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{{short description|Usually male domestic worker in charge of all the household staff}}
{{redirect|Butlers||Butler (disambiguation)}}
[[File:White House Butlers Pantry.jpg|thumb|right|A butler in the [[White House]] Butler's Pantry.]] 
A '''butler''' is a person who works in a house serving and is a [[domestic worker]] in a large [[household]]. In [[great house]]s, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the [[dining room]], [[wine cellar]], and [[pantries|pantry]]. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor and [[Housekeeper (domestic worker)|housekeepers]] caring for the entire house and its appearance.<ref name="emilypost">{{cite book |title= Emily Post's Etiquette |last=Post |first=Emily| year=2007 |publisher=Echo Library |isbn=978-1-4068-1215-2}}</ref> A butler is usually male and in charge of male servants, while a housekeeper is usually female and in charge of female servants. Traditionally, male servants (such as [[Footman|footmen]]) were better-paid and of higher status than female servants. The butler, as the senior male servant, has the highest servant status. He can also sometimes function as a [[chauffeur]]. 

In older houses where the butler is the most senior worker, titles such as ''[[majordomo]]'', ''butler administrator'', ''house manager'', ''manservant'', ''staff manager'', ''[[chief of staff]]'', ''staff captain'', ''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. In the grandest homes or when the employer owns more than one residence, there is sometimes an estate manager of higher rank than the butler. The butler can also be assisted by a head [[footman|footman or footboy]] called the '''under-butler.'''<ref>Michelle Jean Hoppe’s article 046: ''Servants: Their Hierarchy and Duties''.</ref>

==Background==
[[File:Butler 1922.jpg|thumb|Butler {{Circa|1922}}]]
The word ''butler'' comes from Anglo-Norman ''buteler'', a variant form of Old Norman ''*butelier'', corresponding to [[Old French]] ''botellier'' 'officer in charge of the king's wine bottles', derived from ''boteille'' 'bottle' (Modern French ''bouteille)'', itself from Gallo-Romance <small>BUTICULA</small> 'bottle'. For centuries, the butler has been 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 and led to the position becoming chief steward of a household.
 
In Britain, the butler was originally a middle-ranking member of the staff of a grand household. In the 17th and 18th 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 senior, usually male, member of a household's staff in the very grandest households. However, there was sometimes a steward who ran the outside estate and financial affairs, rather than just the household, and who was senior to the butler in social status into the 19th century. Butlers used always to be attired in a special uniform, distinct from the [[livery]] of junior servants, but today a butler is more likely to wear a [[Business attire|business suit]] or business casual clothing and appear in uniform only on special occasions.

A ''silverman'' or ''silver butler'' has expertise and professional knowledge of the management, secure storage, use and cleaning of all [[Household silver|silverware]], associated tableware and other paraphernalia for use at military and other special functions.

==Origin and history== 
[[File:Pincerna-roman.jpg|left|thumb|95px|A slave in charge of wine in ancient Rome.]]
The modern role of the butler has evolved from earlier roles that were generally concerned with the care and serving of alcoholic beverages.

===Ancient through medieval eras===
{{for|butlers in Anglo-Saxon England|Dish-bearers and butlers in Anglo-Saxon England}}
From ancient through medieval times, alcoholic beverages were chiefly stored first in earthenware vessels, then later in wooden barrels, rather than in glass bottles; these containers would have been an important part of a household's possessions. The care of these assets was therefore generally reserved for trusted slaves, although the job could also go to free persons because of heredity-based class lines or the inheritance of trades.

The biblical [[book of Genesis]] contains a reference to a role precursive to modern butlers. The early Hebrew [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]] interpreted a dream of Pharaoh's שקה (shaqah) (literally "to give to drink"), which is most often translated into English as "chief butler" or "chief [[cup-bearer]]."<ref>Genesis 39-40.</ref>

