Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse,
KBEThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(icon; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be widely read. Despite the political and social upheavals that occurred during his life, much of which was spent in France and the United States, Wodehouse's main canvas remained that of
pre-warThe term pre-war or prewar is usually applied to the most recent or significant war in a culture's history.Antebellum is most often used to denote the period before the American Civil War while pre-war typically refers to the period before WWII.In real estate the term refers to buildings from the...
English upper-class society, reflecting his birth, education, and youthful writing career.
An acknowledged master of English
proseProse is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...
, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as
Hilaire BellocJoseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc was an Anglo-French writer and historian who became a naturalised British subject in 1902. He was one of the most prolific writers in England during the early twentieth century. He was known as a writer, orator, poet, satirist, man of letters and political activist...
,
Evelyn WaughArthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
and
Rudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
and by modern writers such as
Stephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
,
Douglas AdamsDouglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
,
Zadie SmithZadie Smith is a British novelist. To date she has written three novels. In 2003, she was included on Granta's list of 20 best young authors...
, J. K. Rowling, and
Terry PratchettSir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
. Journalist and writer
Christopher HitchensChristopher Eric Hitchens is an Anglo-American author and journalist whose books, essays, and journalistic career span more than four decades. He has been a columnist and literary critic at The Atlantic, Vanity Fair, Slate, World Affairs, The Nation, Free Inquiry, and became a media fellow at the...
commented, "there is not, and never will be, anything to touch him".
Best known today for the
JeevesReginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
and
Blandings CastleBlandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of 15 plays and of 250 lyrics for some 30 musical comedies, many of them produced in collaboration with
Jerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
and
Guy BoltonGuy Reginald Bolton was a British-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the U.S., he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred working in collaboration with others, principally the English writers P. G...
. He worked with
Cole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
on the
musicalMusical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Anything GoesAnything Goes is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap antics aboard an ocean liner bound from New York to London...
(1934), wrote the lyrics for the hit song "
Bill"Bill" is a song heard in Act II of Kern and Hammerstein's classic 1927 musical Show Boat. The song was written for Kern and P.G. Wodehouse's 1917 musical Oh, Lady! Lady!! for Vivienne Segal to perform, but withdrawn because it was considered too melancholy for that show...
" in Kern's
Show BoatShow Boat is a musical in two acts with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was originally produced in New York in 1927 and in London in 1928, and was based on the 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The plot chronicles the lives of those living and working...
(1927), wrote lyrics to Sigmund Romberg's music for the
GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
–
RombergSigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period...
musical
Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with
Rudolf FrimlRudolf Friml was a composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano pieces, as well as a pianist. After musical training and a brief performing career in his native Prague, Friml moved to the United States, where he became a composer...
on a musical version of
The Three MusketeersThe Three Musketeers is a musical with a book by William Anthony McGuire, lyrics by Clifford Grey and P. G. Wodehouse, and music by Rudolf Friml. It is based on the classic 1844 novel by Alexandre Dumas, père....
(1928). He is in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Early life
Wodehouse, called "Plum" by most family and friends, was born prematurely to Eleanor Wodehouse (née Deane; daughter of
John Bathurst DeaneJohn Bathurst Deane was a curate, antiquary, and author. He belonged to the Society of Antiquaries and its Council and also to the Antiquarians' Club. He was one of the founders, in 1843, of the British Archaeological Association and, in 1844, of the Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain...
) while she was visiting
GuildfordGuildford is the county town of Surrey. England, as well as the seat for the borough of Guildford and the administrative headquarters of the South East England region...
. He was baptized at
St. Nicolas' Church, GuildfordSt. Nicolas is an Anglican parish church in the centre of Guildford, England. It is one of the three ancient parishes of Guildford borough ....
. His aunt Mary Deane was the author of the novel
Mr. Zinzan of Bath; or, Seen in an Old Mirror. His father, Henry Ernest Wodehouse (1845–1929), was a British judge in Hong Kong. The Wodehouse family had been settled in
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
for many centuries. Wodehouse's great-grandfather Reverend Philip Wodehouse was the second son of
Sir Armine Wodehouse, 5th BaronetSir Armine Wodehouse, 5th Baronet , was a British Member of Parliament.Wodehouse was the son of Sir John Wodehouse, 4th Baronet, and Mary Fermor. He was elected to the House of Commons for Norfolk in 1737, a seat he held until 1768...
, whose eldest son
John Wodehouse, 1st Baron WodehouseJohn Wodehouse, 1st Baron Wodehouse , known as Sir John Wodehouse, 6th Baronet, from 1777 to 1797, was a British peer and Member of Parliament....
, was the ancestor of the
Earls of KimberleyEarl of Kimberley, of Kimberley in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1866 for the prominent Liberal politician John Wodehouse, 3rd Baron Wodehouse...
. His godfather was
Pelham von DonopLieutenant-Colonel Pelham George von Donop was an officer in the Royal Engineers and later Chief Inspecting Officer of Railways...
, after whom he was named.
When he was just three years old, Wodehouse was brought back to England and placed in the care of a nanny. He attended various boarding schools and, between the ages of three and 15 years, saw his parents for barely six months in total. Wodehouse grew very close to his brother, who shared his love for art. Wodehouse filled the voids in his life by writing relentlessly. He spent quite a few of his school holidays with one aunt or another; it has been speculated that this gave him a healthy horror of the "gaggle of aunts", reflected in
Bertie WoosterBertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
's formidable aunts Agatha and Dahlia, as well as
Lady Constance KeebleLady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
's tyranny over her many nieces and nephews in the
Blandings CastleBlandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
series.
Wodehouse's first school was The Chalet School, Croydon (now
Elmhurst School for BoysThe Elmhurst School for Boys is an independent day preparatory and pre-preparatory boys' school in South Croydon, England. The school was founded in 1869. P. G. Wodehouse was a pupil., The present Principal, Henry Wickham, who bought the school in 2009, is the husband of well known author Sophie...
), which he attended between 1886 and 1889, together with his two older brothers. (
RichardRichard Lancelot Deane Wodehouse was an English born cricketer. Though born in England, his entire recorded cricket career took place in Asia. He was one of three brothers of the famous author P. G...
, the youngest of the four Wodehouse brothers, was much younger and became somewhat noteworthy as a cricketer in Asia.) In 1889, the oldest brother, Peveril, was diagnosed as having a weak chest, and the three brothers were sent to
Elizabeth College, GuernseyElizabeth College is an independent school in the town of St Peter Port, Guernsey, founded in 1563 under the orders of Queen Elizabeth I.- History :...
, where Peveril could benefit from the sea air. Wodehouse remained at Elizabeth College for two years, until, at age 10, it became time for him to move to a preparatory school. Wodehouse's first prep school was
Malvern HouseMalvern House Preparatory School, at Kearsney, Kent, was a preparatory school which specialised in preparing boys for entry to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. The comic writer P. G...
, at Kearsney, near Dover, which specialised in preparing boys for entry to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. Wodehouse spent two unhappy years at Malvern House before finally persuading his father to send him to
Dulwich CollegeDulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1,600 boys,...
, where his elder brother Armine was already a student.
