Question

essay on the gentleman shopkeeper​

Answer 1

A gentleman is a gentle man. In this connection, the word “gentle” means “noble”, as it does in the phrase “of gentle birth”. So, originally, a gentleman was one who, by birth and training, belonged to the upper classes. He was of noble blood.

Then, because the social manners of the upper classes were refined, as compared with those of the lower classes, anyone who knew how to behave in polite society came to be called a gentleman.

So gentle manliness came to refer to outward behavior. A man who behaved like a gentleman was a gentle man.In his description of a gentleman, Cardinal Newman goes much deeper than this. His definition of a gentleman is, “One who never inflicts pain”. “This description”, he says, “is both refined and, as far as it goes, accurate.”