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Eminent Victorians | Introduction

In Eminent Victorians (1918), Lytton Strachey examined the lives of four famous English individuals from the Victorian Era and found that they were not quite what previous biographies and popular legend had made them out to be. The four in question were Cardinal Manning, the leader of England’s Roman Catholic community; Florence Nightingale, the nurse; Thomas Arnold, the educational reformer; and General Charles George Gordon, a soldier and adventurer.

Strachey sought a new approach to biography. The typical, sprawling two-volume Victorian biography presented its subject in the best possible light, ignoring any aspects of the life that might tarnish the person’s achievements. Strachey determined that these large and tedious volumes, full of what he called ‘‘ill-digested masses of material,’’ did a disservice to the art of biography. In contrast, he wrote short, pithy, artful biographies that told the truth about the subjects as Strachey understood it. The result, in Eminent Victorians, is a series of radical reinterpretations. Cardinal Manning is presented as a scheming, ambitious man rather than a pious representative of God. Florence Nightingale, although Strachey does not devalue her astonishing achievements, is presented as a woman maniacally obsessed with work, whose personality was acerbic rather than saintly. Strachey’s Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, is little more than a pompous, pedantic fool. The portrait of Gordon is the most complex of the four, showing a man who was driven to his demise by the contradictions in his own personality and the vacillation of the British government.

Eminent Victorians is a landmark book not only because it punctured many of the pretensions and conceit of the Victorian Era, but because it signaled a new trend in the writing of biography, the influence of which is still discernible today.

Eminent Victorians Summary

Cardinal Manning
Eminent Victorians begins with an account of the life of Cardinal Manning (1807–1892), a convert from the Church of England who became Archbishop of Westminster and the leader of England’s Catholic community. When Manning went to Oxford University, he seemed set for a political career, but his hopes were dashed when his father was declared bankrupt. Manning was soon elected to a Fellowship at Merton College, Oxford, conditional on his taking orders in the Church of England. Manning became attracted to the Oxford Movement, a reform movement in the Church of England associated with the names of John Keble and John Henry Newman. But as the Oxford Movement seemed to slip closer to Roman Catholicism, Manning, who was now Archdeacon of Chichester, cut himself off from it.

Manning was a rising force in the Church of England, a man of great energy and administrative skill. However, he was tormented by what he believed to be the temptations of the devil to worldly ambition. Unable to find peace, he analyzed his motivations in detail, trying to decide whether, if advancement came along, he should accept or reject it. He also felt drawn towards the Roman Catholic Church. When it became clear from a legal case that Church of England doctrine could be decided by an Act of Parliament, Manning converted to Catholicism. The pope appointed him provost of the Chapter of Westminster. Within seven years, Manning had become Archbishop of Westminster. The appointment followed an internal struggle involving

Manning, Cardinal Wiseman, the Archbishop of Westminster, and another cleric, Dr. Errington, the representative of England’s Old Catholic community. Manning won because he befriended Monsignor Talbot, the private secretary of the pope.

Strachey casts the next stage of Manning’s life in contrast to and opposition with that of Newman, who had also converted to Catholicism. Unlike Manning, Newman had almost been ignored. But then he wrote Apologia pro Vita Sua, which became a classic of Catholic thought. With his newfound recognition, Newman wanted to establish a Hall at Oxford for Catholic undergraduates, but Manning used his connections to the pope to block Newman’s proposal.

Following this, Manning played a key role in defusing political criticism in England over the dogma of Papal Infallibility in 1870. Five years later, Manning became a cardinal. He ruled his diocese with efficient zeal, lecturing, organizing charities, delivering sermons, and writing many devotional books. He continued his strenuous work until old age. At his funeral in January, 1892, there was grief in the streets; he had managed to touch the hearts of working people.

Florence Nightingale
Strachey... » Complete Eminent Victorians Summary