He enjoyed attending Dulwich College, where he was successful both as a student and as a sportsman: he was a member of the Classics VIth Form (traditionally, the preserve of the brightest students) and a School prefect, he edited the college magazine,
The Alleynian, sang and acted leading roles in musical and theatrical productions, and gained his
school coloursSporting colours, more often known merely as colours or house-colours, are awarded to members of a university or school who have excelled in a sport. Colours are traditionally worn in or on scarves, ties, blazers, gowns, cuff-links, and other items of apparel...
as a member of the cricket First XI and rugby football First XV; he also represented the school at boxing (until barred by poor eyesight) and his house at athletics. The library at Dulwich is now named after him.
Wodehouse's elder brother, Armine, had won a classics scholarship to Oxford University (where he gained a first class degree) and Pelham was widely expected to follow in his brother's footsteps, but a fall in the value of the Indian rupee (in which currency his father's pension was expressed) forced him to abandon such plans. His father found him a position with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (now known as
HSBCHSBC Holdings plc is a global banking and financial services company headquartered in Canary Wharf, London, United Kingdom. it is the world's second-largest banking and financial services group and second-largest public company according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine...
), where, after two years' training in London, he would have been posted to an overseas branch. However, Wodehouse was never interested in banking as a career and "never learned a thing about banking". (Some of his experiences in the bank were recounted in
Psmith in the CityPsmith in the City is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 23 September 1910 by Adam & Charles Black, London. The story was originally released as a serial in The Captain magazine, between October 1908 and March 1909, under the title The New Fold.It continues the adventures of...
.) He wrote part-time while working in the bank, and in 1902 became a journalist with
The Globe (a now defunct newspaper), taking over the comic column from a friend who had resigned. Thereafter, Wodehouse contributed items to
PunchPunch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...
,
Vanity Fair (1903–1906),
Daily ExpressThe Daily Express switched from broadsheet to tabloid in 1977 and was bought by the construction company Trafalgar House in the same year. Its publishing company, Beaverbrook Newspapers, was renamed Express Newspapers...
(1904) and
The World: A Journal for Men and Women (1906/1907). He also wrote stories for schoolboy's
magazineMagazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
s (
The CaptainThe Captain was a magazine for young boys, published monthly in the United Kingdom from 1899 to 1924.It is perhaps best known for printing many of P. G. Wodehouse's early school stories, such as many of those featured in the collection Tales of St. Austin's...
and
Public School MagazinePublic School Magazine was a short-lived magazine for young boys. It was started in 1898 by publishers Adam and Charles Black and appeared monthly until March 1902, when it ceased publication, the copyright being sold to rival publisher George Newnes, who had in the meantime founded his own...
) that were compiled to form his first published novels and four playlets with his friend
Bertram Fletcher RobinsonBertram Fletcher Robinson was an English sportsman, journalist, author and Liberal Unionist Party campaigner. Between 1893 and 1907, he wrote nearly 300 published items including a series of short stories that feature a detective called Addington Peace. However, Robinson is perhaps best remembered...
.
During 1909, Wodehouse stayed in
Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
and "sold two short stories to
CosmopolitanCosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
and
Collier's for a total of $500 – much more than I had ever earned before." He then resigned from
The Globe and stayed in New York, where he became a regular contributor (under a variety of pseudonyms) to the newly-founded
American Vanity FairVanity Fair was an American society magazine published from 1913-1936. It was highly successful until the Great Depression led to it becoming unprofitable, and it was merged into Vogue magazine in 1936.-History:...
(1913). However "the wolf was always at the door", and it was not until
The Saturday Evening PostThe Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
serialised
Something NewSomething Fresh is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published as a book in the United States, by D. Appleton & Company on September 3, 1915, under the title Something New, having previously appeared under that title as a serial in the Saturday Evening Post between June 26 and August 14,...
in 1915 that he had his "first break". Around this time he began collaborating with
Guy BoltonGuy Reginald Bolton was a British-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the U.S., he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred working in collaboration with others, principally the English writers P. G...
and
Jerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
on (eventually eighteen) musical comedies, including the innovative
Princess TheatreThe Princess Theatre was a joint venture between the Shubert Brothers , producer Ray Comstock, theatrical agent Elisabeth Marbury and actor-director Holbrook Blinn...
musicals.
In 1914, Wodehouse married Ethel Wayman and gained a stepdaughter called Leonora. He had no biological children, and it is possible that he was rendered sterile after contracting
mumpsMumps is a viral disease of the human species, caused by the mumps virus. Before the development of vaccination and the introduction of a vaccine, it was a common childhood disease worldwide...
as an adolescent.
During the 1930s, he had two brief stints as a screenwriter in Hollywood, where he claimed he was greatly overpaid. Many of his novels were also serialised in magazines such as
The Saturday Evening PostThe Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
and
The StrandThe Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...
, which also paid well.
Life beyond Britain
Although Wodehouse and his novels are considered quintessentially English, from 1914 onward he split his time between England and the United States. In 1934, he took up residence in France, to avoid
double taxationDouble taxation is the systematic imposition of two or more taxes on the same income , asset , or financial transaction . It refers to taxation by two or more countries of the same income, asset or transaction, for example income paid by an entity of one country to a resident of a different country...
on his earnings by the tax authorities in Britain and the U.S. He was also profoundly uninterested in politics and world affairs. When World War II broke out in 1939 he remained at his seaside home in Le Touquet, France, instead of returning to England, apparently failing to recognise the seriousness of the conflict. It is also said that his wife couldn't bear to leave their dog, Wonder. Subsequently the German military authorities in occupied France interned him (along with several other Englishmen in the same position) as an "enemy alien" according to the Geneva Convention. He was interned first in Belgium, then at Tost in
Upper SilesiaUpper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
(now
ToszekToszek is a town in Poland, in Gliwice County, Silesian Voivodeship, with 4,000 inhabitants.- History :The beginning of the settlement and fortified keep is dated in the 9th and 10th centuries when the area was ruled by the Piasts, Mieszko I of Poland and later Bolesław I the Brave.The fortified...
in Poland), of which he is recorded having said, "If this is
Upper SilesiaUpper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
, one wonders what
Lower SilesiaLower Silesia ; is the northwestern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia; Upper Silesia is to the southeast.Throughout its history Lower Silesia has been under the control of the medieval Kingdom of Poland, the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy from 1526...
must be like…"
While at Tost, he entertained his fellow prisoners with witty dialogues. He was released from internment a few months before his 60th birthday when, under the Geneva Convention, he should have been released anyway; the early release led to allegations that he had made a deal with the Nazi authorities. He then drafted several humorous talks, based on his life at Tost, as the basis for a series of radio broadcasts aimed at America, which was not then at war with Germany. After his release from internment, he lived for a time at the Hotel Adlon in Berlin, before moving to Paris, which was still under German occupation. When the text of his commentaries was published in the UK many years later, several short sentences were suppressed (probably by Wodehouse himself) which showed him being relatively friendly to the German military when they arrived at Le Touquet. Wodehouse believed he would be admired as showing himself to have "kept a
stiff upper lipOne who has a stiff upper lip displays fortitude in the face of adversity, or exercises great self-restraint in the expression of emotion. The phrase is most commonly heard as part of the idiom "keep a stiff upper lip", and has traditionally been used to describe an attribute of British people ,...
