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P. G. Wodehouse: Difference between revisions
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After Wodehouse had been captured and released again by German forces in France, it was erroneously reported in the UK that he had broadcast enemy propaganda (he actually wrote radio broadcasts that supported the Allies). He was denounced as a traitor, and went into self-imposed exile on Long Island, NY, never to return to his native England, even to receive the knighthood that was granted him by Queen Elizabeth II in 1975. He died the same year at the age of 93.
Wodehouse's stories are generally tangles of [[Zany Scheme|zany schemes]] motivated by frustrated love. For example, say a young Mr. Reggie Worthington wants to be engaged to Betty Harte, but first must (a) disengage himself from Wilhelmina "Billie" Wreckham by pairing her up with Cyril "Bunny" Rabbington-Vole; (b) match Cyril's jealous fiancée, Edith Pilsworth, with Billie's equally green-eyed brother Freddie, who has been trying to keep all men away from his sister, and (c) blackmail Aunt Geraldine into allowing the engagements by holding hostage her prized 17th Century silver [[MacGuffin]]. Naturally, Betty, Billie, Cyril, Edith and Freddie all have devised their own zany schemes, each flawlessly assured to land our Reggie example in the soup. Mistaken identities, misinterpretations of events, secrets, blackmail, theft, [[Lost Him in
Although Wodehouse penned several overlapping series, among them the "Oldest Member" golf stories, Mr. Mulliner's tall tales, the ongoing adventures of [[
Wodehouse's most famous [[Upperclass Twit]], Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster, is the character who probably best embodies Wodehouse's gift for language. Bertie expresses himself with a loopy eloquence, giving this series its much-beloved [[Cloudcuckoolander]] sense of humor. His [[Servile Snarker]] valet (''not'' butler), [[The Jeeves|Reginald Jeeves]], is as capable as Bertie is ineffectual. With, apparently, the same effort most people put into buttoning their cuffs, Jeeves rescues Bertie and/or his friends from their entanglements and [[Status Quo Is God|restores the status quo]].
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Blandings, meanwhile, a castle which "has impostors the way other places have mice", is the home of the elderly and ineffectual Earl of Emsworth, which is routinely used by his many domineering sisters to imprison nieces or nephews intent on an unsuitable marriage. The would-be fiance has to infiltrate the castle in disguise, often with help from the Earl's ne'er-do-well brother [[Lovable Rogue|Galahad Threepwood]], and capable, sporting butler Sebastian Beach (who actually ''is'' a butler), or less often his good friend Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, Earl of Ickenham, who aims always to spread sweetness and light, and persuade Emsworth to overrule his sister.
Wodehouse's books have been the basis for a number of films and television series. The Blandings series has seen Clive Currie and Horace Hodges as Lord Emsworth in movie versions, and Fritz Schultz (in German), Sir Ralph Richardson, and Peter O'Toole on television, although many regard the BBC radio Lord Emsworth, Richard Vernon (who also lent his voice to [[The
The Jeeves stories were also the basis and inspiration for an [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]] musical, ''Jeeves,'' which was released in 1975 and failed so spectacularly both critically and commercially that it's still thought of as Webber's only real flop. However, in 1996 the musical was reworked, rewritten and re-released as ''By Jeeves,'' which was far more successful and got generally positive reviews.
Most recently, and perhaps most famously, the Jeeves stories formed the basis of the popular early '90s series ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (TV series)|Jeeves and Wooster]]'', starring [[Stephen Fry]] and [[Hugh Laurie]], respectively.
In 2008, a josei manga adaptation of the Jeeves novels, called ''Please, Jeeves'' and drawn by Bun Katsuta, began serialization in Hana to Yume's ''Melody''.
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=== Works by P. G. Wodehouse with their own trope pages include: ===
* ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (
* ''[[
* ''[[
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=== Other works by P. G. Wodehouse provide examples of: ===
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* [[Best Her to Bed Her]]: As, for example, in the short story "There's Always Golf," where Clarice Fitch longs for a man to hit her with a riding-crop -- used in Wodehouse to mock its serious use in the typical "sheik" romances of the [[Genteel Interbellum Setting|period]], and hilariously inverted in the Mulliner story, "A Voice From The Past."
* [[Blue Blood]]
* [[Boarding School]]: He got started writing stories of his type; the introduction of [[
* [[Brats
* [[Ceiling Banger]]: The short story "The Man Upstairs" uses this as a [[Meet Cute]] for its main characters.
* [[Children Are Innocent]]: Subverted at every opportunity -- if a child appears in a Wodehouse story, nine times out of ten he (it's usually a he) will be an obnoxious grubby little pest.
