The ten laws of Bond

Even though (as Skyfall, the latest Bond film tells us) James Bond is over fifty years old in film terms (and even older as a written character), he is much older than that. Bond is simply the latest incarnation of the medieval knight of courtly love. His job is to favour the poor and oppressed, rescue damsels in distress, and restore justice. At least, that is the kind of things he does – truth is, he varies a bit from film to film and from novel to novel. I haven’t noticed him saving old ladies  - although he does comfort Judi Dench, she is after all his boss and social equal, and Bond’s care and concern does not extend to the poor. In this respect he is the exact mirror of the medieval knight.

Perhaps the best way to summarise Bond is to attempt to compile the laws of Bond, just as Andreas Capellanus (Andre the chaplain) did back in 1184 when he formulated the 31 rules of love (in his Tractatus de Amore). Here, then, are the ten laws of Bond:

1.  Claim you are motivated by love of your country.
2. Mistrust all authority.
3. Be intensely competitive, determined to win any competitive activity (cards, shooting, etc. In Dr No Bond wins so much money there would not have been room in his pockets for the banknotes). 
4. Try to kill your opponents wherever possible. This law has become much more rigorous over time - in Dr No he even hands over an enemy to the authorities, rather than dispatching her immediately, something that would never happen in later Bond films. 
5. Always try a spectacular solution to a problem, causing as much mayhem as possible.
6. Stay in expensive hotels, and refuse to contemplate anything cheaper (Quantum of Solace).
7. Attempt to seduce any young women you meet, even if they are the girlfriend of a known enemy (Skyfall) or attempting to kill you (Dr No). 
8. Never fall in love (a law broken by Quantum of Solace, which is a lesser film as a result).
9. Always break in to your boss’s house, never knock on the door (Casino Royale, Skyfall).
10. Do not have a family (Bond is described as an orphan in Quantum of Solace and Skyfall, but perhaps even that minimal description of family is excessive. To the best of my knowledge Sherlock Holmes, a prototype Bond, has no mother or father, although unfortunately he has a brother.)

It would be interesting to try to live by such rules. It would be possible to describe another set of rules for the Bond villain, a role interestingly expanded by Javier Bardem in Skyfall, where he describes M as his mother. I don’t think mothers had much of a place in courtly love, nor in the Bond world.