" during his internment, but he misjudged the mood in wartime England, where the broadcasts led to many accusations of
collaborationismCollaborationism is cooperation with enemy forces against one's country. Legally, it may be considered as a form of treason. Collaborationism may be associated with criminal deeds in the service of the occupying power, which may include complicity with the occupying power in murder, persecutions,...
with the Germans and even
treasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
. Some libraries banned his books. Foremost among his critics was
A. A. MilneAlan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.-Biography:A. A...
, author of the
Winnie the Pooh books; Wodehouse took revenge in a short story parody,
Rodney Has a Relapse (1949), in which a character based on Milne writes about his son, a ridiculous character named "Timothy Bobbin". Another critic was the playwright
Sean O'CaseySeán O'Casey was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.- Early life:...
who, in a letter to
The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
in July 1941, wrote: "If England has any dignity left in the way of literature, she will forget for ever the pitiful antics of English literature's
performing fleaA flea circus refers to a circus sideshow attraction in which fleas are attached to miniature carts and other items, and encouraged to perform circus acts within a small housing...
". Wodehouse deflected the insult by giving the title
Performing FleaPerforming Flea is a non-fiction book, consisting of a series of letters written by P.G. Wodehouse to William Townend, a friend of Wodehouse since their schooldays together at Dulwich College. It was originally published in the United Kingdom on 9 October 1953 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
to a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend. Among Wodehouse's defenders were
Evelyn WaughArthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
and
George OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
. An investigation by the British security service
MI5The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
concluded that Wodehouse was naïve and foolish but not a traitor. Documents declassified in the 1980s revealed that while living in Paris, his living expenses were paid by the Nazis, but papers released by the British
Public Record OfficeThe Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
in 1999 showed that this had been accounted for by MI5 investigators when establishing Wodehouse's innocence; the money was, in fact, Wodehouse's legitimate earnings, including an advance from his Spanish publisher, but had to be channelled via the German Central Bank.
The criticism led Wodehouse and his wife to move permanently to New York. Apart from his stepdaughter Leonora, who died during Wodehouse's internment in Germany, they had no children. He became a United States citizen in 1955, spending the remainder of his life in
Remsenburg, New YorkRemsenburg is a hamlet located in the Town of Southhampton, Suffolk County, New York.There are no stoplights and very few commercial businesses.-History:...
, never to visit his homeland again.
Later life
Wodehouse continued to write novels and to follow an exercise regime into his nineties. He was appointed a
Knight CommanderKnight Commander is the second most senior grade of seven British orders of chivalry, three of which are dormant . The rank entails admission into knighthood, allowing the recipient to use the title 'Sir' or 'Dame' before his or her name...
of the
Order of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(KBE) in the 1975 New Year Honours; it is widely believed that the honour was not given earlier because of lingering resentment about the German broadcasts. His doctor advised him not to travel to London for the investiture and his wife later accepted the knighthood on his behalf from the British consul. Toward the end of January 1975, he developed pemphigus, a persistent skin rash, brought on by the strain of extra work, answering fan mail and recording the introductions to the
Wodehouse PlayhouseWodehouse Playhouse is a British television comedy series based on the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. From 1975 to 1978, three series were made, with twenty half-hour episodes altogether in the entire series.-Overview:P. G...
TV series. In early February, he entered Southampton Hospital, where he died of a heart attack on 14 February 1975 at age 93. His last novel,
Sunset at BlandingsSunset at Blandings is an unfinished novel by P. G. Wodehouse.-Publication history:The book was first published in the United Kingdom on November 17, 1977 by Chatto & Windus, London and in the United States on September 7, 1978 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York. The book was republished by...
, was unfinished at his death and was published posthumously in 1977.
In a BBC interview shortly before his death, Wodehouse said that he had no ambitions left as he had been knighted and created as a wax figure at
Madame Tussaud'sMadame Tussauds is a wax museum in London with branches in a number of major cities. It was founded by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud and was formerly known as "Madame Tussaud's", but the apostrophe is no longer used...
.
The
Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse PrizeThe Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize is the UK's only literary award for comic literature. Established in 2000 and named in honour of P G Wodehouse, past winners include Paul Torday in 2007 with Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Marina Lewycka with A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian 2005 and...
, given annually for the finest example of comic writing in the UK, was established and named in his honour in 2000.
Writing style
Wodehouse took a modest attitude to his own works. In
Over SeventyOver Seventy is an autobiographical work by P.G. Wodehouse, including a collection of articles originally from Punch magazine. It was first published in the United States on May 3, 1956 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title America, I Like You, and in the United Kingdom, in a...
(1957) he wrote: "I go in for what is known in the trade as 'light writing' and those who do that – humorists they are sometimes called – are looked down upon by the intelligentsia and sneered at."
However, he also lightly taunted his critics, as in the introduction to
Summer LightningSummer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
- "A certain critic—for such men, I regret to say, do exist—made the nasty remark about my last novel that it contained 'all the old Wodehouse characters under different names'. He has probably by now been eaten by bears, like the children who made mock of the prophet Elisha; but if he still survives he will not be able to make a similar charge against Summer Lightning. With my superior intelligence, I have outgeneralled the man this time by putting in all the old Wodehouse characters under the same names. Pretty silly it will make him feel, I rather fancy."
His writing style is notable for its unique blend of contemporary London clubroom slang with elegant, classically-informed drawing-room English; for example:
- "I once got engaged to his daughter Honoria, a ghastly dynamic exhibit who read Nietzsche and had a laugh like waves breaking on a stern and rockbound coast."
Literary tastes and influence
In the above-mentioned article, Wodehouse names some contemporary humorists whom he held in high regard. These include Frank Sullivan,
A. P. HerbertSir Alan Patrick Herbert, CH was an English humorist, novelist, playwright and law reform activist...
,
W. S. GilbertSir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
and
Alex AtkinsonAlex Atkinson was an English journalist, novelist and playwright who is best remembered for his collaborative works with the illustrator Ronald Searle....
. Two essays in
Tales of St. Austin’s satirise modern
literary criticismLiterary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
: "The
Tom BrownTom Brown was an English translator and writer of satire, largely forgotten today save for a four-line gibe he wrote concerning Dr John Fell....
Question" is a parody of Homeric analysts, and "Notes" criticises both classical and English critics, with an ironic exception for those explicating the meaning of
BrowningRobert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
. In "Work", Wodehouse calls the claim that "
VirgilPublius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
is hard" "a shallow falsehood", but notes that "
AeschylusAeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
, on the other hand, is a
demoncall - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...
". Shakespeare and
TennysonAlfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
were also obvious influences; their works were the only books Wodehouse took with him in his internment. He frequently quoted Kipling and
Omar KhayyamOmar Khayyám was aPersian polymath: philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy, music, climatology and theology....
. Wodehouse enjoyed the traditional English thriller: one of his characters declares that "It is impossible not to be thrilled by
Edgar WallaceRichard Horatio Edgar Wallace was an English crime writer, journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright, who wrote 175 novels, 24 plays, and numerous articles in newspapers and journals....
", and he dedicated
Sam the SuddenSam the Sudden is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 15 October 1925 by Methuen, London, and in the United States on 6 November 1925 by George H. Doran, New York, under the title Sam in the Suburbs...
to Wallace, while
Agatha ChristieDame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
dedicated her
Hallowe'en PartyHallowe'en Party is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November 1969 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company later in the same year. The UK edition retailed for twenty-five shillings. In preparation for decimalisation on...
"To P G Wodehouse — whose books and stories have brightened my life for many years. Also, to show my pleasure in his having been kind enough to tell me he enjoyed
my books." In the 1960s he gave important praise for the debut novels of
Donald JackDonald Lamont Jack was a Canadian novelist and playwright.He was born in Radcliffe, Bury, England and grew up in Britain, attending the well regarded Bury Grammar School and Marr College and later serving in the RAF in World War II .After the war he emigrated to Canada in 1951, and became a...
