History Main / LessonsInSophistication

* Surprisingly, Toph from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' does this--she was born in Earth Kingdom High Society, so she does know how like a ProperLady (she simply chooses not to). She's able to help clean up Katara for a palace party hosted by the Earth King but she doesn't even attempt with Sokka and Aang. They're hopeless.

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': In Numenor, the SocialExpert Halbrand tries to teach the stubborn and entitled Galadriel to behave herself in the royal court. He advises her to kneel in front of Queen Miriel, and when they both land in prison, he tells her that if she wants to obtain what she want, she should analyze people's fears and use them to her advantage, instead of just antagonizing everyone around her.

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': In Numenor, the SocialExpeer Halbrand tries to teach the stubborn and entitled Galadriel to behave herself in the royal court. He advises her to kneel in front of Queen Miriel, and when they both land in prison, he tells her that if she wants to obtain what she want, she should analyze people's fears and use them to her advantage, instead of just antagonizing everyone around her.

[[quoteright:[[WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst 350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lessons_in_sophistication.jpg]]]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Jane of ''Anime/SecretOfCeruleanSand'' is receiving these lessons in the PilotEpisode and is shown sewing for herself a trouser.

* [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Bethany]], in ''Fanfic/BeyondHeroes: Of Sunshine and Red Lyrium'', is nervous about attending the [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Orlesian court ball]] because she doesn't know how to do the appropriate dances. Varric, who has the requisite knowledge thanks to his reluctant membership in the Merchants' Guild, offers to teach her and they have a series of these.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* Orphan Anya from Creator/DonBluth's feature ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' gets schooled in all things mannerly and urbane by LovableRogue Dmitri and Count Vladimir, because the men aim to pass Anya off as the missing Romanov princess, Anastasia. She's coached in ballroom dancing, dining etiquette, complete royal genealogy, and much more.
* In Disney's version of ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceAndThePauper'', the Prince is first seen sitting through a boring trigonometry lesson, passing the time playing tricks on his assistant Donald. When he trades places with Mickey, the latter has to endure the various lessons set for the Prince, all of which he fails miserably.
* In ''WesternAnimation/GayPurree'', Meowrice takes Mewsette to Mme. Rubens-Chatte for lessons in how to be ladylike. He plans to make a huge profit by marrying her to a rich American cat.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* The titular Jane in the ''Boston Jane'' series by Jennifer Holm is taught how to be a impeccable proper lady at a finishing school, and must determine whether she fits more in frontier life or as a high society lady.

* ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'': After Kelsier recruits Vin the StreetUrchin into his [[LaResistance rebellion]], he has his friend Sazed coach Vin in etiquette and court life so she can go undercover as a noblewoman in the DecadentCourt. Sazed has an entire MagicalLibrary encoded in his [[MagicalAccessory jewellery]], so he has a lot of knowledge to impart.

* The premise of the UK RealityTelevision show ''Ladette to Lady'' revolves around a group of "ladettes" trying to learn how to become ladies at a finishing school.

* The female protagonist of ''A Royal Christmas'' takes these so as to fit into her princely boyfriend's circle.

* ''Series/GeneralHospital'''s Jax does this with his best friend V when he realizes that he needs a high society lady on his arm at an upcoming event. (V is a terrific girl, but she's a tomboy who isn't versed in these things).

* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' has six-year-old Princess Sofia, who was AdoptedIntoRoyalty after her commoner-mother gets remarried to a king (both Sofia's mom and the King were widowed in previous marriages). She's ultimately enrolled at a princess school with other international princesses--and unlike most examples of this trope, Sofia genuinely likes it.
** In the last season, Sofia has to pass these lessons on to her {{tomboy}} partner Crysta, a fairy who never earned her wand due to not being dainty enough. Crysta is initially resistant, but finds she enjoys the validation that comes with fitting in with other fairies and manages to find a middle ground.

* ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries'' covers Mia's princess education. Despite the fact that the [[TheKlutz clumsy]], [[NoSocialSkills awkward]] Mia doesn't take naturally to any of her lessons and clowns her way through them, she still absorbs quite a lot, and is able to demonstrate much of what she's learned in her grand debut at the end of the film.