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* [[Evil Matriarch]]: The horrendous aunts.
* [[Expy]]: Certain character types recurr in novel after novel.
* [[External Retcon]]: Of ''[[
* [[Extreme Doormat]]: Ukridge's friend and faithful chronicaller "Corky" Corcoran lets himself be talked into just about anything, although at least as a writer he is able make a bit of money selling the resulting narratives.
* [[Florence Nightingale Effect]]: Used on several occasions.
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** In ''Jill the Reckless'', Mrs. Barker recognizes lovers' problems from her reading.
* [[Genteel Interbellum Setting]]: In an 1958 [http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/writers/12201.shtml interview (around 2:20)] he said that nowadays he's writing "historical novels".
** However, as Christopher Hitchens and other critics point out, the attitudes and actions of Wooster & Co. are actually reflections of [[The Edwardian Era|Edwardian]] comedy and mores (as in the stories of [[Saki (
** The novel ''Ring For Jeeves'' was released in 1953, and clearly set in the '50s -- [[World War II]] is mentioned, and the post-war social change which caused the aristocrats to seek employment is a major plot point.
** There is also the Bingo Little short story, "Bingo Bans The Bomb." Wodehouse never intended his novels to be read as period pieces, and would update them from time to time, adjusting dates, commodity prices, and so on. The novels only ''seem'' Edwardian because Wodehouse himself ''was'' -- an Edwardian gentleman who survived well into the late Twentieth century.
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* [[I Will Find You]]: Maud has to be kept at Belpher Castle to prevent this in ''A Damsel in Distress''.
* [[Last Girl Wins]]: If the focus character or a close friend has been pursuing the same girl across multiple books, it's almost a given he'll run off with the cook in the last installment. {{spoiler|Monty Bodkin}} is a prime example.
* [[Licked
* [[Love At First Sight]]: In almost every story. Usually the likeable male lead falls for a girl and it takes her a while to return his affections.
* [[MacGuffin]]: This is very often a diamond or pearl necklace, though perhaps the most famous is the Seventeenth-Century English (''not'' Modern Dutch!) Silver Cow-Creamer, the attempted theft of which starts off an entire multi-book uproar in Bertie's love life. The Empress of Blandings herself and the French chef Anatole often serve as [[Living MacGuffin|Living MacGuffins]].
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* [[My Beloved Smother]]: Lady Underhill in ''Jill the Reckless''.
* [[My Nayme Is]]: Something of a [[Running Gag]].
* [[Nice to
* [[Noodle Incident]]: What happened to/with/by Uncle Fred and Pongo "that day at the dog-races".
* [[Not
* [[Oblivious to Love]]: Packy in ''Hot Water'', as soon as his engagement with Beatrice is over and he sees Jane, realizes he has been this.
* [[Old Flame Fizzle]]: In ''A Damsel In Distress''.
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* [[Plato Is a Moron]]: In "The Clicking of Cuthbert," Russian novelist Vladimir Brusiloff opines that no novelists anywhere are any good besides himself, though Tolstoy and [[Celebrity Paradox|P.G. Wodehouse]] are "not bad."
* [[The Pollyanna]]: Jill and her uncle in ''Jill the Reckless''.
* [[Psmith Psyndrome]]: The ''[[
* [[Race For Your Love]]: ''Uneasy Money''.
* [[Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic]]: Makes adapting Wodehouse's work to TV or film no easy task.
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* [[Talks Like a Simile]]: Comedic similes are a staple of his writing.
* [[Take That]]: After Wodehouse had been denounced by the orders of the Minister of Information, Alfred Duff Cooper, he was lambasted in the newspapers by his fellow-author, [[AA Milne (Creator)|AA Milne]]. In ''The Mating Season'', written while Wodehouse was being held by the Germans, Gussie Fink-Nottle on being arrested gives his name as "Duff Cooper"; in the same novel, Bertie Wooster is sickened by the prospect of reading Milne's "Christopher Robin" poems publicly. Wodehouse returned to the attack in "Rodney Has A Relapse", in which reformed ''vers libre'' poet Rodney Spelvin writes [[Tastes Like Diabetes|smarmy]] poems about his toddler son, "Timothy Bobbin".
* [[A Tragedy of Impulsiveness]]: [[Playing
* [[Trans Atlantic Equivalent]]: Wodehouse and [[
* [[Unexpected Inheritance]]: ''Uneasy Money''.
* [[Unprovoked Pervert Payback]]: "A Sea of Troubles''.
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