Mr Stevens in The Remains of the Day, on the subtle (but clear) distinction between a “butler” and a “manservant”. The character - a tribute to loyalty, dignity and restraint - was portrayed on screen by a superb (perhaps unsurpassable) Anthony Hopkins.
It is sometimes said that butlers only truly exist in England. Other countries, whatever title is actually used, have only manservants. Continentals are unable to be butlers because they are as a breed incapable of that emotional restraint which only the English race is capable of. It is for this reason that when you think of a great butler, he is bound, almost by definition, to be an Englishman.
Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day, 1989