,
Gavin LyallGavin Tudor Lyall was an English author of espionage thrillers.-Biography:Lyall was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, as the son of a local accountant, and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham...
and
George MacDonald FraserGeorge MacDonald Fraser, OBE was an English-born author of Scottish descent, who wrote both historical novels and non-fiction books, as well as several screenplays.-Early life and military career:...
. In later life, he read mysteries by
Ngaio MarshDame Ngaio Marsh DBE , born Edith Ngaio Marsh, was a New Zealand crime writer and theatre director. There is some uncertainty over her birth date as her father neglected to register her birth until 1900...
and
Rex StoutRex Todhunter Stout was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. Stout is best known as the creator of the larger-than-life fictional detective Nero Wolfe, described by reviewer Will Cuppy as "that Falstaff of detectives." Wolfe's assistant Archie Goodwin recorded the cases of the...
, and unfailingly watched the soap opera
The Edge of NightThe Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
.
Characters
Wodehouse's characters, however, were not always popular with the establishment, notably the foppish foolishness of
Bertie WoosterBertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
. Papers released by the
Public Record OfficeThe Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
have disclosed that when Wodehouse was recommended in 1967 for the
Order of the Companions of HonourThe Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
, Sir Patrick Dean, the British ambassador in Washington, argued that it "would also give currency to a Bertie Wooster image of the British character which we are doing our best to eradicate."
Wodehouse's characters are often eccentric, with peculiar attachments, such as to pigs (
Lord EmsworthClarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
), newts (
Gussie Fink-NottleAugustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle is a fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a lifelong friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a possible member of the Drones Club...
), antique silver (Bertie's Uncle Tom Travers), golf-collectables (numerous characters) or socks (Archibald Mulliner). His "mentally negligible" good-natured characters invariably make their lot worse by their half-witted schemes to improve a bad situation. In many cases the classic eccentricities of Wodehouse's upper class give rise to plot complications. The very first Jeeves story ("
Jeeves Takes Charge"Jeeves Takes Charge" is a short story written by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United States in The Saturday Evening Post on November 18, 1916, and in the United Kingdom in the April 1923 edition of Strand Magazine. Its first book publication was in Carry on, Jeeves in 1925...
") concerns an attempt to prevent publication of an old man's memoirs, which contain embarrassing stories about aristocrats and other prestigious persons in their youth.
Relatives, especially aunts and uncles, are commonly depicted with an exaggerated power to help or impede marriage or financial prospects, or simply to make life miserable. (Bertie speaks of "Aunt Agatha getting after [someone] with her hatchet".) Several of the Jeeves stories involve helping a pal deceive a wealthy relative on whom the pal depends financially ("
The Aunt and the SluggardCarry on, Jeeves is a collection of ten short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United Kingdom on 9 October 1925 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on October 7, 1927 by George H. Doran, New York...
", "
Comrade Bingo"Comrade Bingo" is a comic story by P. G. Wodehouse. It is part of the "Bertie Wooster" series.-Plot:Richard "Bingo" Little falls in love with the daughter of a left-wing, probably, communist or socialist leader called Charlotte Corday Rowbotham...
"). When Bertie Wooster is first introduced ("
Jeeves Takes Charge"Jeeves Takes Charge" is a short story written by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United States in The Saturday Evening Post on November 18, 1916, and in the United Kingdom in the April 1923 edition of Strand Magazine. Its first book publication was in Carry on, Jeeves in 1925...
"), he is himself dependent upon his Uncle Willoughby, and only when this uncle
hands in his dinner pail (dies) does Bertram become independently wealthy.
Children of both genders are invariably troublesome, annoying, and malicious. The most egregious is Edwin the Boy Scout, whose attempts at "acts of kindness" cause disasters of widely varying severity in several Jeeves novels and short stories. Friends are often more a trouble than a comfort in Wodehouse stories: Bertie Wooster in particular is often obliged to put himself to trouble, and sometimes to endure considerable suffering, in order to help a friend. (The Code of the Woosters, in
the novel of the same nameThe Code of the Woosters is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 7 October 1938, in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York...
, is "Never let a pal down.") Antagonists (particularly rivals in love) are frequently terrifying and just as often get their comeuppance in a gratifying fashion.
Policemen and
magistrateA magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s are typically portrayed as threatening, yet easy to fool, often through the simple expedient of giving a false name. A recurring motif is the theft of policemen's helmets. One of the most dislikable characters in the entire opus is a magistrate, Sir Watkyn Bassett.
In a manner going back to the
stock characterA Stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes,...
s of Roman comedy (such as
PlautusTitus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
), Wodehouse's servants are frequently far cleverer than their masters. This is quintessentially true with
JeevesReginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
, who always pulls Bertie Wooster out of the direst scrapes by means of cunning and resource, often by deceptively manipulating him (
e.g. "
Bertie Changes his MindCarry on, Jeeves is a collection of ten short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United Kingdom on 9 October 1925 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on October 7, 1927 by George H. Doran, New York...
",
Right Ho, JeevesRight Ho, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, the second full-length novel featuring the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, after Thank You, Jeeves. It also features a host of other recurring Wodehouse characters, and is mostly set at Brinkley Court, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
) or by convincing him to sacrifice himself. It recurs elsewhere, such as with the efficient (though despised)
BaxterRupert Baxter is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Often called The Efficient Baxter , he is Lord Emsworth's secretary, and an expert on many things, including Egyptian scarabs...
, secretary to the befogged
Lord EmsworthClarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
.
Another recurring type is the successful, square-jawed, ruthless American business executive, most notably in
Thank You, JeevesThank You, Jeeves is a Jeeves novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on March 16, 1934 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on April 23, 1934 by Little, Brown and Company, New York....
and in the golf story "The Heel of Achilles" but also in later stories about the Mulliners in Hollywood.
Big bruisers who come and go unexpectedly, muttering threats, abound in Wodehouse, including first and foremost
Roderick SpodeRoderick Spode, Bt, 7th Earl of Sidcup, often known as Spode or Lord Sidcup, is a recurring fictional character from the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being an "amateur Dictator" and the leader of a fictional fascist group in London called The Black Shorts...
and
Tuppy GlossopHildebrand "Tuppy" Glossop is a fictional character appearing in some of P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves books. He is a member of the Drones Club and a good friend of Bertie Wooster. In Right Ho, Jeeves, we learn that Tuppy is of Scottish origin.-Relationships:...
but also any number of bookies' henchmen, jealous lovers, nosy neighbours, burglars, and what would now be called animal-rights activists.
Many stories involve a strong-willed, independent, middle-aged (or older) female troublemaker. Examples include Bertie Wooster's
Aunt AgathaAgatha Gregson, née Wooster, later Lady Worplesdon, is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being best known as Aunt Agatha, Bertie Wooster's least favourite aunt, and a counterpoint to her sister, Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
; Lord Emsworth's many sisters, notably
Lady Constance KeebleLady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth...
; Headmistress Mapleton in "Jeeves and the Kid Clementina"; Lady Bassett in the Mulliner short story "
Strychnine in the Soup"Strychnine in the Soup" is a short story by the British comic writer P.G. Wodehouse. A part of the Mr. Mulliner series, the story was first published in 1932 in Strand Magazine. It also appears in the collections Mulliner Nights and Wodehouse on Crime...
