The Farce in Very Good, Jeeves! Thesis: The style of literary humor Wodehouse uses in Very Good, Jeeves! qualifies as farce

Transcription

1 Norton i Victoria Norton Mrs. E. Richardson British Literature 18 November 2013 The Farce in Very Good, Jeeves! Thesis: The style of literary humor Wodehouse uses in Very Good, Jeeves! qualifies as farce because the book contains crude characterization, improbable situations, and witty sarcasm. I. Crude characterization A. Important characters similar traits B. Certain characters stupidity II. Improbable situations A. Bertie s and/or his friends problems 1. Love 2. Revenge B. Bertie s plan and action C. Jeeves s involvement III. Witty sarcasm A. Jeeves s use of parrot-like responses B. Jeeves s use of his infinite knowledge to respond to Bertie

2 Norton 1 Victoria Norton Mrs. E. Richardson British Literature 18 November 2013 The Farce in Very Good, Jeeves! P.G. Wodehouse s Very Good, Jeeves! is a collection of eleven short stories about the adventures of Bertie Wooster and his valet, Jeeves. Bertie and his friends are always messing something up, but Bertie knows he can always count on Jeeves to know what to do. Whether trying to please Bertie s Aunt Agatha, escaping an angry swan, or helping Bertie s friends propose to the love of their lives, Jeeves has the best plan for any situation. P.G. Wodehouse s genius writing techniques and relatable characters allow readers to laugh page after page in this delightful book. The style of literary humor Wodehouse uses in Very Good, Jeeves! qualifies as farce because the book contains crude characterization, improbable situations, and witty sarcasm. In Very Good, Jeeves! Wodehouse uses crude characterization, which means Wodehouse describes characters based on simplicity or attitude. Critic Don L.F. Nilsen asserts, All of Wodehouse s important characters are loveable, somewhat eccentric, and prone to finding themselves in the middles of complex situations (100). This is true for many of Bertie s friends, such as Old Sippy and Tuppy, who are both nice young men with the same problem: both have women they are trying to impress. Sippy and Tuppy get nervous when they are around the woman they love, and ask Bertie for his help, which in turn, causes a chaotic mess. Although the characters have these traits in common, each one has his own distinct personality. This can best be described using Bertie and Jeeves as examples. Critic Theresa Connors affirms, The inimitable P.G. Wodehouse created two of Britain s most popular characters in Jeeves and Bertie

3 Norton 2 Wooster. Bertie and Jeeves are the most talked about characters of the Jeeves series, which is not surprising considering their relationship is the basis of every book or story. Nilsen goes on to state, Bertie and Jeeves are opposites, meaning each one has a completely different personality (100). Each character has their own ideas, and ways of handling situations: Bertie is rather casual in his manner, while Jeeves is decidedly stuffy. Bertie is likely to consider lavender spats an appropriate article of dress; Jeeves would rather die than have them in the house (qtd. in Nilsen 100). Even though they are different in this manner, Wodehouse further distinguishes Bertie and Jeeves based on their attitudes about situations. Bertie tends to want to jump right into the situation, while Jeeves is calm and makes sure to account for every little detail before getting involved; however, they are similar in the manner that they are both aiming for the same result or conclusion. For example, in Very Good Jeeves!, Bertie is given his Aunt Agatha s dog, McIntosh, to watch while she is away. Bertie then invites Bobbie Wickham to have lunch at his home with Mr. Blumenfeld so that Miss Wickham can read Mr. Blumenfeld, a theatrical manager, her mother s play; however, Mr. Blumenfeld only chooses plays that his son likes. Miss Wickham is so determined to woo Mr. Blumenfeld s son that when she sees how fascinated he is with McIntosh, she gives him the dog. Both Bertie and Jeeves try to get the dog back, each with their own plan of action. In the end, Bertie and Jeeves do achieve their goal, further proving their similarity to aim for the same results in problematic situations. Wodehouse makes use of these two men to show that although the two are alike as far as being memorable and lovable characters, they are different in how they present themselves, which makes this collection of stories that much more intriguing. Wodehouse also characterizes the people in his stories by stupidity, which allows the reader to be entertained not only by events the characters are involved in, but also by dialogue

4 Norton 3 between the characters. Critic Edward L. Galligan emphasizes this point by stating, "I think all great farce gives us a fresh image of benign idiocy. The stupid characters in Very Good, Jeeves! are people who do not have much common sense and who tend to do something without thinking about it first. Bertie is the first person who comes to mind when referring to stupid characters because of how he presents himself through his narration of the stories. Galligan goes on to say, It makes matters more difficult if the narrator is incapable of analyzing motives and purposes; Bertie has enough trouble perceiving what anyone, himself included, is doing without trying to grasp why he is doing it. Readers get to see things through Bertie s point of view in the book, which is funny because they get to experience the stress Bertie feels when he rushes into a situation where he has no idea what he is doing or why he is doing it. This is most accurately illustrated when, in Very Good, Jeeves!, Bertie goes to visit his friend Sippy at The Mayfair Gazette. Sippy is angry about his old headmaster, now his boss, making him publish stories in the newspaper against Sippy s wishes. Sippy refuses to stand up to his boss because his boss gives him an inferiority complex, so Bertie insists that they plant a sack of flour above the door to the office; when Sippy s boss walks in, the flour will fall on him. At the end of the story, Sippy does stand up to his boss, and instead of the boss getting covered in flour, Bertie does. Bertie has again jumped into a situation without thinking about every aspect of it and he ends by stating, In the agitation of the moment I had gone in at the wrong door; and what it all boils down to is that, if any more of my pals gets inferiority complexes, they can jolly will get rid of them for themselves (46). Also in this story, Wodehouse gives proof that Sippy is also a stupid character when Bertie describes Sippy s behavior after his boss leaves: He raised his hands over his head, clutched his hair, wrenched it about for a while, kicked a table with great violence, and then flung himself into his chair (30). Sippy s conduct here is evidence of his

