Lord Kencarth's education

We have discussed the issue of women’s education a lot in class now. The uselessness of accomplishments, which is the focus of women’s education, and the fact that it does not prepare a women for life has been the center of a lot of those discussions. I find the character of Lord Kencarth interesting because in a lot of ways his character seems to suggest that men’s education can, in some cases, be just as useless as women’s education. Lord Kencarth is towards the top of the social rung and it can be assumed that he has had the standard education of a gentlemen. He tells Walsingham that has passed his time “hunting, racing, rowing, quizzing, queering, badgering, boxing, mumming, drinking, driving, and making love” (372).  He then explains the trouble that this way of living has lead him to and insists that though they were considered part of his education he has since broke free of them. This notion is not supported by his later actions. Lord Kencarth consistently shows a lack of judgment in almost every action that he performs and a lot of those actions reflect back to that list of occupations above. The aspects of his life that should carry some weight do not. His role in parliament is a farce and is described as his prime place to rest. Instead of taking that role seriously it is merely something that he felt he was supposed to do and his “elocution consists of monosyllables; −ayes and noes settle the affairs of the nation” (375). There is also the issue of his inability to think rational and instead lets his impulses govern his life. We see this with the horse incident and the buying of the jewel. His purchase of the pink diamond is particularly interesting to me because it shows both his lack of understanding on the value of money, which should be important, and his inability to follow rational thought instead of compulsion. Despite his education, Lord Kencarth is not actually adequately prepared for life and these incidents prove that.