"; and the poisonous Princess von und zu Dworniczek in
Summer Moonshinethumb|1st US editionSummer Moonshine is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 8, 1937 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on February 11, 1938 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
. Even
Aunt DahliaDahlia Travers is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being best known as Bertie Wooster's bonhomous, red-faced Aunt Dahlia. She is much beloved by her nephew, in contrast with her sister, Bertie's Aunt Agatha...
, the exceptional aunt who is a "good egg", makes plenty of troublesome demands on Bertie. Most abhorrent are the female writers, young and old, such as Ukridge's Aunt Julia, Bertie Wooster's cousin (and sometime fiancée) Florence Craye, and, when the evil fit is upon her,
Bingo LittleRichard P. "Bingo" Little is a recurring fictional character from the Drones and the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club.-Overview:...
's wife
Rosie M. BanksRosie M. Banks is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves and Drones Club stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a romance novelist and the wife of Bingo Little. Suggested real-life models for this character include prolific early twentieth-century female romance novelists...
.
Plots
Wodehouse was known for his consummate skill at their detailed construction and development. This did not come immediately to him; in the early
PsmithRupert Psmith is a recurring fictional character in several novels by British comic writer P. G...
novels
Psmith in the CityPsmith in the City is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 23 September 1910 by Adam & Charles Black, London. The story was originally released as a serial in The Captain magazine, between October 1908 and March 1909, under the title The New Fold.It continues the adventures of...
and
Psmith, JournalistPsmith, Journalist is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first released in the United Kingdom as a serial in The Captain magazine between October 1909 and February 1910, and published in book form in the UK on September 29, 1915, by Adam & Charles Black, London, and, from imported sheets, by Macmillan,...
, the device by which the author rescues the protagonists from their mounting difficulties is a simple infusion of cash from Psmith's father. This would soon change, and by the 1920s his novels were already showing off his genius for creating multiple layers of comedic complications that the characters must endure to reach the invariable happy ending. Typically, a relative or friend makes some demand that forces a character into a bizarre situation from which it seems impossible to recover, only to resolve itself in a clever and satisfying finale. The layers pile up thickly in the longer works, with a character getting into multiple dangerous situations by mid-story. An outstanding example of this is
The Code of the WoostersThe Code of the Woosters is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 7 October 1938, in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York...
where most of the chapters have an essential plot point reversed in the last sentence, catapulting the characters forward into greater diplomatic disasters. A key figure in most Wodehouse stories is a "fixer" whose genius soars above the incompetent blather and crude bluster of most of the other characters, Jeeves being the best known example. Other characters in this vein are Lord Ickenham ("Uncle Fred") and Galahad Threepwood, who perform much the same role in the Blandings Castle stories—though never both at the same time—and Psmith, who does the same thing in the stories that bear his name.
Engagements are a common theme in Wodehouse stories. A man may be unable to become engaged to the woman he loves due to some impediment such as poverty, feelings of inferiority, or a relative's objection. Just as often, a protagonist unwillingly or unwittingly gets engaged to a woman he does not love, and must find some back-door way out other than breaking it off directly (which goes against a gentleman's
code of honourCode of Honour is a Malaysian-Singaporean television drama series and the 23rd co-production of MediaCorp TV and ntv7. It is scheduled to air from every Monday to Thursday, at 7:00pm on Singapore MediaCorp Channel 8, and it is scheduled to debut on 5 December. This drama is rated PG for battle...
and renders him vulnerable to a lawsuit for
breach of promiseBreach of promise is a former common law tort.From at least medieval times until the early 20th century, a man's promise of engagement to marry a woman was considered, in many jurisdictions, a legally binding contract...
). The most widely-read case in point is Bertie Wooster's engagement to the objectionable
Madeline BassettMadeline Bassett is a recurring character in the Jeeves stories by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being one of the young women to whom Bertie Wooster periodically finds himself threateningly engaged.-Overview:...
in
Right Ho, JeevesRight Ho, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, the second full-length novel featuring the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, after Thank You, Jeeves. It also features a host of other recurring Wodehouse characters, and is mostly set at Brinkley Court, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
, which recurs in several subsequent novels.
Impersonations, and resulting confusion, are particularly common in the Blandings books, but also occur in other works. Often the impersonation is discovered, but the impersonator is able to silence the discoverer by means of bribery or blackmail, as in
Leave it to PsmithLeave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
and
Uncle Fred in the SpringtimeUncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
.
Gambling often plays a large role in Wodehouse plots, typically with someone manipulating the outcome of the wager.
Another subject which features strongly in Wodehouse's plots is
alcoholAn alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
, and many plots revolve around the tipsiness of a major character. In
The Mating Season, he enumerated what many people consider as the definitive list of hangovers: the Broken Compass, the Sewing Machine, the Comet, the Atomic, the Cement Mixer and the Gremlin Boogie. Furthermore, he makes several references to a drink called the "May Queen", described by
Uncle FredFrederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
as "any good dry champagne, to which is added
brandyBrandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...
,
armagnacArmagnac is a distinctive kind of brandy or eau de vie produced in the Armagnac region in Gascony, southwest France. It is distilled from wine usually made from a blend of Armagnac grapes, including Baco 22A, Colombard, and Ugni Blanc, using column stills rather than the pot stills used in the...
,
kümmelKümmel, also called kummel or kimmel, is a sweet, colorless liqueur flavored with caraway seed, cumin, and fennel.Originally, the words kümmel, kummel, and kimmel are somewhat generic terms in the German, Dutch, and Yiddish languages, respectively, meaning both caraway and cumin...
, yellow
chartreuseChartreuse is a French liqueur made by the Carthusian Monks since the 1740s. It is composed of distilled alcohol aged with 130 herbal extracts. The liqueur is named after the Monks' Grande Chartreuse monastery, located in the Chartreuse Mountains in the general region of Grenoble in France...
, and old
stoutStout is a dark beer made using roasted malt or barley, hops, water and yeast. Stouts were traditionally the generic term for the strongest or stoutest porters, typically 7% or 8%, produced by a brewery....
, to taste", which inspires several characters to acts of daring, such as proposing to their true loves. Sometimes, other psychoactive substances are featured, for instance in
Laughing GasLaughing gas is a common name of Nitrous oxide, particularly when used as an anestheticLaughing gas may also refer to:* Laughing Gas , a 1936 comic novel by P. G...
and the short story "
Mulliner's Buck-U-UppoMulliner's Buck-U-Uppo is a short story by the British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. A part of the Mr. Mulliner series, the story was first published in the United States by Liberty Magazine on August 07, 1926 and in the UK in The Strand in November 1926...
".
Writings
Wodehouse was a prolific author, writing 96 books in his remarkable seventy-three year long career (1902 to 1975). His works include novels, collections of short stories, and musical comedies. Many characters and locations appear repeatedly throughout his short stories and novels, leading readers to classify his work by "series":
- The Blandings Castle
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
stories (later dubbed "the Blandings Castle Saga" by Wodehouse), about the upper-class inhabitants of the fictional rural Blandings Castle. Includes the eccentric Lord Emsworth, obsessed by his prize-winning pig, the "Empress of BlandingsEmpress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
", and at one point by his equally prize-winning pumpkin ("Hope of Blandings", but, mockingly, "Percy" to Emsworth's unappreciative second son Freddie ThreepwoodThe Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
).