5 Norton 4 stupidity because he is acting very immature for a grown man. The similar traits and stupidity of the majority of characters in this book demonstrate Wodehouse s use of crude characterization, which in turn helps classify this book as a farce. This book is further proved to be a farce because it contains improbable situations. Bertie and his friends always find themselves with one of two problems: love or the need for revenge. Several times throughout the novel, one of Bertie s friends would tell Bertie he was in love with a woman, which results in Bertie s getting involved, making everything worse. For example, in one of the stories, Tuppy comes to Bertie with news of his engagement and asks Bertie to assure his fiancée, Cora Bellinger, that he is not a practical joker as she has heard he is. Right after Bertie has lunch with Tuppy s fiancée, Bertie s Aunt Dahlia comes to Bertie s house declaring that Tuppy cannot marry Miss Bellinger because Aunt Dahlia s daughter, Angela, is in love with Tuppy. Aunt Dahlia insists that Jeeves come up with a plan to get Cora to break off the engagement with Tuppy so that he may marry Angela instead. This would be considered an unlikely event today because most parents would not come up with such a scheme just so their daughter could marry a certain man, nor would they get involved as Bertie s aunt does. In almost every Bertie and Jeeves story, there is an unlikely situation or some sort of chaos. Laura Mooneyham confirms this point by asserting, The comic convention of the world turned upside down is a Wodehousian staple. Another form of improbable situation in Very Good, Jeeves! is revenge. In the book, Bertie is forced to stay at his Aunt Agatha s house for a few nights and realizes that Tuppy Glossop and his father are both scheduled to stay as well. Bertie decides to get revenge on Tuppy for what Tuppy did to Bertie at the Drones Club a while before. He plans to pop the hot water bottle in Tuppy s bed while Tuppy is sleeping causing the bed to get soaking wet and Tuppy s having to make other sleeping arrangements. Jeeves misinforms Bertie of

6 Norton 5 Tuppy s sleeping quarters and Bertie ends up popping Tuppy s father s hot water bottle. This is considered an unlikely situation because today grown men would more than likely not be immature enough to plot revenge on their enemies and even if they did, their revenge would not be muddled. Problems such as these and Bertie s involvement always lead to Jeeves having to step in and fix everything. Jeeves is usually working behind the scenes the whole time the situation is going on. He usually comes up with a plan within a few minutes of Bertie s presenting a problem, in which Bertie does not like Jeeves s plan and proceeds to take the situation into his own hands. By the end of every story, though, Jeeves has pulled a few strings and everyone lives happily ever after at least until the next problem arises, of course. Galligan points out: Jeeves s solutions are never miraculous; occasionally he will pull a small rabbit out of his size-eight hat, but mostly he simply exercises a little common sense in behalf of Bertie and his nitwit friends. Jeeves remains calm and keeps his wheels turning while Bertie is making a mess of everything, which is why Bertie and Jeeves work so well together. Galligan affirms, Jeeves is present in spirit if not in actual fact from beginning to end of each tale. Another critic states, Jeeves is the dignified embodiment of reserve and understatement (qtd. in Nilsen 102). Bertie can get involved in the most improbable situations and Jeeves always has a way out. Nilsen asserts, Jeeves is such a powerful literary force that even Wodehouse himself seems sometimes to lose control (102). It almost seems like Jeeves enjoys solving Bertie s problems because he helps even when help is not asked of him. Very Good, Jeeves! is better identified as a farce with the improbable situations that Bertie gets himself involved in. Another way Very Good, Jeeves! classifies as farce is because it contains witty sarcasm. Jeeves is sarcastic in many of his responses to Bertie, probably because many of the things Bertie

