La noblesse oblige (/noʊˌblɛsəˈbliːʒ/;French:[lanɔblɛsɔbliʒ]^ⓘ; literally "nobility obliges") is aFrench expression that means thatnobility extends beyond mere entitlement, requiring people who hold such status to fulfillsocial responsibilities; the term retains the same meaning in English. For example, a primary obligation of a nobleman could include generosity towards those around him. As those who lived on the nobles' land had obligations to the nobility, the nobility had obligations to their people, including protection at the least.^[1]

According to theOxford English Dictionary, the term suggests "noble ancestry constrains to honourable behaviour; privilege entails responsibility." TheDictionnaire de l'Académie française defines it thus:

1. Whoever claims to be noble must conduct himself nobly.
2. (Figuratively) One must act in a fashion that conforms to one's position and privileges with which one has been born, bestowed and/or has earned.

OED and others cite the source of the phrase asMaxims (1808) byPierre Marc Gaston de Lévis, Duke of Lévis.^[2][3][4]

Noblesse oblige is generally used to imply that wealth,power, and prestige come withresponsibilities. Inethical discussion, the term is sometimes^{[citation needed]} used to summarize amoral economy whereinprivilege must be balanced by duty towards those who lack such privilege or who cannot perform such duty. Recently, it has been used to refer to public responsibilities of the rich, famous and powerful, notably to provide good examples of behaviour or exceed minimal standards of decency. It has also been used to describe a person taking the blame for something in order to solve an issue or save someone else.

An early instance of this concept in literature may be found inHomer'sIliad. In Book XII, the heroSarpedon delivers a speech in which he urges his comradeGlaucus to fight with him in the front ranks of battle. InPope'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 confidential bands
Behold our deeds transcending our commands,
Such, they may cry, deserve the sovereign state,
Whom those that envy dare not imitate!

In Luke 12:48,^[5] Jesus says: "Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more."

During theHellenistic period, a similar practice of benevolence and benefaction in funding public institutions and distributing wealth, known aseuergetism, used private, focusedurbanization and investment to engineer a reciprocal relationship predicated ontradition andestablished societal norms. These customs bounded the civic elite to economic intervention through thesesocial expectations and the populace to loyalty in subordinating them to dependents sustaining themselves throughphilanthropy.

On a larger scale, thismutual interdependence can be observed in the symbioticrelationship between atributary state and itsoverlord:Alexander the Great formalized this policy in seeking to portray his conquests and subjugations as a form of liberation by directing funding into recently acquired polities.^[6]

Similarly,patron-client relationships inancient Roman society and the mutualpaternalistic obligations thepatrician class maintained towardsplebeians existed for a similar purpose: to reinforcetraditional social hierarchies and imbueloyalty. Within theRoman colonies, a similar expectation existed surrounding thecollective maintenance of the outpost by its Roman inhabitants.^[7]

InLe 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!"^[8] His advice included "others will respect you for detesting people who have done detestable things."

The phrase is carved intoBertram Goodhue'sLos Angeles Public Library on a sculpture byLee Lawrie as part ofHartley Burr Alexander's iconographic scheme for the building.^[9][10]

In the song "The Life I Lead" from the 1964 Disney filmMary Poppins, the character Mr. Banks (played byDavid Tomlinson) uses the phrase: "I'm the lord of my castle! The sovereign! The liege! I treat my subjects, servants, children, wife, with a firm but gentle hand—noblesse oblige."

JuristsMickey Dias andWesley Newcomb Hohfeld have pointed out that rights and duties arejural corelatives,^[11] which means that if someone has a right,someone else owes them a duty. Dias's reasoning was used inMurphy v Brentwood District Council (1991) to disapproveAlfred Denning's judgment inDutton v Bognor Regis Urban District Council (1972).

Notes

Sources

• Oxford English Dictionary (1989). New York:Oxford University Press.
• Roberts, Jennifer Tolbert (1994).Athens on Trial: The Antidemocratic Tradition in Western Thought. Princeton, New Jersey:Princeton University Press.ISBN 9780691029191.
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (film, 1982). London Film Productions Limited. 2003 DVD ID#191LFDVD.