The Educated Man

A detailed Summary of The Educated Man


John Henry Newman, the author of the essay entitled "The Educated Man" begins his essay in a way that was very contradictory to his times. He opens his essay boldly declaring that "A University is not a birthplace to poets or immortal authors, of founders of schools, leaders of colonies, or conquerors of nations." In essence, what he is saying is that the university is not the birthplace of an educated man. This thought helps highlight his purpose for the remainder of the essay, to provide a pure definition, untainted by society, of what a true educated man is, as opposed to what he was considered in the Victorian Period. I strongly agree with his essay, and its function of requiring the paper-machier-and-chicken-wire educated man of the Victorian Age to become molded of real substance.

The essay continues to say " [A university] does not promote a generation of Aristotles or Newtons, of Raphaels or Shakespeares... Nor is it content on the other hand with formi


One trait of Newman's educated man is that "he is at home with any society" and "has common ground with every class." This idea is also contradictory to the thought of the time- that an educated man relates only to other educated men. I side with Newman on this issue also. A true educated man knows he may learn more about the anatomy of a fish from a poor fisherman than a Harvard grad. He knows he may gain knowledge from all walks of life, and does not limit his knowledge imput to the ideas of just one class.

Newman concludes his essay by saying, "He has a gift which... without which good fortune is but vulgar, and with which failure and disappointment have a charm." The fictional character Jay Gatsby, of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby was proof of this. He was a man who had acquired good fortune without education, and it was indeed vulgar, as opposed to the charming life of Van Gough, whose artwork, although not rewarded with money during his lifetime, will forever be appreciated. This view of

Some common words found in the essay are:
Albert Einstein, Van Gough, Henry Newman, Shakespeares Nor, Fitzgerald's Gatsby, Victorian Age, Urbino Italy, Victorian Period, Charlie Chaplin, Educated Period, albert einstein, true educated, university birthplace,

Approximate Word count = 681
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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