Noblesse Oblige (short story)

"Noblesse Oblige"
Author P. G. Wodehouse
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series Drones Club
Genre(s) Comedy
Publisher Cosmopolitan
Media type Print (Magazine)
Publication date September 1934

"Noblesse Oblige" is a short story by English humorist P. G. Wodehouse. The story is part of the Drones Club canon. It was published in the US in Cosmopolitan in September 1934, and in The Strand Magazine in the UK in November 1934.[1] The story was included in the 1936 collection Young Men in Spats.[2]

In the story, Freddie Widgeon accompanies his uncle to Cannes, where Freddie tries to raise a thousand francs for a man who claims to have admired him at their old school. Freddie has also fallen in love with a girl who disapproves of gambling.

Plot

At the Drones Club, Freddie Widgeon is in a bad mood. A Crumpet says that Freddie lost the girl he loved, which often happens to Freddie, and Freddie's allowance was cut in half. The Crumpet explains by narrating the following story.

Freddie accompanies his uncle, Lord Blicester, who pays Freddie his allowance, to Cannes. Freddie is in love with a girl named Drusilla, who is also at Cannes. She opposes gambling, so Freddie tells her that he never gambles. Having taken a gold and lavender tie from his uncle's effects, Freddie is dressed impressively, and a stranger offers him five hundred francs to judge a Peasant Mothers Baby Competition. Freddie is flattered but declines.

A shabby-looking man claims to recognize Freddie from school. Freddie does not recognize him, but is moved when the man says that Freddie was his hero. The man asks him for a meal. Freddie misunderstands, thinking the man is asking for a mille, meaning a thousand francs, about equivalent to ten pounds (a lot of money at the time). Freddie remembers that he is about to receive ten pounds from a friend, and feels compelled by his sense of noblesse oblige to give this to the man. Freddie arranges to meet him later.

The girl was now wrinkling her nose as if a particularly foul brand of poison-gas had begun to permeate the Casino and she was standing nearest it.

— Drusilla is upset with Freddie for gambling[3]

Freddie's ten-pound cheque arrives. He runs into a bookmaker to whom he owes money, and pays him four-fifty francs. To make up the loss, Freddie agrees to judge the baby competition. He selects a winner, and is then told he is actually expected to pay five hundred francs for judging the competition. Freddie is now left with fifty francs. He tries to get money from his uncle, who is playing chemin-de-fer at the Casino, but Blicester refuses. Blicester takes the role of "banker" in the game and stakes a thousand francs, called the "bank"; Freddie says "Banco", meaning he will match the "bank". Freddie scores a nine (the highest possible score) and wins the thousand francs. Blicester is displeased, and Freddie is scorned by Drusilla, who has seen him gambling.

Freddie redeems his counters, and gives the money to the shabby-looking man, who is surprised, as he only expected around fifty francs. Freddie realizes his mistake, but his honour keeps him from trying to get any money back. When the man addresses him as Postlethwaite, Freddie states his name is Widgeon. The man says he thought Freddie was Postlethwaite, as he is wearing their old school tie. The man laughs at the mix-up and then hurries off. Freddie uses his remaining fifty francs to drink cocktails at the Casino before he has to face his uncle.

Style

One of the stylistic devices used in Wodehouse's stories to create humour is the pun. A pun plays a large role in "Noblesse Oblige", as the story depends on the similarity in pronunciation between the French mille and the English meal, as shown in the following quote from the story:

"But you said you had to have a mille."
"And a meal is just what I am going to have," replied the chap, enthusiastically.[4]

Some of Wodehouse's characters have names that give humorous effects in pronunciation, one example being Freddie Widgeon's uncle Lord Blicester (pronounced "blister"), who first appears in "Noblesse Oblige".[5]

According to American linguist and Wodehouse scholar Robert A. Hall Jr., Wodehouse's best-known stylistic device is his imagery, which involves similes and metaphors that draw from a wide range of literary and cultural sources. These comparisons seem to be highly incongruous at first glance, yet are appropriate to the particular situation. One example of imagery comes from "Noblesse Oblige" (when the Crumpet describes the beautiful but stern Drusilla): "I received the impression of a sort of blend of Tallulah Bankhead and a policewoman".[6]

Publication history

"Noblesse Oblige" was illustrated by Mario Cooper in Cosmopolitan.[7] It was illustrated by Gilbert Wilkinson in the Strand.[8]

The story was collected in The Most of P. G. Wodehouse, published on 15 October 1960.[9] It was also included in Tales from the Drones Club, published in 1982.[10]

See also

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Midkiff, Neil (7 December 2017). "The Wodehouse short stories". Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  2. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), pp. 70–71, section A55.
  3. ↑ Wodehouse (2009) [1936], chapter 7, p. 165.
  4. ↑ Hall (1974), pp. 96–97.
  5. ↑ Hall (1974), p. 102.
  6. ↑ Hall (1974), pp. 106 and 108.
  7. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 148, section D17.62.
  8. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 186, section D133.195.
  9. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), pp. 120–121, section B12a.
  10. ↑ McIlvaine (1990), p. 126, section B25a.
Bibliography
  • Hall, Robert A., Jr. (1974). The Comic Style of P. G. Wodehouse. Hamden: Archon Books. ISBN 0-208-01409-8.
  • McIlvaine, Eileen; Sherby, Louise S.; Heineman, James H. (1990). P. G. Wodehouse: A Comprehensive Bibliography and Checklist. New York: James H. Heineman Inc. ISBN 978-0-87008-125-5.
  • Wodehouse, P. G. (2009) [1936]. Young Men in Spats (Reprinted ed.). London: Arrow Books. ISBN 9780099514039.
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