Noblesse Oblige - History and Examples

History and Examples

An early instance of this concept in literature may be found in Homer's Iliad. In Book XII, the Trojan prince Sarpedon delivers a famous speech in which he urges his comrade Glaucus to fight with him in the front ranks of battle. In Pope's translation, Sarpedon exhorts Glaucus thus: "’Tis ours, the dignity they give to grace / The first in valour, as the first in place; / That when with wondering eyes our martial bands / Behold our deeds transcending our commands, / Such, they may cry, deserve the sovereign state, / Whom those that envy dare not imitate!"

In "Le Lys dans la vallée", written in 1835 and published in 1836, Honoré de Balzac recommends certain standards of behaviour to a young man, concluding: "Everything I have just told you can be summarized by an old word: noblesse oblige!" His advices had included comments like "others will respect you for detesting people who have done detestable things," but nothing about generosity or benevolence. He later includes the exhortation that a noble person performs services for others not for gain or recognition, but simply because it was the right thing to do.

It was also recorded in an 1837 letter from F. A. Kemble: "To be sure, if noblesse oblige, royalty must do so still more".

The phrase is used as the motto for the National Honor Society, which cites its purpose is to convey "fulfilling their obligations through service to others."

William Faulkner uses the term many times in his novels and short stories, including the famous The Sound and the Fury and "A Rose for Emily".

"Indeed you can usually tell when the concepts of democracy and citizenship are weakening. There is an increase in the role of charity and in the worship of volunteerism. These represent the élite citizen's imitation of noblesse oblige; that is, of pretending to be aristocrats or oligarchs, as opposed to being citizens." —John Ralston Saul

In the Disney movie Mary Poppins, Mr. Banks sings a song titled "The Life I Lead" with the lyrics: "I treat my subjects / servants, children, wife / With a firm but gentle hand / Noblesse oblige!"

The musical Me and My Girl contains a scene where the Cockney Bill Snibson mis-reads his family motto of noblesse oblige. The Duchess Maria corrects him and reminds him of new obligations as an aristocrat. Now drunk, the portraits of his ancestors appear to awaken, singing a song reminding him of his duties, a refrain of noblesse oblige forming the chorus.

Noblesse oblige is the motto of Calasanctius College (Ireland) and Colvin Taluqdars' College (India). The final stanza of Colvin's College Song is "Forgetting not our motto to perform noble deeds; Of pursuing our aim and serve our nation's needs; Colvinians do your duty, be loyal, just and true; Our College and our country expect this of you."

In the first act of Johann Strauss, Jr.'s operetta Die Fledermaus, when Gabriel Eisenstein's wife, Rosalinde, shows confusion at his intention to wear dress evening clothes to prison, he exclaims, "Noblesse oblige!"

In the Robert A. Heinlein novel To Sail Beyond the Sunset, Dr. Johnson says, "Does your common man understand chivalry? Noblesse oblige? Aristocratic rules of conduct? Personal responsibility for the welfare of the state? One may as well search for fur on a frog." Heinlein also discusses the concept in Glory Road where Her Wisdom Star, Empress of Twenty Universes observes to her champion that "Noblesse oblige is an emotion felt only by the truly noble."

Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts uses the phrase disparagingly in his majority opinion concerning the government's assertion that it will selectively prosecute animal cruelty videos based on their own interpretation of The First Amendment in United States v. Stevens.

Baroness Orczy's character The Scarlet Pimpernel often uses the phrase to describe her sense of duty to protect the nobility of France, especially when addressing the villainous Paul Chauvelin in the 1982 London Film Productions movie.

In the 1972 movie The Ruling Class, Inspector Brockett concludes his investigation of the murder of Lady Claire at the Gurney Estate by announcing to his hosts: "You've shown me what 'noblesse oblige' really means." The line is delivered after he has arrested the butler based on his possession of communist writings. The overall effect is to portray the authorities as lackeys to a reckless aristocracy.