Hosts and Guests by Max Beerbohm

Difference Between Hosts and Guests

     Offering or accepting hospitality is a quality found in every human being. On the basis of it, Max Beerbohm in his essay "Hosts and Guests" has divided the whole mankind into two distinct classes; hosts and guests like Gelett Burgess has divided it into Bromides and Sulphites. Although this classification is only on the theoratical level, he has clearly drawn the general, temperamental and circumstantial differences between these two classes. Click Here to Watch the Video

     Firstly, the writer tells the general difference between these two classes. A person gets the label of a host if he invites someone to dine with him at a restaurant, orders the meal and bears the expenses. On the other hand a person gets the label of a guest if he accepts the invitation with delight, praises the food while eating, does not pay the bill and feels a pleasant sensation of not paying for it. Click Here to Watch the Video

     Secondly, the writer gives the temperamental dissimilarity between these two groups. Every human being is either a host or a guest by instinct. He is a born-host or a born-guest. His instinct dominates his personality. A person is a host if he possesses an active or positive instinct to offer hospitality. On the other hand a person is a guest if he has a passive or negative instinct to accept the hospitality.  Click Here to Watch the Video

     Thirdly, there are circumstantial differences between hosts and guests. Circumstances react on the character. Conventionally, the rich give and the poor receive. Riches often nurture the instincts of a host and poverty usually fosters the instincts of a guest. The rich and the poor is an undisputed division, however, the rich as hosts and the poor as guests is a poor one. Some poor persons also love to entertain others. Click Here to Watch the Video