United Kingdom: These gentlemen | culture

Recent events in Britain outside of Europe are shaking up old beliefs. Many of us had English to model rationality and behavior, but even more so as characters who weren’t afraid of authenticity. In short, as individuals they accepted their individuality and it was hard for them to be affected by group contagion and identity. They were chauvinists, of course, imperialists, without a doubt, but they set an example of how to act when one suffers from those shortcomings and does not want to deceive oneself.

The irony with which they treated themselves and their hobbies was, frankly, an enviable shield for our country, which in matters of nationality and privileges shows the most agrarian face. This is why we liked so much self-piracy in the English language Evelyn Wu Wave PJ Woodhouse, although this divergence was also present in great writers such as Dickens, James, and Conrad and in film artists such as Monty Python. In them we learned that the only way not to clutter up national issues is to take them with a lot of distance and sarcasm.

However, it took us a little longer to realize that these virtues of sarcasm and irony were not those of the British aristocracy, but rather those of the common people. It has been the middle and lower classes that have seriously ridiculed the ruling classes since Shakespeare, whose jesters have had that popular and cynical laughter that has always tempted us.

I will suggest an example as a proof of nine. I took it from Pierre Assouline, who worked on portraiture (Board, I don’t know if there is a translation), includes it as an unforgettable trait of the photographer’s character. Tell the guests in the colossal (and horrific) mansion, the famous Waddesdon Manor, of the English Rothschilds, every morning, after the curtains are closed, Servant I was asking:

“Tea, coffee, chocolate, sir?”

Tea, please.

“Aslam, Sochong, Gilan, sir?”

Ceylon, please.

“Milk, cream, lemon, sir?”

Milk, of course.

“Jersey, Hereford, Montpellier, sir?”

It could be a scene from Pickwik, but something less well known needs to be underlined. The Rothschilds, as we all know, were a large Jewish family that had no connection with the ruling classes, who allowed themselves to be contacted only when they needed a loan. The English branch in particular lacked any refinement and their tastes were of the lower class, as seen a few years earlier at an auction of interior furnishings in manorMostly bought by Arabs.

The Rothschild They had so much power that they were able to despise these Buzz Lords and Barons They were disgusted when they saw a Jew. So the scene could be a satire invented by the Rothschilds themselves. However, the current British ruling classes, which are clearly commoners, have inherited the ability to make fools from their aristocratic ancestors.