In ancient Greece and Rome, it was nearly always slaves who were charged with the care and service of wine, while during the [[Medieval Era]] the ''pincerna'' filled the role within the noble court. The English word "butler" itself comes from the [[Middle English]] word ''bo(u)teler'' (and several other forms), from Anglo-Norman ''buteler'', itself from Old Norman ''butelier'', corresponding to [[Old French]] ''botellier'' ("bottle bearer"), Modern French ''bouteiller'', and before that from [[Medieval Latin]] ''butticula''. The modern [[English language|English]] "butler" thus relates both to bottles and [[casks]].
[[File:Pincera-schenker.jpg|left|thumb|95px|A ''pincerna'' depicted in service to a noble court during the Medieval Era.]]
Eventually the European butler emerged as a middle-ranking member of the servants of a great house, in charge of the ''buttery'' (originally a storeroom for "butts" of liquor, although the term later came to mean a general storeroom or pantry).<ref>This was most likely from a loss of the original Latin meaning and the mistaken belief that ''buttery'' related to "butter".</ref> 

While this is so for household butlers, those with the same title but in service to the Crown enjoyed a position of administrative power and were only minimally involved with various stores. The [[Chief Butler of England]] was a hereditary ceremonial role that existed in both England and Ireland from the medieval period. In England, it formed part of a system known as [[Grand Sergeanty]], whereby landholders provided specific services to the Crown.  

In Ireland, the office was granted to [[Theobald Walter, 1st Chief Butler of Ireland]] in 1177 <ref name="DIB">{{cite web |last=Otway-Ruthven |first=A.J. |title=Walter, Theobald |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/walter-butler-theobald-a1290 |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography |publisher=Royal Irish Academy |access-date=1 September 2025}}</ref> by Prince John, then Lord of Ireland. The importance of the role was such that Theobald Walter’s descendants adopted "Butler" as their surname. They subsequently became the foundation of the powerful [[Butler dynasty]], whose members played a central role in Irish political and social life for centuries.

[[File:Amesservants.jpg|right|thumb|250px|In a large house, the butler (centre-left) is traditionally head over a full array of household servants. This is the servant staff at the Stonehouse Hill of [[Massachusetts]], the estate of [[Frederick Lothrop Ames]], 1914.]]

===Elizabethan through Victorian eras===
The ''steward'' of the Elizabethan era was more akin to the butler that later emerged.<ref>[[Anthony-Maria Browne, 2nd Viscount Montagu]]; Lord Montagu's Book of Rules and Orders, 1595.</ref> Gradually, throughout the 19th century and particularly the Victorian era, as the number of butlers and other domestic servants greatly increased in various countries, the butler became a senior male servant of a household's staff. By this time he was in charge of the more modern ''wine cellar'', the "[[buttery (room)|buttery]]" or ''pantry'' (from French ''pain'' from Latin ''panis'', bread) as it came to be called, which supplied bread, butter, cheese, and other basic provisions, and the ''ewery'', which contained napkins and basins for washing and shaving.<ref name="scanlon">{{cite journal | author=Nancy Scanlon | title=The Development of the Kitchen in the English Country House 1315–1864 |journal=Journal of Culinary Science and Technology |year=2006 |volume=4| issue=2/3 |pages=79–92}}</ref> In the very grandest households there was sometimes an Estate Steward or other senior steward who oversaw the butler and his duties.<ref name="mrsbeeton">{{cite book| title=Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management  |last=Beeton |first=Isabella | date=2000 |orig-year=1861 |page=393 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-283345-7}}</ref> ''[[Mrs Beeton]]'s Book of Household Management'', a manual published in Britain in 1861, reported:

<blockquote>The number of the male domestics in a family varies according to the wealth and position of the master, from the owner of the ducal mansion, with a retinue of attendants, at the head of which is the chamberlain and house-steward, to the occupier of the humbler house, where a single footman, or even the odd man-of-all-work, is the only male retainer. The majority of gentlemen's establishments probably comprise a servant out of livery, or butler, a footman, and coachman, or coachman and groom, where the horses exceed two or three.<ref name="mrsbeeton"/></blockquote>

[[File:Glanusk park.gif|right|thumb|250px|[[Glanusk Park]] in Powys, U.K., in 1891. The residence had 17 servants in residence. The largest stately houses could have 40 or more.]]