* ''{{Film/Gigi}}'': The title character's Aunt Alicia is an aged and successful [[HighClassCallGirl courtesan]] with an expansive set of jewels, a butler, and her own private residence. She is training Gigi to follow in her footsteps and spends hours teaching her such things as the proper way to eat lobster, and how to tell a real jewel from a fake.

* In ''FIlm/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'', Iris, who has a [[IAmVeryBritish Received Pronunciation accent]], tries to make small Maisie speak the word "bath" the 'proper' way, deeming the American pronunciation as barbaric.

* ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'': The Kingsmen live by the code 'manners maketh man.' A big part of Eggsy's TrainingFromHell, in addition to being a superspy, is learning how to be a gentleman, including buying him his first proper suit, and improving his palette for expensive drinks.

* ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries'' covers Mia's princess education. Despite the fact that the [[TheKlutz clumsy]], [[NoSocialSkills awkward]] Mia doesn't take naturally to any of her lessons and clowns her way through them, she still absorbs quite a lot, and is able to demonstrate much of what she's learned in her grand debut at the end of the film.

* In ''Film/TheManInTheIronMask'', the Musketeers give Philippe a crash-course in court etiquette while preparing to kidnap his identical twin, the RoyalBrat Louis, and install Philippe as an IdentityImpersonator king in his place. For a man who spent much of his life in a prison cell, he picks up the lessons remarkably quickly.
* ''Film/{{Sam}}'': When Sam undergoes his GenderBender, he has no idea how to act as a woman and so comes across as TheLadette. Although his boss is pleased with 'Samantha''s performance, decides that she cannot meet with clients with her current standards of dress and manners and sends her to Blondell for training in how to be more ladylike.

* ''VisualNovel/LongLiveTheQueen'' is a game entirely devoted to choosing which combination of Princess Lessons will allow Princess Elodie to survive until her fifteenth birthday, when she will be crowned Queen. The game takes ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman all the way UpToEleven; the player must use excessive SaveScumming and TrialAndErrorGameplay to figure out which seemingly unimportant lessons are going to save Elodie's life.

* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' has six-year-old Sofia, who was made a princess when her commoner mother (who was widowed in a previous marriage) gets remarried to a king (who had also been widowed in a previous marriage), as going to a princess school with other international princesses. Unlike most examples, she actually likes it.

* Surprisingly, Toph from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' does this. She was born into Earth Kingdom High society, so she knows how to act like a proper lady, she just chooses not to. She's able to help clean up Katara for a palace party hosted by the Earth King but she doesn't even attempt with Sokka and Aang. They're hopeless.

* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'': In "My So Called Wife", Mr. Herriman has to teach [[CloudCuckoolander Coco]] how to behave like a lady when a rich benefactor thought that she was his wife and the two were invited into his mansion for the charity. [[ItMakesSenseInContext All the while, Mac teaches Bloo what sarcasm means]].
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': The episode "Polishing Rhonda" had Rhonda and Big Patty signed up for a finishing school by their parents when the two of them got into a scuffle in school. Rhonda fared poorly due to her SpoiledBrat tendencies, while [[HiddenDepths Patty]] excelled. Eventually Rhonda asked Patty for help and eventually the two of them passed.
** Done again in an episode with Helga trying to gain the attentions of Arnold by striving to be more ladylike like Lila who Arnold crushes on. She even seeks out Lila for these kinds of lessons. The two practice kindness towards others, going to operas, dressing properly, and curtsying.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' had an episode where the Ashleys challenge Tomboy Spinelli to a Beauty Pageant. Bizarrely, sports loving Vince is the hyper-competent coach schooling Spinelli in how to win in a Pageant. His justification is that his characterization is hyper-competitive and will learn how to win at ''''any competition; he's meticulously studied Beauty Pageants [[CrazyPrepared just in case one of his friends was challenged to win one.]] Ultimately, Spinelli wins by explaining to the judges that her rehearsed lines weren't really who or what she's all about, and they in turn find it refreshing that for once, someone isn't using the same cliche lines.