- The Drones Club
The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a gentlemen's club in London. Many of his Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members....
stories, about the mishaps of certain members of a raucous social club for London's idle rich. Drones Club stories always involve unnamed club members known as "Eggs", "Beans" and "Crumpets" (after the habit of addressing each other as "old egg", "old bean" or "old crumpet"); in each story, a well-informed Crumpet will endeavour to tell an Egg or Bean of the latest exploits of another Drones Club member, most frequently Freddie Widgeon or Bingo LittleRichard P. "Bingo" Little is a recurring fictional character from the Drones and the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club.-Overview:...
. Also featured are a cast of recurrent bit players such as Club millionaire Oofy ProsserAlexander Charles "Oofy" Prosser is a recurring fictional character from the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the millionaire member of the Drones Club and a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster...
.
- The Golf and Oldest Member
The Oldest Member is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse. He narrates the majority of Wodehouse's golf stories from the terrace of a golf club whose location is unclear, and he never has a proper name....
stories. They are built around one of Wodehouse's passions, the sport of golfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, which all characters involved consider the only important pursuit in life. The Oldest Member of the golf course clubhouse tells most of them, usually to unwilling listeners who would prefer to be elsewhere.
- The Jeeves
Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
and WoosterBertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
stories, narrated by the wealthy, scatterbrained Bertie WoosterBertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
. A number of stories and novels that recount the improbable and unfortunate situations in which he and his friends find themselves and the manner in which his ingenious valet Jeeves is always able to extricate them. Collectively called "the Jeeves stories", or "Jeeves and Wooster", they are Wodehouse's most famous. The Jeeves stories are a valuable compendium of pre–World War II English slang in use. One of the Jeeves and Wooster stories, "Bertie Changes His Mind" (originally published in 1922) is narrated by Jeeves instead of by Bertie.
- The Mr Mulliner
Mr. Mulliner is a fictional character from the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. Mr. Mulliner is a loquacious pub raconteur who, no matter what the topic of conversation, can find an appropriate story about a member of his family to match it....
stories, narrated by a genial pub raconteur who can take any topic of conversation and turn it into an involved, implausible story about a member of his family. Most of Mr. Mulliner's stories involve one or another of his innumerable nephews. His listeners are always identified solely by their drinks, e.g., a "Hot Scotch and Lemon" or a "Double Whisky and Splash".
- The School stories, which launched Wodehouse's career with their comparative realism. They are often located at the fictional public schools of St. Austin's or Wrykyn.
- The Psmith
Rupert Psmith is a recurring fictional character in several novels by British comic writer P. G...
stories, about an ingenious jack-of-all-trades with a charming, exaggeratedly refined manner. The final Psmith story, Leave it to PsmithLeave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
, overlaps the Blandings stories in that Psmith works for Lord Emsworth, lives for a time at Blandings Castle, and becomes a friend of Freddie ThreepwoodThe Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who brings his father nothing but trouble.Freddie has...
. Psmith first appeared in the school novel MikeMike is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 15 September 1909 by Adam & Charles Black, London. The story first appeared in the magazine The Captain, in two separate parts, collected together in the original version of the book; the first part, originally called Jackson Junior, was...
.
- The Ukridge
Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse.Ukridge is a schemer who will do anything to increase his funding -- except, of course, work. An alert and creative opportunist, he makes sure that no kindness shown to him, however...
stories, about the charming but unprincipled Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, always looking to enlarge his income through the reluctant assistance of his friend in his schemes. Besides the short stories, there is one novel about him: Love Among the ChickensLove Among the Chickens is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published as a book in the United Kingdom in June 1906 by George Newnes, London, and in the United States by Circle Publishing, New York, on 11 May 1909, having already appeared there as a serial in Circle magazine between September 1908...
.
- The Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
stories, about the eccentric Earl of Ickenham. Whenever he can escape his wife's chaperonage, he likes to spread what he calls "sweetness and light" and others are likely to call chaos. His escapades, always involving impersonations of some sort, are usually told from the viewpoint of his nephew and reluctant companion Reginald "Pongo" TwistletonReginald "Pongo" Twistleton is a character in the Uncle Fred books by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club in London, he's a nervous young man described by Sally Painter, the woman who loves him, as a "baa-lamb"...
. Several times he performs his "art" at Blandings CastleBlandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
.
- The stand-alone stories. Stories which are not part of a series (although they may contain overlapping minor characters), such as Piccadilly Jim
Piccadilly Jim is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on February 24, 1917 by Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom in May 1918 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, Quick Servicethumb|1st edition Quick Service is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on October 4, 1940 by Herbert Jenkins, London and in the United States on November 11, 1940 by Doubleday, Doran, New York....
, Summer Moonshinethumb|1st US editionSummer Moonshine is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 8, 1937 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on February 11, 1938 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, Sam the SuddenSam the Sudden is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 15 October 1925 by Methuen, London, and in the United States on 6 November 1925 by George H. Doran, New York, under the title Sam in the Suburbs...
, and Laughing GasLaughing gas is a common name of Nitrous oxide, particularly when used as an anestheticLaughing gas may also refer to:* Laughing Gas , a 1936 comic novel by P. G...
.
Almost all of these series overlap: Psmith appears in a "School" story and a Blandings novel; Bertie Wooster is a member of the Drones Club; Uncle Fred and Pongo Twistleton appear in both the Blandings Saga and the Drones club stories; Bingo Little is a regular character in the Jeeves Stories and the Drones Club stories, etc.
Adaptations
Considering the extent of his success, there have been comparatively few adaptations of Wodehouse's works. He was reluctant to allow others to adapt the Jeeves stories:
One great advantage in being a historian to a man like Jeeves is that his mere personality prevents one selling one's artistic soul for gold. In recent years I have had lucrative offers for his services from theatrical managers, motion-picture magnates, the proprietors of one or two widely advertised commodities, and even the editor of the comic supplement of an American newspaper, who wanted him for a "comic strip". But, tempting though the terms were, it only needed Jeeves' deprecating cough and his murmured "I would scarcely advocate it, sir," to put the jack under my better nature. Jeeves knows his place, and it is between the covers of a book." (from Wodehouse's introduction to the compilation The World of Jeeves, 1967)
Doing his own adaptations for film did not attract him either. He had been retained by MGM in 1930 but little used: "They paid me $2,000 a week.... Yet apparently they had the greatest difficulty in finding anything for me to do." He returned to MGM in 1937 to work on the screenplay of
RosalieRosalie is an MGM film adaptation of the 1928 stage musical of the same name. The film was released in December 1937. The film follows the story of the musical but replaces most of the Broadway score with new songs by Cole Porter...
, but even though he was now being paid $2,500 a week and living luxuriously in Hollywood, he said "I'm not enjoying life much just now. I don't like doing pictures."
However, he formed a warm working relationship with
Ian HayMajor General John Hay Beith, CBE , from Edinburgh, Scotland, was a schoolmaster and soldier, and, under the pen name Ian Hay, a novelist and playwright.-Background:...
, who adapted
A Damsel in DistressA Damsel in Distress is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 4 October 1919 by George H. Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, on 17 October 1919...
as a stage play in 1928, with Hay, Wodehouse and
A. A. MilneAlan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.-Biography:A. A...
all investing in the production. Wodehouse and Hay holidayed together in Scotland, finding "a lot of interests in common". Wodehouse went on to help dramatise Hay's story
Baa Baa Black Sheep in 1929, and in 1930 they co-wrote the stage version of
Leave It to PsmithLeave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
.