Butlers were head of a strict service hierarchy and therein held a position of power and respect. They were more managerial than "hands on"—more so than serving, they officiated in service. For example, although the butler was at the door to greet and announce the arrival of a formal guest, the door was actually ''opened'' by a footman, who would receive the guest's hat and coat. Even though the butler helped his employer into his coat, this had been handed to him by a footman. However, even the highest-ranking butler would "pitch in" when necessary, such as during a staff shortage, to ensure that the household ran smoothly, although some evidence suggests this was so even during normal times.<ref>{{cite book |first=Carrolyn |last=Steedman |title=The servant's labour: the business of life, England, 1760–1820 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |series=Social History |volume=29 |date=February 2004|issue=1 }}</ref>

The household itself was generally divided into areas of responsibility. The butler was in charge of the dining room, the [[wine cellar]], pantry, and sometimes the entire main floor. Directly under the butler was the ''first footman'' (or ''head footman''), although there could also be a ''deputy butler'' or ''under-butler'' who would fill in as butler during the butler's illness or absence. The ''[[footman]]''‒there were frequently numerous young men in the role within a household‒ performed a range of duties including serving meals, attending doors, carrying or moving heavy items, and they often doubled as ''[[valet]]s''. Valets themselves performed a variety of personal duties for their employer. Butlers engaged and directed all these junior staff and each reported directly to him. The ''[[Housekeeper (domestic worker)|housekeeper]]'' was in charge of the house as a whole and its appearance. In a household without an official head housekeeper, female servants and kitchen staff were also directly under the butler's management, while in smaller households, the butler usually doubled as valet. Employers and their children and guests addressed the butler (and under-butler, if there was one) by last name alone; fellow servants, retainers, and tradespersons as "Mr. [Surname]".

Butlers were typically hired by the master of the house but usually reported to its lady. Beeton in her manual suggested a GBP 25–50 (US$2,675‒5,350) per-year salary for butlers; room and board and livery clothing were additional benefits, and tipping known as ''vails'', were common.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Marshall |first=D. |date=April 1929|title=The Domestic Servants of the Eighteenth Century |journal=Economica |issue=25 |pages=15‒40 |doi=10.2307/2548516 |jstor=2548516 }}</ref>
The few butlers who were married had to make separate housing arrangements for their families, as did all other servants within the hierarchy.

===In the early United States===
[[File:Robert Roberts The House Servant's Directory 1827 Book Cover.jpg|right|thumb|120px|Robert Roberts's ''The House Servant's Directory'', 1827.]]
From the beginning of [[slavery]] in the [[United States]], in the early 17th century, [[African Americans]] were put to task as domestic servants. Some eventually became butlers. Gary Puckrein, a social historian, argues that those used in particularly affluent homes authentically internalised the sorts of "refined" norms and personal attributes that would reflect highly upon the social stature of their masters or mistresses. One of the first books written and published through a commercial U.S. publisher by an African American was by a butler named [[Robert Roberts (butler)|Robert Roberts]]. The book, ''The House Servant's Directory,''<ref>{{cite web|author=Robert Roberts |url= https://d.lib.msu.edu/fa |title=The House Servant's Directory |publisher=Munroe and Francis; New York: Charles S. Francis, 1827 |website=digital.lib.msu.edu |access-date=10 January 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220110141201/https://d.lib.msu.edu/fa |archive-date=10 January 2022}}</ref> first published in 1827, is essentially a manual for butlers and waiters, and is called by Puckrein "the most remarkable book by an African American in [[Antebellum South|antebellum United States]]". The book generated such interest that a second edition was published in 1828, and a third in 1843.<ref name="puckrein">{{cite journal |author=Gary Puckrein |title=The Science of Service |journal=American Visions |date=October–November 1998 |volume=13 |issue=5}}</ref>

European [[indentured servants]] formed a corps of domestic workers from which butlers were eventually drawn. Although not the victims of institutionalised slavery, many of them had not volunteered for domestic service, but were forced into it by indebtedness or coercion. As with African American slaves, they could rise in domestic service, and their happiness or misery depended greatly on the disposition of their masters.

