Blandings Castle: Difference between revisions

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Blandings, 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 fiancé 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, 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.

* [[Be My Valentine]]: The heroine of the very first "Blandings" novel, ''Something Fresh'' (1915), was named Joan Valentine.

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Freddie Threepwood.

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Lord Emsworth is a doddering old man who cares about nothing more than his pig (which he christened the Empress of Blandings). Want to talk to Emsworth? Chances are he'll end up rambling about pigs, derail the conversation based on semantics, or just plain space out and not listen to you at all. Even if you're lucky enough to have a lucid conversation with him, ten minutes later he'll have forgotten about it (and quite possibly you) anyway.

* [[Coincidence Magnet]]: Gridley Quayle, the protagonist of the detective series authored by Ashe Marson in ''Something Fresh''. While Ashe admits that Quayle only manages to pull through because of a [[Contrived Coincidence]] [[Once Per Episode]], he gradually [[Genre Savvy|comes to realize]] that he's an example of this trope in his own right.

* [[Crusty Caretaker]]: Angus [McAllister], the head gardener.

* [[Dogged Nice Guy]]: George in ''Something Fresh''.