* Played straight and subverted in an episode of the short-live animated series, ''WesternAnimation/TheWuzzles''. [[BearyFriendly Butterbear]] and [[BigBad Crock]] [[TheBet have a wager that she can teach his slovenly henchbeast, Brat, to be a proper gentleman for an important party]] and succeeds. The subversion comes when her friends (after getting scolded by Butterbear for their lack of good manners and are forced to learn classy behavior in time for the same party) go find a book on how to be more classy, Crock overhears them and thinks the book is for Butterbear in teaching Brat, and puts the title of a book on classy behavior on a book for "teaching 'bad manners'". Instead of learning how to be proper, they're taught to behave even worse.
* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' has six-year-old Sofia, who was made a princess when her civilian mother married a king, as going to a princess school with other international princesses. Unlike most examples, she likes it.

* The princess lessons thing is used for contrast in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. The Stark sisters, Sansa and Arya, receive them. Arya resents the lessons, fails them constantly, preferring swordplay and adventures, and eventually gets stuck as a lost child in the middle of a war-torn land (with all of the dire consequences this has). Sansa likes the lessons and succeeds in them, and they eventually help her survive in a hostile DeadlyDecadentCourt, but several other characters point out that she's an EmptyShell just going through the motions they taught her.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

* In ''WebComic/YokokasQuest'', Grace dresses up Yokoka for Clyde and Blinky's [[WeddingDay wedding]], as Yokoka has no idea how to dress for a wedding, what a wedding even is, or even basic grooming skills like how to brush her hair.

But do people ''appreciate'' these lessons? Hardly. They'll probably find the manners stiff and antiquated, the history dry and uninteresting, and the deportment painful and unnecessary. If she's a RebelliousPrincess, or a former StreetUrchin she may sneak out of her lessons or openly refuse to participate.

* Usagi and her team went to these in the third act of the first season of ''Anime/SailorMoon''. The classes were imparted by a real princess and focused on class, manners, elegance and the princess' favorite hobby: Frisbee throwing. It was all a set up by the Dark Kingdom to discover the real identity of Princess Serenity, since she acts like the opposite of a princess but was skilled at throwing her tiara as a disc.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' fanfiction "The Legend of Royal Blue and La Sylphide," this is a mandatory course at Lycée de Mirabeau, the snobby school the main characters attend. Gabriel initially hates the class because it's taught by a SadistTeacher, Professor [[IronicName Patience]], and the fact he's a PennyAmongDiamonds tends to get emphasized, but enjoys it when his crush Emilie joins.

* In the film ''WesternAnimation/CinderellaIIDreamsComeTrue'', a governess tried to teach Cinderella some of this. She taught her how to be a cold, always elegant above all princess, but she was so stuck up and boring that Cinderella couldn't learn what she was being taught, so she ended up giving up and tried to give her own twist to the fancy party they were organizing. The king and the prince were pretty much amused and Cinderella succeed in earning the sympathy of everyone in the castle anyway.

* In ''WesternAnimation/GayPurree'', Meowrice takes Mewsette to Mme. Rubens-Chatte for lessons in how to be lady-like. He plans to make a huge profit by marrying her to a rich American cat.

* In ''Film/KingRalph'', an American schlub becomes King of England when the entire Royal family is killed in a photography accident. (He is the bastard grandson of a duke.) After he becomes king he is given lessons in acting royally by Sir Cedric.

* Literature/EllaEnchanted: Ella is depicted as being very clumsy at the beginning, stating that "curtsies often make me fall over". Her father wishes for her to become less clumsy and more ladylike and sends her to finishing school. Ella rebels against the stern teachers at the school but eventually gives in to their teachings, until she runs away. The next time her father sees her she's much more graceful and able to do a perfect curtsy.

** Carmen must later give Zack these lessons in "The Duke of Vermeer Caper" when V.I.L.E. agent Dash Haber arrives early to a meeting and is looking for "The Duchess," an alias Carmen is using, but Zack opens the door and improvises himself as "The Duke." These lessons range from table manners, to art history, and to diction lessons so Zack won't speak with his native Bostonian accent.

* ''WesternAnimation/SofiaTheFirst'' has six-year old Sofia, who was made a princess when her civilian mother married a king, as going to a princess school with other international princesses. Unlike most examples, she likes it.
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