Analysis Of Lord Chesterfield

In this letter, written by Lord Chesterfield to his traveling son, Lord Chesterfield shows his son the values he holds and the expectations he has for him. Lord Chesterfield clearly shows he values working hard, being superior to others, and doing what is right and noble. He informs his son these values are what are expected of him and anything less would be considered shameful. Lord Chesterfield organizes his letter by beginning with words that portray him as a friend and as show him to be comprehensive. He even relates his own youth with that of his son to show understanding. He later transforms his tone to be more assertive and describes to his son his expectations and the consequences of failure. In the beginning of his letter Lord Chesterfield

This transition, or shift, can be found in the line, “I do not, therefore, so much as hint to you, how absolutely dependent you are upon me.” This line precisely, while indicating the shift in tone from understanding to assertive, shows that Lord Chesterfield means to tell his son that his advice should be taken as expectations rather than suggestions. The first expectation Chesterfield mentions is that he is “convince that you will act right, upon more noble and generous principles”. Consequently, from asserting this first Lord Chesterfield is attempting to show that he expects his son to be noble above all. This also highlights how important nobility is to Lord Chesterfield. Lastly another consequence from Chesterfield making it a point to tell his son that he expects him to act right upon noble principles is that he leaves room to later describe these noble principles. Next Lord Chesterfield brings to light another expectation he has for his son. He says that there can be no greater pleasure than “to be universally allowed to excel those of one’s own age and manner of life”. By exemplifying that this is something he has come to expect from his son Chesterfield is showing that being superior to his peers is valuable to him. Even Lord Chesterfield’s tone seems to suggest hierarchy and the importance of where your place is in that hierarchy. He has, after the shift in tone, developed a tone that makes him seem higher and superior to his son. Another benefit of Lord Chesterfield adopting this new tone is the ability it has in making consequences seem more severe. Chesterfield takes full advantage of this and expresses to his son that, because of the tools