Wodehouse wrote the screenplay for the
musical filmThe musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
A Damsel in DistressA Damsel in Distress is a 1937 English-themed Hollywood musical comedy film starring Fred Astaire, Joan Fontaine, George Burns, and Gracie Allen. With a screenplay by P. G...
released in 1937, starring
Fred AstaireFred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
,
George BurnsGeorge Burns , born Nathan Birnbaum, was an American comedian, actor, and writer.He was one of the few entertainers whose career successfully spanned vaudeville, film, radio, television and movies, with and without his wife, Gracie Allen. His arched eyebrow and cigar smoke punctuation became...
,
Gracie AllenGrace Ethel Cecile Rosalie Allen , known as Gracie Allen, was an American comedian who became internationally famous as the zany partner and comic foil of husband George Burns...
, and
Joan FontaineJoan de Beauvoir de Havilland , known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s....
, with music and lyrics by
GeorgeGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
and
Ira GershwinIra Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
. A 1962 film adaptation of
The Girl On The Boat starred
Norman WisdomSir Norman Joseph Wisdom, OBE was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin...
,
Millicent MartinMillicent Mary Lillian Martin is an English actress, singer and comedienne.Martin was born in Romford, England. She made her Broadway debut opposite Julie Andrews in The Boy Friend in 1954...
and
Richard BriersRichard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
.
The Blandings, Jeeves, Ukridge and Mulliner stories have all been adapted for television. The Jeeves series has been adapted for television twice, once in the 1960s (by the BBC), with the title
The World of Wooster, starring
Ian CarmichaelIan Gillett Carmichael, OBE was an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...
as Bertie Wooster, and
Dennis PriceDennis Price was an English actor, remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and for his portrayal of the omniscient valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptations of P. G...
as Jeeves, and again in the 1990s (by
Granada TelevisionGranada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
for
ITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
), with the title
Jeeves and Wooster-External links:*—An episode guide to the series, including information about which episodes were adapted from which Wodehouse stories.*—Episode guides, screenshots and quotes from the four series....
, starring
Hugh LaurieJames Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
as Bertie and
Stephen FryStephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
as Jeeves.
David NivenJames David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was a British actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Lytton, a.k.a. "the Phantom", in The Pink Panther...
and
Arthur TreacherArthur Veary Treacher was an English actor born in Brighton, East Sussex, England.Treacher was a veteran of World War I. After the war, he established a stage career and in 1928, he went to America as part of a musical-comedy revue called Great Temptations...
also starred as Bertie and Jeeves, respectively, in a short 1930s film that had the title
Thank You, Jeeves!Thank You, Jeeves! is a comedy film starring Arthur Treacher and David Niven.Although the film bears the same title as one of P.G. Wodehouse's novels, and the two leading characters are Jeeves and Bertie Wooster , the screenplay, by Stephen Gross and Joseph Hoffman, bears no similarity to any...
, though neither this nor the sequel,
Step Lively, Jeeves, also starring Treacher as Jeeves but without Bertie, bears any relation to a Wodehouse story.
In 1975,
Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
made a musical, originally titled
Jeeves. In 1996, it was rewritten as the more successful
By JeevesBy Jeeves, originally Jeeves, is a 1975/1996 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn, based on the novels of P. G. Wodehouse....
, which made it to Broadway, and a performance recorded as a video film, also shown on TV.
A version of
Heavy WeatherHeavy Weather was a dramatisation for television by Douglas Livingstone of the novel Heavy Weather by P. G. Wodehouse , set at Blandings Castle...
was filmed by the BBC in 1995 starring
Peter O'ToolePeter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
as
Lord EmsworthClarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
and
Richard BriersRichard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
, again, as Lord Emsworth's brother,
Galahad ThreepwoodThe Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
.
Piccadilly JimPiccadilly Jim is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on February 24, 1917 by Dodd, Mead and Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom in May 1918 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
was first filmed in 1919, and again in 1936, starring
Robert MontgomeryRobert Montgomery was an American actor and director.- Early life :Montgomery was born Henry Montgomery, Jr. in Beacon, New York, then known as "Fishkill Landing", the son of Mary Weed and Henry Montgomery, Sr. His early childhood was one of privilege, since his father was president of the New...
. In 2004,
Julian FellowesJulian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, DL , known as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, as well as a Conservative peer.-Early life:...
wrote another screen adaptation which starred
Sam RockwellSam Rockwell is an American actor known for his leading roles in Lawn Dogs, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Choke and Moon, as well as for his supporting roles in The Green Mile, Iron Man 2, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Frost/Nixon, Galaxy Quest, Matchstick Men, The Assassination of...
, but this version was unsuccessful.
There was also a series of BBC adaptations of various short works, mostly from the Mulliner series, under the title of
Wodehouse PlayhouseWodehouse Playhouse is a British television comedy series based on the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. From 1975 to 1978, three series were made, with twenty half-hour episodes altogether in the entire series.-Overview:P. G...
starring
John AldertonJohn Alderton is an English actor who is best known for his roles in Upstairs, Downstairs, Thomas & Sarah and Please Sir!. Alderton has often starred alongside his wife, Pauline Collins.-Early life:...
and
Pauline CollinsPauline Collins, OBE is an English actress of the stage, television, and film. She first came to prominence portraying Sarah Moffat in Upstairs, Downstairs and its spin-off Thomas & Sarah during the 1970s. She later drew acclaim for playing the title role in the play Shirley Valentine for which...
, which aired starting in 1975. The first series was introduced by Wodehouse himself in the last year of his life.
Wodehouse's involvement with film and television from around the world is chronicled in Brian Taves,
P.G. Wodehouse and Hollywood: Screenwriting, Satires, and Adaptations (McFarland, 2006).
Czech author
Zdeněk JirotkaZdeněk Jirotka was a Czech writer of radio-broadcast plays and author of humorous novels, short stories, and feuilletons. He was born in Ostrava , sat for the leaving examination at the secondary industrial school in Hradec Králové in 1933 and then joined the Army where he served until 1940...
based his
Saturnin novel largely on the character of Jeeves.
The FX animated series
ArcherArcher is an American animated television series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009. The first season premiered on January 14, 2010. The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating....
has a butler character named Wodehouse, as a tribute to the author.
Major characters
Major characters of primary importance
Wodehouse's work contains a number of recurring protagonists, narrators and principal characters, including:
- Bertie Wooster
Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
and his valetValet and varlet are terms for male servants who serve as personal attendants to their employer.- Word origins :In the Middle Ages, the valet de chambre to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men...
JeevesReginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
; his Aunt DahliaDahlia Travers is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being best known as Bertie Wooster's bonhomous, red-faced Aunt Dahlia. She is much beloved by her nephew, in contrast with her sister, Bertie's Aunt Agatha...
and his Aunt AgathaAgatha Gregson, née Wooster, later Lady Worplesdon, is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being best known as Aunt Agatha, Bertie Wooster's least favourite aunt, and a counterpoint to her sister, Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
- Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
of Blandings Castle, and his large family
- Mr Mulliner
Mr. Mulliner is a fictional character from the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. Mr. Mulliner is a loquacious pub raconteur who, no matter what the topic of conversation, can find an appropriate story about a member of his family to match it....
, irrepressible pub raconteur of family stories
- The Oldest Member
The Oldest Member is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse. He narrates the majority of Wodehouse's golf stories from the terrace of a golf club whose location is unclear, and he never has a proper name....
