# Menial Servants — The Wealth of Nations character guide

> Menial Servants in The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** menial servants, Their, their

**First appearance:** 0037-iii-of-the-accumulation-of-capital-or-of-productive-and-unproductive-labour

## Snapshot

Domestic workers whose labor produces no lasting commodity, the class Smith uses to mark the line between productive hands and unproductive ones.

## Who they are

They keep the household running but leave nothing behind that can be sold or reinvested, which makes them Smith's sharpest illustration of what a nation's stock actually grows on. Their dependence on a master's purse exposes the fragility of employment that produces service rather than goods. In the early arc of the book, they anchor the distinction that everything else about capital accumulation will lean on.

## Relationships

### [Silver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/characters/silver)

_professional_

Menial servants and Silver have a professional relationship, likely involving service or labor.

### [Silver](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/characters/silver)

_professional_

Menial servants and Silver have a professional relationship, likely involving service or labor.

## In the story

### [VIII: Of the Wages of Labour](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/chapters/viii-of-the-wages-of-labour)

Domestic servants whose wages and maintenance are fixed regardless of output; contrasted with independent workmen.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/characters/menial_servants
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_wealth_of_nations_se/characters