===The modern butler===
Beginning around the early 1920s (following [[World War I]]), employment in domestic service occupations began a sharp overall decline in western European countries, and even more markedly in the [[United States]]. Even so, there were still around 30,000 butlers employed in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] by [[World War II]]. As few as one hundred were estimated to remain by the mid-1980s.<ref name="steadyjeevesyouvegotcompany">{{cite journal |author=J. Lee |title=Steady, Jeeves‒you've got company! |journal=[[ U.S. News & World Report]] |year=1988 |volume=104 |issue=17}}</ref> [[Social history|Social historian]] Barry Higman argues that a high number of domestic workers within a society correlates with a high level of socio-[[economic inequality]]. Conversely, as a society undergoes levelling among its [[social class]]es, the number employed in domestic service declines.<ref name="domesticserviceinaustralia">{{cite book |title=Domestic Service in Australia |last=Higman |first=Barry |year=2002 |publisher=Melbourne University Publishing |isbn=978-0-522-85011-6}}</ref>

Following varied shifts and changes accompanying accelerated [[globalisation]] beginning in the late 1980s, overall global demand for butlers since the turn of the millennium has risen dramatically. According to Charles MacPherson, President of Charles MacPherson Associates and owner of The Charles MacPherson Academy for Butlers and Household Managers, the proximate cause is that the number of millionaires and billionaires has increased in recent years, and such people are finding that they desire assistance in managing their households. MacPherson emphasises that the number of wealthy people in [[China]] has increased particularly, creating in that country a high demand for professional butlers who have been trained in the European butlering tradition.<ref name="NPRradio">{{cite interview|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7338550 |title=By Jeeves, We're Having a Butler Shortage |first=Charles |last=MacPherson |interviewer=Scott Simon |access-date=13 August 2007 |publisher=[[NPR]] News |date=10 February 2007 |work=Weekend Edition Saturday |format=Streaming Audio |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080204020022/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7338550 |archive-date=4 February 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://static.pinnaclecare.com/reprints/atlantic-monthly-09-06.pdf |first=Sheelah |last=Kolhatka |magazine=[[The Atlantic]] |date=September 2006 |title=Inside the Billionaire Service Industry |pages=97‒101 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213055730/http://static.pinnaclecare.com/reprints/atlantic-monthly-09-06.pdf |archive-date=13 December 2013}}</ref> There is also increasing demand for such butlers in [[India]], the [[petroleum]]-rich [[Middle East]] and other [[Asia]]n countries.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/2761689.stm |title=Royal tips for Indian butlers |date=17 February 2003 |first=Monica |last=Chadha |url-status=live|publisher=[[BBC News]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520004718/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2761689.stm |archive-date=20 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="Available online">{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2007/11/15/ftbutler115.xml  |title=Butlers: A Jeeves of my very own |first=Jasper |last=Gerard |publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=15 November 2007 |url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121113082257/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/features/3634655/Butlers-A-Jeeves-of-my-very-own.html |archive-date=13 November 2012}}{{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130114040418/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/portal/main.jhtml?xml=/portal/2007/11/15/ftbutler115.xml |date=14 January 2013}}</ref>

