The Bostonians

Southern chivalry has its roots in the code of honor brought over by the English aristocrats who became Southern landowners. Though the chivalric code requires gallantry toward women, it is founded in the belief that women are “essentially inferior to men” (151). Basil shows his loyalty to the chivalric code by exhibiting courtesy toward women. He frequently refrains from making comments that will offend the women in the room, whom he often flatters. Upon first meeting her, he yearns to make an ironic retort to Mrs. Luna; however, “he remembered that this was not the way in which a Southern gentleman spoke to ladies” (8). At Miss Birdseye’s house, to show his appreciation for Dr. Prance, he “paid homage to her wisdom in the manner of Mississippi—with a richness of compliment” (34).

At the same time, Basil believes women to be “delicate, agreeable creatures, whom Providence had placed under the protection of the bearded sex” (151) and who should “accept the lot which men had made for them” (151). He believes their “rights” involve receiving “the generosity and tenderness of the stronger race” (151) and that in turn, they should be “gracious and grateful” (151). The narrator acknowledges the antiquated nature of these beliefs, informing readers, “I shall have sketched a state of mind which will doubtless strike many readers as painfully crude” (151).

That Basil’s chivalry is purposeless and insincere suggests chivalry’s obsolete nature. When Basil attempts to flatter Mrs. Luna, Mrs. Luna perceives that his saccharine statements “commit[s] him to nothing in particular” (155). She wishes he would not be “so beastly polite” (155), believing his flattery to be “part of his Southern gallantry” (155). At Mrs. Burrage’s house, when Mrs. Luna deliberately prevents him from hearing Verena speak, Basil is bound by his chivalric code to stay by her side despite her maliciousness.

In a telling incident, Mrs. Luna coerces Basil to escort her home by “appeal[ing] to his Southern chivalry” (76), an appeal that works, for “practically, at least, he admitted the rights of women” (76). This passage reveals how, though he claims to see women “as the dearest thing in life” (169), it is a dearness that entails fragility. That Mrs. Luna understands and easily exploits it reveals the flimsiness of its tenets.