Butler
858511
221524613
2008-06-24T21:53:54Z
208.113.236.112
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A '''butler''' is a senior [[domestic worker|servant]] in a large [[household]]. In the [[great house]]s of the past, the household was sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, [[wine cellar]], and pantries. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and [[Housekeeper (servant)|housekeepers]] caring for entire house and its appearance. Housekeepers are occasionally portrayed in [[literature]] as being the most senior staff member and as even making recommendations for the hiring of the butler.
==Background==
In modern houses where the butler is the most senior worker, titles such as ''[[majordomo]]'', ''butler administrator'', ''house manager'', ''manservant'', ''staff manager'', ''estate manager'' and ''head of household staff'' are sometimes given. The precise duties of the employee will vary to some extent in line with the title given, but perhaps more importantly in line with the requirements of the individual employer.
The earliest literary mention of a butler is probably that of the man whose release from prison was predicted by [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]] in the [[biblical]] account of Joseph's interpretation of the dreams of the [[Pharaoh]]'s servants. The word "butler" derives from the [[Old French]] ''bouteillier'', (cup bearer), from ''bouteille'', (bottle) and ultimately from Latin. The role of the butler, for centuries, has been that of the chief steward of a household, the attendant entrusted with the care and serving of wine and other bottled beverages which in ancient times might have represented a considerable portion of the household's assets.
In Britain the butler was originally a middle ranking member of the staff of a grand household. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries <!--when gentleman attendants disappeared from aristocratic households that--doesn't make sense; pages, valets and footmen were all still in place--needs explaining. Reply: pageboys in the 18th century sense were just very young servants, nothing like a medieval page of high birth. Valets and footmen were not "gentlemen" attendants, they were servants.--> the butler gradually became the usually senior male member of a household's staff in the very grandest households there was sometimes a steward who ran the entire estate, rather than just the household, and who was senior to the butler into the nineteenth century. Butlers used to always be attired in a special uniform, distinct from the [[livery]] of junior servants, but today a butler is more likely to wear a business suit or business casual clothing and appear in uniform only on special occasions.
Butlers used to work their way up from the bottom and belong to clubs in larger cities such as London, but today, tend to go to butler schools and belong to guilds such as The International Institute of Modern Butlers and The Guild of Professional English Butlers. Butlers are also found in hotels, corporate settings, yachts, and embassies, and are available as temporary service providers.
==Surname==
As a surname "Butler" was originated by Theobald le Botiller FitzWalter (Lord of Preston). Lord FitzWalter accompanied [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] into [[Ireland]], and was appointed hereditary [[Chief Butler of Ireland]] in 1177. This title can be defined as Governor by today's standards. He was granted land holdings of Baggotrath, [[County Dublin]], and the [[Stein River]] lands around what is now Trinity College Dublin. His son, Theobalde Butler, was the first to hold the name and pass it to his descendants.
==Butlers in literature==
===Fiction===
The real-life butler is supposed to be discreet and unobtrusive. The butler of fiction, by contrast, often tends to be larger-than-life and has become a [[plot device]] in [[literature]] and a traditional [[role]] in the [[performing arts]]. Butlers may provide comic relief with wry comments, clues as to the perpetrators of various crimes and are represented as at least as intelligent and moral, or even more so, than their “betters”. They are often portrayed as being serious and expressionless and in the case that the wealthy hero be an orphan--such as [[Batman]], [[Chrono Crusade]]'s Satella Harvenheit, or [[Tomb Raider]]'s [[Lara Croft]]--be a father figure to said hero. The fictional butler tends to be given a typical Anglo-Celtic surname and have a British accent.
Today, butlers are usually portrayed as being refined and well-spoken. However, in nineteenth century fiction such as ''[[Dracula]],'' butlers generally spoke with a strong [[cockney]] or other regional accent.
"The butler" is integral to the plot of countless [[potboiler]]s and [[melodrama]]s, whether or not the character has been given a name. Butlers figure so prominently in [[period piece]]s and [[whodunit]]s that they can be considered [[stock character]]s in [[film]] and [[theatre]] where a [[catch phrase]] is "[[Mary Roberts Rinehart|the butler did it]]!"
See [[valet]] for a list of characters who are often mistaken for butlers, but strictly speaking are valets, rather than butlers, such as [[Jeeves]] though as Jeeves' employer Wooster has noted, when the occasion demands Jeeves "can buttle with the best of them".
;Notable fictional butlers
{{Seealso|List of famous fictional butlers}}
<!--Not Jeeves - see above-->
*Stevens, the protagonist of [[Kazuo Ishiguro]]'s [[Booker Prize]] winning novel, [[the Remains of the Day]].
*Angus Hudson, from television's [[Upstairs, Downstairs]].
*[[Rowan Atkinson]] as [[Mr. E. Blackadder|Edmund Blackadder]], butler to Prince [[George (Blackadder character)|George]] the [[Prince Regent]], in the TV Series ''[[List_of_Blackadder_episodes#Series_3:_Blackadder_the_Third_.281987.29|Blackadder the Third]]''.
*[[Alfred Pennyworth]], [[Batman|Bruce Wayne]]'s butler from [[Batman_in_popular_media|Batman]] is a well known fictional butler.
*[[Benson DuBois]],The Tate butler in the hit 70's sitcom, [[Soap]]
*[[Joseph Marcell]], [[List of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air characters#Geoffrey_Barbara_Butler|Geoffrey Butler]], the butler for the [[List of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air characters#The Bel Air family|Banks Family]] on ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]''.
*[[Nestor (Tintin character)|Nestor]], the butler of [[Marlinspike Hall]] appearing in [[The Adventures of Tintin]].
*Daniel Davis as [[Niles]] the butler in the TV Series [[The Nanny (TV series)|The Nanny]].
*[[Sebastian Beach]] in the Blandings Castle stories by [[P.G. Wodehouse]], of intimidating majesty but nonetheless a good soul who frequently co-conspires with the clever Gally Threepwood.
===Non-fiction===
;Notable non-fictional butlers
*[[Clive McGonigal]], founder of [[The Butler Bureau]]
*[[Paul Burrell]], butler to the late [[Diana, Princess of Wales]]
*[[Hugh Edgar]], butler, ''[[The Edwardian Country House]]'', 2002 British historical recreation TV series
*Arthur Richard Inch, long-time real-life butler, Butler Technical Consultant for the film ''[[Gosford Park]]''
*[[Ivor Spencer]], [[Toastmaster]] and [[etiquette]] specialist, head of the Ivor Spencer International School for Butler Administrators/Personal Assistants and Estate Managers
*[[Alonzo Fields]], [[White House]] butler under [[Herbert Hoover]], [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]], and [[Harry S. Truman]].
==See also==
*[[Housekeeper (servant)]]
*[[Valet]]
*[[Domestic worker]]
==External links==
*[http://www.butlersguild.com/index.php The International Guild of Professional Butlers]
*[http://www.modernbutlers.com/ The International Institute of Modern Butlers]
[[Category:Domestic work]]
[[fr:Bouteiller]]
[[it:Maggiordomo]]
[[mk:Батлер]]
[[nl:Butler]]
[[pt:Mordomo]]
[[id:Butler]]
[[ja:バトラー]]
[[sv:Butler]]