Higman additionally argues that the inequality/equality levels of societies are a major determinant of the nature of the domestic servant/employer relationship.<ref>Higman (2002).</ref> As the 21st century approached, many butlers began carrying out an increasing number of duties formerly reserved for more junior household servants. Butlers today may be called upon to do whatever household and personal duties their employers deem fitting, in the goal of freeing their employers to carry out their own personal and professional affairs. Professional butler and author Steven M. Ferry states that the image of tray-wielding butlers who specialise in serving tables and decanting wine is now anachronistic, and that employers may well be more interested in a butler who is capable of managing a full array of household affairs‒from providing the traditional dinner service, to acting as valet, to managing high-tech systems and multiple homes with complexes of staff. While in truly grand houses the modern butler may still function exclusively as a top-ranked household affairs manager,<ref name="butlersandhouseholdmanagers">{{cite book | title=Butlers & Household Managers: 21st Century Professionals |last=Ferry |first=Steven M | page=14 |publisher=BookSurge Publishing |isbn=978-1-59109-306-0 |year=2002}}</ref> in lesser homes, such as those of dual-income middle-class professionals,<ref name="Available online"/> they perform a full array of household and [[personal assistant]] duties,<ref name="thebutlerdoesit">{{cite web|url=https://archive.triblive.com/news/the-butler-does-it/ |author=William Loeffler |date=15 April 2007 |title=The butler does it |publisher=[[Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]] }}</ref> including mundane [[housekeeping]].<ref name="moveoverjeeves">{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/04/1033538773717.html |title=Move over, Jeeves, a new breed of butler is working her way up |author=James Woodford |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=5 October 2002 |url-status=dead  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308093956/http://www.smh.com.au/national/move-over-jeeves-a-new-breed-of-butler-is-working-her-way-up-20021005-gdfp4q.html |archive-date=8 March 2021 |quote=Ms Camille, who is the Australasian representative to the Butler's Guild: "I still make beds, clean toilets and peg out washing," she says. "It's not all as glamorous as people perceive it to be".}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/desperately-seeking-jeeves/article20399430/ |url-status=live |title=Desperately seeking Jeeves |first=Rebecca |last=Dube |date=20 July 2007 |publisher=[[The Globe and Mail]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112032253/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/desperately-seeking-jeeves/article20399430/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |quote=Lynda Reeves, president of the Toronto-based House & Home Media, for the term "butler" says: "it's a pretentious name for a housekeeper".}}</ref> Butlers today may also be situated within corporate settings, embassies, cruise ships, yachts, or within their own small "Rent-a-Butler" business or similar agency.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://money.independent.co.uk/personal_finance/invest_save/article149002.ece |url-status=dead |title=More money than time? Rent a butler |first=Jones |last=Harvey |work=[[The Independent]] |date=15 December 2001|location=United Kingdom |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113140123/http://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/more-money-than-time-rent-a-butler-748066.html |archive-date=13 November 2013}}</ref>

Along with these changes of scope and context, butlering [[attire]] has changed. Whereas butlers have traditionally worn a special uniform that separated them from junior servants, and although this is still often the case, butlers today may wear more casual clothing geared for climate, while exchanging it for formal business attire only upon special service occasions. There are cultural distinctions, as well. In the United States, butlers may frequently don a polo shirt and slacks, while in Bali they typically wear [[sarong]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jul272007/metro2007072615305.asp  |url-status=dead |title=The alter ago of Jeeves |date=27 July 2007 |first=Michael |last=Patrao |publisher=[[Deccan Herald]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411023736/http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jul272007/metro2007072615305.asp |archive-date=11 April 2008 }}</ref>

In 2007, the number of butlers in Britain had risen to an estimated 5,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nysun.com/foreign/shortage-of-butlers-has-worlds-wealthy-facing/55511/ |url-status=live |access-date=16 March 2020 |title=Shortage of Butlers Has World's Wealthy Facing a Crisis |last=Sapsted |first=David |date=30 May 2007 |website=[[The New York Sun]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308184926/https://www.nysun.com/foreign/shortage-of-butlers-has-worlds-wealthy-facing/55511/ |archive-date=8 March 2021}}</ref> That number rose to 10,000 by 2014, consistent with increased worldwide demand.<ref>{{cite web|last=Katz|first=David|date=8 May 2014|title=What It's Like to Be a Billionaire's Butler |url=https://www.gq.com/story/rich-billionaires-butlers-servants |url-status=live |access-date=4 July 2021|website=[[GQ]] |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003045553/https://www.gq.com/story/rich-billionaires-butlers-servants  |archive-date=3 October 2021}}</ref>

==Training==
Butlers traditionally learned their position while progressing their way up the service ladder. For example, in the documentary ''The Authenticity of Gosford Park'', retired butler Arthur Inch (born 1915) describes starting as a [[hall boy]].<ref>''The Authenticity of Gosford Park'', Documentary featurette in ''[[Gosford Park]]'' Collector's Edition DVD, Universal Studios, 2002.</ref> While this is still often the case, numerous private butlering schools exist today. Additionally, major up-market hotels such as the [[Ritz-Carlton]] offer traditional butler training, while some hotels have trained a sort of pseudo-butler for service in defined areas such as "[[technology butler]]s", who fix guests' computers and other electronic devices, and "bath butlers" who draw custom baths.<ref name="thebutlersaredoingit">{{cite journal |author=Alex Witchel |title=At Hotels, the Butlers Are Doing It |journal=[[New York Times]] |date=20 August 2000 |volume=149 |issue=51486 |page=2}}</ref>