, irrepressible nineteenth holeThe Nineteenth hole is a slang term used in golf, generally referring to a pub, bar, or restaurant on or near the golf course, very often the clubhouse itself. A standard round of golf has only eighteen holes, so golfers will say they are at the 'nineteenth hole', meaning they are enjoying a...
raconteur of golf stories
- Psmith
Rupert Psmith is a recurring fictional character in several novels by British comic writer P. G...
, monocled dandy and practical socialist
- Ukridge
Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge is a fictional character from the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse.Ukridge is a schemer who will do anything to increase his funding -- except, of course, work. An alert and creative opportunist, he makes sure that no kindness shown to him, however...
, irrepressible entrepreneur and cheerful opportunist
- Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
(Frederick Cornwallis, Fifth Earl of Ickenham), considered, in some circles, a disgrace to the Peerage. Spreading "sweetness and light" through impersonation
Major characters of secondary importance
Certain of Wodehouse's less central characters are particularly well-known, despite being less critical elements of his works as a whole.
- Anatole, French chef extraordinaire, very temperamental
- Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
, Lord Emsworth's brother, lifelong bachelor with a mis-spent youth and a kind heart
- Sebastian Beach
Sebastian Beach is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. He is the butler at Blandings Castle, seat of Lord Emsworth and his family, where he serves for over eighteen years.- Background and character :...
, Lord Emsworth's butler
- Rupert Baxter
Rupert Baxter is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Often called The Efficient Baxter , he is Lord Emsworth's secretary, and an expert on many things, including Egyptian scarabs...
, Lord Emsworth's efficient but annoying secretary
- Major Brabazon-Plank
Major Brabazon-Plank, later Major Plank, is a recurring fictional character from the Uncle Fred and Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a famed explorer who led an expedition up the Amazon but is afraid of babies.-Overview:...
, Amazon explorer, afraid of bonnie babies
- Sir Roderick Glossop, intimidating psychiatrist
- Honoria Glossop
Honoria Glossop is a particularly formidable female from the Jeeves stories by P. G. Wodehouse. She is of a rather muscular, sporty temperament, and as such remains unattached...
, Sir Roderick's daughter and sometime fiancée of Bertie Wooster, demanding, imperious, athletic
- Tuppy Glossop
Hildebrand "Tuppy" Glossop is a fictional character appearing in some of P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves books. He is a member of the Drones Club and a good friend of Bertie Wooster. In Right Ho, Jeeves, we learn that Tuppy is of Scottish origin.-Relationships:...
, Sir Roderick's nephew, muscular rugbyRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
-player
- Roderick Spode, later 7th Earl of Sidcup
Roderick Spode, Bt, 7th Earl of Sidcup, often known as Spode or Lord Sidcup, is a recurring fictional character from the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being an "amateur Dictator" and the leader of a fictional fascist group in London called The Black Shorts...
, amateur dictator, very tall and muscular, based on British fascist Oswald MosleySir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, was an English politician, known principally as the founder of the British Union of Fascists...
- Pongo Twistleton
Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton is a character in the Uncle Fred books by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club in London, he's a nervous young man described by Sally Painter, the woman who loves him, as a "baa-lamb"...
, Uncle Fred's nephew
- Oofy Prosser
Alexander Charles "Oofy" Prosser is a recurring fictional character from the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the millionaire member of the Drones Club and a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster...
, millionaire member of the Drones Club
- Monty Bodkin
Montague "Monty" Bodkin is a recurring fictional character in three novels of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a wealthy young member of the Drones Club, tall, slender and lissom, well-dressed, well-spoken, impeccably polite, and generally in some kind of romantic trouble.-Stories:Monty...
, second richest member of the Drones Club (second to Oofy Prosser)
- Bingo Little
Richard P. "Bingo" Little is a recurring fictional character from the Drones and the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club.-Overview:...
, friend of Bertie Wooster, with a complicated love-life
- Sidney McMurdo, big, muscular golfer, inclined to jealousy
- Agnes Flack, big, muscular, female golfer
- Freddie Widgeon, member of the Drones Club
- Gussie Fink-Nottle
Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle is a fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a lifelong friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a possible member of the Drones Club...
, fish-faced, socially awkward newt-fancier who cannot hold his liquor
- Sir Watkyn Bassett
Sir Watkyn Bassett CBE is a recurring fictional character in the stories of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse.Bassett is the father of Madeline Bassett, whose mistaken belief that Bertie Wooster wishes to marry her is the basis of a major sub-plot in several stories...
, owner of Totleigh Towers
- Madeline Bassett
Madeline Bassett is a recurring character in the Jeeves stories by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being one of the young women to whom Bertie Wooster periodically finds himself threateningly engaged.-Overview:...
, daughter of Sir Watkyn, very pretty but disturbingly drippy and poetical; often voices conviction that "the stars are God's daisy-chain" and other goofy sentiments
- Bobbie Wickham
Roberta "Bobbie" Wickham is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves and Mr Mulliner stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a troublesome redheaded girl, enamoured of practical jokes which often result in general pandemonium.-Overview:...
, attractive but ruthless red-haired girl, very demanding and fond of practical jokes
- Florence Craye
Lady Florence Craye is a fictional character who appears in P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories and novels. Lady Florence, the daughter of Percy Craye, Earl of Worplesdon and elder sister to Edwin, a nasty little runtish type of lad, is the sometime fiancee of Bertie Wooster...
, Bertie Wooster's cousin and sometimes fiancee, and author of the novel Spindrift
- Lord Uffenham, owner and butler of Shipley Hall
- Mike Jackson, Psmith's steadfast, cricket-playing friend
- Archibald Mulliner, sock collector who can mimic a hen laying an egg
Extremely minor, but ubiquitous, character:
- Lord Knubble of Knopp, mentioned in Mulliner stories and Golf Stories and other stories as well; references to him are always so brief and inconsequential that they may not be fully catalogued. Most often mentioned in connection with other characters, without actually appearing. A thin, well-dressed, "horse-faced" man, who occasionally appears at house parties and loses at cards. Very wealthy in spite of this.
External links
Wodehouse societies
- P G Wodehouse Society.org.uk – The P G Wodehouse Society (UK): events, Tony Ring's Information Sheets, quiz
- Wodehouse.org – TWS, The Wodehouse Society (North America): events, links to essays
- Other Wodehouse Societies (Australia, Belgium, Finland, India, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden)
Wodehouse info
- A Celebration of P G Wodehouse – Annotated bibliography, characters index, text annotations
- Biblia Wodehousiana - Inventory of biblical quotations and allusions
- "Zeroing in on Blandings" by Alex Kirby, BBC News Online
BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. The website is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom and forms a major part of BBC Online ....
, 4 September 2003 – Blandings Castle located?
About Wodehouse
- 1958 BBC interview
- "In Defence of P. G. Wodehouse" by George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, 1945 – Defending PGW accused of treason
- "What ho! My hero, PG Wodehouse" by Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
(Jeeves actor), The IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 18 January 2000 – Recollections and appreciation
- Wodehouse Saved my Life by Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , better known as Hugh Laurie , is an English actor, voice artist, comedian, writer, musician, recording artist, and director...
, The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
27 May 99
- "P. G. Wodehouse interview" by Gerald Clarke, The Paris Review, Winter 1975 (PDF format, 386 kB
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
)
- PGW's ancestry – parents Henry Ernest Wodehouse and Eleanor Deane, links to ancestors (no PGW ) – grave location and photography
Online works in the public domain in the United States – about 40 books in English
Other links