Brideshead Revisited

By Evelyn Waugh

Katherine

Author Information• Born in London in 1903• Brideshead Revisited was written in 1945• Rossetti and Decline and Fall (1928)• Vile Bodies (1930) • Black Mischief (1932) • Scoop (1937) • Sword of Honor (1952-1961) • The Loved One (1948)- About Hollywood• The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold (1957)- Written about his hallucionations while

drunk and on pills• April 10, 1966 he collapsed and died in a toliet• Despite being married twice and having six children he was thought to be

homosexual

Setting

• Takes place in Oxford during the late 1920s

• Brideshead and Marchmain house are two important locations in the book

• Begins and Ends in the 1940s during WWII

Characters• Charles Ryder

– Narrator – Main character– Catholic turned Agnostic turned

Catholic– Becomes a commander in the

army– Attends school at Oxford, but

drops out early to become an artist– Paints architecture– Goes to Central America to find a

new painting subject– Marries Celia Mulcastor– Has an affair with Julia Flyte – Good friends with Sebastian Flyte

(may have had a gay relationship)

Characters

• Sebastian Flyte– Eccentric, naïve, and charming in the beginning of the book– Depressed and a drunkard (but still charming) at the end of the

book– Enjoys beauty and affluent things– Considers everything (including people) in terms of possessions– Childish– Carries around a Teddy Bear named Aloysius (named after Saint

Aloysius, the patron of youth)– Takes care of Kurt later in the book

Characters

• Julia Flyte– Sebastian's sister– A female version of Sebastian in looks and the way she talks– Beautiful– Cold to affection; keeps people at a distance– Not a typical woman; she has many male qualities– Marries Rex Mottram– On a boat back to England from America she and Charles begin an affair– Divorces Rex in order to marry Charles– Religion gets in the way of her engagement to Charles and they break up– Inherits Brideshead

Characters

• Lady Marchmain– Brideshead, Sebastian, Julia, and Cordelia’s mother– Catholic– On first appearance seems nice, but then is found to be manipulative– Represents God and suffering to her children

• Lord Marchmain– Lady Marchmain’s ex-husband– Now lives with Cara– Sebastian is the only one of his children who still visits– Returns to Brideshead to die– Leaves Brideshead to Julia because of her beauty– Accepts the Last Sacrament before he dies

Characters

• Mr. Ryder– Charles’s father– A source of comedy in the book– Distant from his son and the rest of humanity– Drove both Charles’s Aunt and Cousin abroad– A hermit

Characters

• Anthony Blanche– Colorful, hilarious, judgmental, and flamboyantly gay– Speaks with a self-taught stutter– A friend of Sebastian– Gives the first account of the Flytes and has disparaging things to say about

them all– Calls Sebastian charming and insipid; compares his speech to bubbles– Tries to turn Charles against Sebastian and warns him of charm– Is the only one to notice the flaw in Charles’s paintings as "British charm

playing tigers." Which Charles agrees is correct

Characters

• The Earl of Brideshead– Doesn’t fit in either within the religious sect or outside of it– Marries an over-the-hill widow with children of her own– Has his own way of speaking and thinking that distances him from people– Has no people skills

• Cordelia Flyte– The youngest Flyte– Wise beyond her years– Grows up quite plain– Works on as a nurse– Loves unconditionally particularly in regards to Sebastian

Characters

• Rex Mottram– Julia’s husband– A politician– A non-person– Canadian

• Celia Mulcastor– Charles’s wife– Has the dreaded English charm– Unfaithful; has an affair with Robin– Boy Mulcastor’s sister

Characters

• Kurt– An unattractive German– Was in the Foreign Legion but got out buy shooting his big toe off– A drunkard and leech– Is taken care of by Sebastian and provides him with a purpose– Becomes a Nazi, but does not buy all the hype and tries to leave– Is sent to work in a concentration camp and hangs himself– Upon hearing this Sebastian leaves Europe and never returns

Characters

• Nanny– One of Sebastian’s healthy relationships– Still lives at Brideshead even though the children are all grown up– A link to Sebastian’s childhood

• Aloysius – Named after Saint Aloysius, the patron of youth– A snarky teddy bear– Sebastian constant companion at Oxford– Another link to Sebastian’s childhood

Literary Elements

• Tone- nostalgic• Allusions and metaphors up the wazoo• A first-person narrative• ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;LOTS OF SEMI-COLONS;;;;;;;;;;;;

Plot summary

• Charles and Sebastian meet at Oxford• Charles meets the Flytes• Charles and Sebastian drop out of Oxford and drift apart• Sebastian becomes an alcoholic• Julia’s marriage to Rex is on the rocks and Charles hates his wife• The affair between Charles and Julia begins.• Charles and Julia eventually break up• Lord Marchmain dies• Charles eventually becomes a Catholic• Charles joins the Army and returns to Brideshead Castle as a base in the

war

Critique• I thought this was a wonderful book• The characters were interesting and well developed• The plot had enough twists and turns to keep you interested• I would recommend the book to a friend• The PBS series based on the book was good in a different way

– It was faithful to the book– However, it emphasized the homosexual themes much more than the

book– The actor who played Anthony Blanche was perfect and I laughed so

hard every time he was on screen