==Gender and butlering==
Butlers have traditionally been male, and this remains the norm. Probably the first mention of a female butler is in the 1892 book ''Interludes being Two Essays, a Story, and Some Verses'' by Horace Smith. In it Smith quotes the noted writer and Anglican clergyman [[Sydney Smith]], who between 1809 and 1829 struggled to make ends meet in a poorly paid assignment to a rural parish in [[Yorkshire]]:
<blockquote>
I turned schoolmaster to educate my son, as I could not afford to send him to school. Mrs. Sydney turned schoolmistress to educate my girls as I could not afford a governess. I turned farmer as I could not let my land. A man servant was too expensive, so I caught up a little garden girl, made like a milestone, christened her Bunch, put a napkin in her hand, and made her my butler. The girls taught her to read, Mrs. Sydney to wait, and I undertook her morals. Bunch became the best butler in the country.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/7/0/6/17065/17065.htm |url-status=dead |first1=Horace |last1=Smith |first2=Joel|last2=Lehtonen |orig-year=1892 |date=14 November 2005 |title=Interludes being Two Essays, a Story, and Some Verses |publisher=MacMillan & Co. |isbn=1-4069-1965-9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228001937/http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/7/0/6/17065/17065.htm|archive-date=28 December 2008|quote=Joel Lehtonen is a contributor, translator of the book}}</ref>
</blockquote> 

Today, female butlers are sometimes preferred,<ref name="moveoverjeeves"/> especially for work within [[West Asian]] and [[Southeast Asian]] families where there may be religious objections for men to work closely with women in a household.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.automobilsport.com/hotels-resorts-rosewood-saudi-middle-east-corniche-jeddah-saudiarabia-hans-peter-leitzke-photos---30962.html |url-status=usurped |title=Unique Rosewood Ladies Floor could start trend in Saudi, Middle East Hotels |date=10 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225053905/https://www.automobilsport.com/hotels-resorts-rosewood-saudi-middle-east-corniche-jeddah-saudiarabia-hans-peter-leitzke-photos---30962.html |archive-date=25 February 2021}}</ref> Western female celebrities may also prefer a female butler, as may households where the wife is driving the decision to hire a butler.<ref name="Available online"/> Despite these trends, the Ivor Spencer School asserts that female butlers are not easily placed, on the whole.

In ancient times, the roles precursive to butlering were reserved for chattel or those confined within heredity-based class structures. With the advent of the medieval era, butlering became an opportunity for social advancement‒even more so during Victorian times. Although still based upon various antecedent roles as manifested during different eras, butlering today has frequently taken over many of the roles formerly reserved for lower-ranking domestic servants. At the same time it has become a potentially lucrative career option.<ref>In Loeffler (15 April 2007), Nathalie Laitmon of The Calendar Group in Stamford, Connecticut, states that skilled butlers within the grandest households can make USD 200,000 (GBP 101,500).  She states, "The bigger the lifestyle of the family, the more they can earn".</ref>

==Notable butlers==
* [[Eugene Allen]], White House butler who served under seven U.S. presidents
* [[Leslie Bartlett]], butler, [[toastmaster]]; and founder of The London School of British Butlers
* [[Paul Burrell]], butler to [[Diana, Princess of Wales]]
* [[Alonzo Fields]], White House chief butler from 1932 to 1953
* [[Grant Harrold]], butler to [[Charles III|King Charles III]], then-[[Prince of Wales]], from 2004 to 2011

==In visual art== 
[[File:Hogarths-Servants.jpg|right|thumb|''[[Heads of Six of Hogarth's Servants]]'']]
Butlers have been occasionally depicted in visual art. A famous [[painting]], ''[[Heads of Six of Hogarth's Servants]]'' (c. 1758), is unique among such works. In it, the 18th-century English artist [[William Hogarth]] depicted his household servants, all surrounding the butler. In showing the group in a close-knit assemblage rather than in the performance of their routine household duties, Hogarth sought to humanise and dignify them in a manner akin to wealthy-class members, who were the normal subjects of such [[portrait]]s. While this was a subversive act that certainly raised many eyebrows in his day—Hogarth conspicuously displayed the work in his estate home in full view of guests—at the same time he had painted his servants' facial expressions to convey the sincerity and deference expected of servant-class members.<ref name="fourhundredyears">{{cite book |title=Below stairs, 400 years of servants' portraits |editor=Waterfield G. |editor2=A. French |editor3=M. Craske |year=2003 |publisher=National Portrait Gallery |location=London |isbn=978-1-85514-512-2}}</ref>

