The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the representation of manliness in 19th century Victorian paintings while discussing the connection between England’s national identity and manliness. Manliness is a posterior quality that an individual acquires through experiences within society, and contrasts in character from the innate maleness one possesses. The societal factors that contributed to the establishment of Victorian era manliness include domestic ideology, Christian mindset, and Darwinism. On the premise of gender role and familial responsibilities, Victorian men achieved a state of manliness by utilizing their physical strength to work towards the betterment of his family and country. Next, by attaining an elite position through not only physical labor, but through intellectual and spiritual means while simultaneously earning respect and possessing compassion for those weaker than himself, the Victorian male accomplished a manliness defined through the Christian mindset. The third type of manliness comprises of both of the previously mentioned factors, and ultimately finds basis in physical superiority: the achievement of progressive ideals by the modern British male.Fusing with the racist ideals popular in the 19thcentury, the English manliness originating from middle-class moral values ultimately formed the basis for the mindset of an imperialist nation. Imperialism is an idea that strictly affirms belief in the superiority of the modern man over the primitive, male over female, adult over child, historic over non-historic, and cultured over barbaric. Thus, those who conquered colonies were seen to possess sympathy and goodwill rather than the greed to plunder, and considered themselves as promoting equality, progressivism, and science; thus benefiting the land that they occupied. Imperialism was founded upon the basis of such conquerors'sense of moral and intellectual superiority.For the Victorians, the value of manliness also worked as a method of distinguishing themselves from the rest of the world. The English took pride in the self-proclaimed belief that they were the only truly manly ethnicity in the world, and the roots of such thought could be traced to the masculinity offered by the economic, political, and imperialistic success of England at the time. However, such ideas of masculinity proved only to be the ambitious creation of the British themselves. The manliness expressed within Victorian paintings was an ideal that was created, transformed, and ultimately reestablished though England’s political, social, and moral developments in the 19th century.