Gentlemanly Honor and Dueling Theme Analysis

For men of the British nobility in the late 18th century, honor was an important social institution. To be considered a gentleman one had to be honorable, which meant being truthful, virtuous, and well-mannered. At the same time, being honorable required courage: both courage in a physical altercation, but also, more commonly, the courage to defend one’s honor when it was questioned by another.If one gentleman insulted another, for instance by accusing him of lying, by calling him a name, or by making advances on his wife or sweetheart, the insulted gentleman was obligated by the rules of honor to challenge the offending gentleman to a duel. If he failed to issue a challenge, his reputation as a gentleman would be ruined because he would be seen as either admitting to his lack of honor, or as displaying a lack of courage that, regardless of the truth of the charges against him, was itself dishonorable.

Part of the idea behind the institution of dueling is that, because gentlemen knew what kinds of behavior would offend another man’s honor and cause him to issue a challenge to a duel, this knowledge served as an important check on the behavior of noblemen, leading them to think twice before they lied, cheated, or sexually harassed women.

Captain Absolute fits perfectly into this ideal vision of dueling. He sees dueling as a necessary but unpleasant fact of life. Although he finds it unreasonable that Sir Lucius O’Trigger challenges him to a duel without giving any explanation, after trying to coolly reason with Sir Lucius without getting a satisfactory answer from him, he accepts the challenge. In other words, Absolute acts as an absolute gentleman: he always shows a cool and reasonable temperament, but when challenged by a social equal he courageously meets his obligations to fight and preserve his honor. As a captain who has been in a marching (or active) regiment for his entire adolescence, Captain Absolute has been steeped in the culture of gentlemanly honor. A Captain in the army not only had his own honor to protect, but the honor of the army and of the King to whom the army swore loyalty.

Sir Lucius, on the other hand, is far too keen to fight in duels himself and to see others fight in them. He challenges Absolute to a duel without giving any reason, and even urges Faulkland, who has come to the duel to support Captain Absolute as his second, to duel Acres. Sir Lucius seems to see duels as fun and exciting, and his extreme interest in duels shows that, when carried too far, this social institution which helped to regulate the behavior of young men could also lead to unnecessary carnage and grieving families.

Despite the character of Sir Lucius, though, The Rivals is not attempting to level a deep criticism of either gentlemanly honor or of the institution of dueling. Nowhere is this more visible than through the character of Squire Acres. As a country squire, Acres lacks Captain Absolute’s formal military training, as well his knowledge of how to act the part of a sophisticated gentleman in general and of the rules of dueling specifically. Most importantly, though,he also lacks courage.As a result, Acres first overcompensates: because he is trying to fit in within the social world of the city of Bath, Acres allows himself to be persuaded by Lucius O’Trigger that he has grounds to challenge Beverley to a duel where there are none. He is not really prepared, however, for the risk involved, and is greatly relieved when Beverley turns out not to exist.

Sir Lucius O’Trigger then insults Acres by calling him a coward, but Acres refuses to defend his honor. In the world of the play such failures, of both knowledge and courage, are unforgivable in a gentleman, and Squire Acres is portrayed throughout as a coward and a fool.