In [[contemporary art]], "The Butler's in Love" series by U.S. artist [[Mark Stock]] is especially poignant. In the series, Stock portrays the butler as sick with love, but the possibility of fulfillment is hopeless: the love is a forbidden love, perhaps felt for the lady of the house, and so it must be suffered alone in silent concealment. In addition to the ongoing mannerisms and facial expressions of the butler, a seated lady once appearing in a curtained room and a recurring lipstick-stained [[absinthe]] glass over which the butler obsesses provide the interpretive clues. In selecting a butler as his subject, Stock sought to provide a "universal character", a pathos-laden figure that could be widely related to and that could depict the universality of loneliness felt by someone who can only look in from the outside. Stock began the series in 1985 to express his difficult feelings during a personal experience of unrequited love. One of the paintings was inspiration for a [[3-D film|3-D]] short film, "The Butler's in Love" by actor/director [[David Arquette]], shot in 2008 at [[San Francisco]]'s historic [[Westerfield Mansion]].<ref>Croft, Karen.  "Butlers in Love", ''Salon'', 24 May 2001.</ref><ref>The World of Marck Stock.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/14/DDOF10KL7M.DTL&  |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116000808/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2008%2F05%2F14%2FDDOF10KL7M.DTL& |archive-date=16 January 2009 |last=Garchik |first=Leah |title=San Francisco Chronicle |date=14 May 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wayfaring.com/waypts/show/32050 |url-status=dead |title=San Francisco's historic Westerfield Mansion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731063000/http://www.wayfaring.com/waypts/show/32050 |archive-date=31 July 2010}}</ref>

==In fiction==

The real-life modern butler attempts to be discreet and unobtrusive, friendly but not familiar, keenly anticipative of the needs of his or her employer, and graceful and precise in execution of duty. 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 as their “betters,” or even more so. They are often portrayed as being serious and expressionless and in the case that the wealthy hero is an orphan‒such as [[Batman]], [[Chrono Crusade]]'s Satella Harvenheit, or [[Tomb Raider]]'s [[Lara Croft]]‒may be a father figure to said hero. Regardless of the genre in which they are cast, butlers in fiction almost invariably follow the "British butler" model and are given an appropriate-sounding surname. The fictional butler tends to be given a typical Anglo-Celtic surname and have an English accent. The Asian, African American, or Caribbean houseboy is a variant, but even these major-domos are based on the British icon.

Today, butlers are usually portrayed as being refined and well-spoken. However, in 19th 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 [[catchphrase]] is "The butler did it!"

The best-known fictional manservant, and the archetype of the quintessential British butler, is himself not a butler at all but instead a [[valet]]: [[Jeeves|Reginald Jeeves]], the iconic creation of author [[P. G. Wodehouse]], is a "gentleman's gentleman" and general [[Domestic worker|factotum]]. Probably the best-known fictional butlers are [[Alfred Pennyworth|Alfred]] from the ''[[Batman]]'' comic and films; Hudson of [[Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]] television fame; [[List of Downton Abbey characters#Mr Carson|Mr Carson]] from the [[Downton Abbey]] television series; and Crichton from [[J. M. Barrie]]'s ''[[The Admirable Crichton]]''. Lesser-knowns include [[Lynn_Aloysius_Belvedere|Mr. Belvedere]] from the novel ''Belvedere'', which was adapted into a feature film with sequels and later a [[Mr. Belvedere|television series]]; [[Lurch (The Addams Family)|Lurch]], from the television series ''[[The Addams Family]]'', based on Charles Addams' ''[[The New Yorker]]'' cartoons; Beach, from the Wodehouse series about [[Blandings Castle]]; [[Niles (The Nanny)|Niles]], the butler at the Sheffield house in American sitcom ''[[The Nanny (TV series)|The Nanny]]'', Geoffrey from [[The Fresh Prince of Bel Air]], Bailey (an English canine butler) from the children's animated television series ''[[Arthur (TV series)|Arthur]]'' and Benson from the two series ''[[Soap (TV series)|Soap]]'' and ''[[Benson (TV series)|Benson]]''.

