. In doing so, Passepartout proves that although he is considered socially inferior to Fogg, he is just as respectable and dutiful.

Detective Fix, though the antagonist of the story, is also motivated by a noble sense of duty. He worries that his reputation as a detective will be lost if he does not catch Fogg, who he suspects is a bank robber on the run, and remains “resolved to do his duty” of arresting Fogg and thereby fulfilling his role of upholding law, order, and justice. Although he ranks much lower in society than Fogg, Fix still takes pride in his work and is committed to acting honorably.

Verne portrays Passepartout and Fix as formidable equals of Fogg, despite their differing backgrounds, in order to show that common men are just as respectable as the wealthy minority who are held in high esteem by the highly stratified Victorian society. The novel makes the case that worth is determined by character rather than by money, and that any man, regardless of status, can be a gentleman through his commitment to acting honorably.