Not all fictional butlers portray the "butler stereotype", however. [[Alan Bates]], who played the butler Jennings in the film ''[[Gosford Park]]'' was coached in brooding detail by Arthur Inch, a longtime real-life butler.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.midsussextimes.co.uk/CustomPages/CustomPage.aspx?PageID=35023 |title=The man who got it right for Gosford Park and told Richard E Grant what was wrong |publisher=[[Mid Sussex Times]] |date=2002 |
quote=Also see: ''The Authenticity of Gosford Park''}}{{Dead link|date=January 2022}}</ref> Mr. Stevens, the butler played by [[Anthony Hopkins]] in the film ''[[The Remains of the Day (film)|Remains of the Day]]'', was also acted with remarkable realism.{{fact|date=December 2024}} A female butler, Sarah Stevens, is the principal character in [[Linda Howard]]'s 2002 ''Dying to Please'', a murder/romance novel. Howard gives detailed and generally accurate descriptions of butlering in the work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.epinions.com/content_64617352836 |title=Linda Howard - Dying To Please|url-status=dead |access-date=24 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220075736/http://www.epinions.com/content_64617352836 |archive-date=20 February 2008|quote=A synopsis of Linda Howard's 2002 ''Dying to Please'' book, archived copy}}</ref>

===Examples===
{{See also|List of fictional butlers}}
<!--Not Jeeves - see above - he is not a butler-->
* [[Alfred Pennyworth]], [[Batman|Bruce Wayne]]'s butler from [[Batman franchise media|Batman]]
* [[Angus Hudson]], from the television show ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' 
* [[Edwin Jarvis]], [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]]'s butler from [[Iron Man]] 
* [[Nestor (comics)|Nestor]], the butler of [[Marlinspike Hall]] in ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'' 
* [[Sebastian Beach]], from the Blandings Castle stories by [[P. G. Wodehouse]], frequently conspires with the clever Gally Threepwood

==See also==
* [[Butler of Scotland]]
* [[Chauffeur]]
* [[Domestic worker]]
* [[Footman]]
* [[Household]]
* [[Housekeeper (domestic worker)|Housekeeper]]
* [[Maid]]
* [[Valet]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Notes==
* ''This article is based on material from "{{URL|http://stephenewen.org/articles/History_of_Butlers_and_Butlering.html |A Brief History of Butlers and Butlering}}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}" by Stephen Ewen, which is licensed under the [[WP:Text of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License|Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License]]''. 
* {{citizendium}} ''The article there is a mirror copy of "A Brief History of Butlers and Butlering" by Stephen Ewen''.

==Further reading==
{{Commons category|Butlers}}
* {{cite book |title=The Butler's Guide to Running the Home and Other Graces |ref=none |first1=Stanley |last1=Ager |first2=Fiona St. |last2=Aubyn |publisher=Potter Style |year=2012 |isbn=9780385344708}}
* {{cite book |last=Clayton |first=Nicholas |title=A Butler's Guide to Table Manners |ref=none |year=2017 |publisher=National Trust |isbn=978-1905400485}}  
* {{cite book|last=Ferry |first=Steven |title=Hotel Butlers, The Great Service Differentiators |date=2009 |publisher=BookSurge Publishing (reprint) |isbn=978-1439226483 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |title=The Butler Speaks: A Return to Proper Etiquette, Stylish Entertaining, and the Art of Good Housekeeping |first=Charles |last=MacPherson |location=Toronto |publisher=Random House |date=2013 |isbn=9780449015919}} 
* {{cite book |first=Cyrus |last=Redding |author-link=Cyrus Redding |title=Every Man His Own Butler |ref=none |location=[[London]] |publisher= Whittaker & Co. |year=1839 |oclc=25057151}} 
* {{cite book |last=Starkey |first=Mary Louise |title=Mrs. Starkey's Original Guide to Private Service Management |ref=none |year=1989 |publisher=Mansion Publishing |isbn=978-0966480726}}  

{{Modern cleaning roles}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Butlers| ]]
[[Category:Domestic work]]
[[Category:Gendered occupations]]