7 Norton 6 says are so dumb that all Jeeves can respond with is sarcasm. The most humorous of Jeeves s sarcastic responses are his parrot-like responses. Jeeves is usually slightly agitated when he starts repeating the same replies, more than likely because Bertie has cut him off several times. An example of this is when Bertie tells Jeeves he is talking rot and several synonyms of rot, in which Jeeves replies with Very good, sir each time causing Bertie to end by saying, Very good, sir I mean very good, Jeeves, that will be all (55). This is an example of witty sarcasm on Jeeves s part because Bertie is obviously trying to get a rise out of Jeeves and all Jeeves has to say is very good, sir. Another example of these types of responses is when Bertie is informing Jeeves of a guest who will be coming for lunch, and Jeeves responds with Indeed, sir? to everything Bertie says. Bertie gets agitated with him and replies, Correct this parrotcomplex, Jeeves There is no need for you to stand there saying Indeed, sir? (95). This is another example of Jeeves s sarcastic responses because Jeeves knows that his parrot-like answers irritate Bertie. Yet another example of Jeeves common responses is when Bertie and Mr. Filmer are stuck on the roof of a building in the middle of an island after a swan has chased them up it. Bertie calls for Jeeves, informing him that he is sitting on the roof and Jeeves responds, Very good, sir (18). Bertie responds, Don t say Very good. Come and help us. Mr. Filmer and I are treed, Jeeves ; Jeeves again responds Very good, sir (19-20). This is funny because Bertie is stuck on a roof with an angry swan at his feet and when he asks Jeeves for help all he gets is very good, sir, which seems like a clever aim at sarcasm on Jeeves s part. Not only does Jeeves respond to Bertie with his sarcastic parrot-like responses, but he also makes use of his infinite knowledge to respond to Bertie. Jeeves is a well-educated man who seems to know everything there is to know, which is why everyone comes to Jeeves for help with their problem. Jeeves is so well-known as being

8 Norton 7 someone with seemingly infinite knowledge that Ask.com originally was named for the Jeeves character with the original search engine called AskJeeves.com. Jeeves s knowledge seems to be superior to everyone else mentioned in the book. For example, when Jeeves is presenting his plan to Aunt Dahlia, he says, the first essential is to study the psychology of the individual, in which Bertie says, And by psychology, Jeeves, you imply-, to which Jeeves responds, The natures and dispositions of the principals in the matter, sir (80). This is humorous because the reader sees the lack of vocabulary both Aunt Dahlia and Bertie have here. Jeeves uses witty sarcasm because he knows that he is the only one who understands it, so he can be sarcastic without Bertie even knowing. It is funny because the reader knows that Jeeves is being sarcastic, but the people in the story do not. Galligan affirms, Bertie s intellectual opacity makes it easier for the reader to accept more accurately, pretend to believe in the preposterous characters that Wodehouse s farcical plots must deal with. This means that Bertie s stupidity makes it easier for readers and, to add to Galligan s comment, Jeeves to deal with the stupidity of the other characters in these stories. Although Jeeves knows he is superior to Bertie and could be servant to someone more intelligent, he chooses to stay with Bertie. No one really knows why Jeeves chooses to stay with Bertie, but Galligan gives a good reason when he asserts, Jeeves will strike quickly and hard to preserve his relationship with Bertie. We must see that relationship as symbolic, as expressing Wodehouse s deepest insight that rational intelligence becomes monstrous and ultimately self-destructive if it is not held firmly subservient to the ideals of affability and civility. Basically, Jeeves remains with Bertie because without Bertie s inferior knowledge to pair with Jeeves s superior knowledge, it would be hard for Jeeves to stay patient and civilized. Jeeves is a loveable character who uses his wit to further illustrate Very Good, Jeeves! is a farce.

9 Norton 8 To summarize, Very Good, Jeeves! is a collection of eleven short stories filled with crude characterization, improbable situations, and witty sarcasm that all come together to qualify this book as a farce. Galligan believes, Wodehouse s mastery lies in his ability to accept to constraints of his form. It must be light devoid of any content that anyone of mental age beyond eight might be tempted to label serious. This means that Wodehouse uses these points to make his farcical stories an in-between kind of funny: not too serious or too humorous. It can best be compared to Goldilocks when she eats the porridge; she wants it just right, not too hot nor too cold. For something to be farce it must also be consistently funny. Galligan emphasizes this by stating, Farce must have deft comic pace, establishing a rhythm of smiles and laughter akin to the rhythms of words and music in the great popular songs of the period. By this he means that the reader needs to be smiling or laughing at a consistent pace throughout the stories. Wodehouse definitely does this in his writing and Galligan agrees when he declares, [Wodehouse] is funny, not just occasionally, but consistently, in story after story, novel after novel. Wodehouse uses crude characterization, improbable situations, and witty sarcasm in Very Good, Jeeves! to further keep this comic pace. The best way to word what is meant by farcical plotting is exactly Galligan s contention: Farce must take a group of preposterous characters through a series of ridiculous action in a way that remains, granting the author s initial premises, perfectly credible. It must always teeter on the brink of chaos, yet it must finally reveal itself as fully controlled. Wodehouse, the master and father of farce and comedic style, does exactly this in Very Good, Jeeves!.

10 Norton 9 Works Cited Connors, Theresa. Tea & Comedy. Library Journal 15 May 2005: 73+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 14 Nov Galligan, Edward L. P.G. Wodehouse: Master of Farce. The Sewanee Review 93.4 (Fall 1985): Rpt. In Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski and Scott T. Darga. Vol Detroit: Gale Group, Literature Resource Center. Web. 14 Nov Mooneyham, Laura. Comedy Among the Modernists: P.G. Wodehouse and the Anachronism of Comic Form. Twentieth Century Literature 40.1 (Spring 1994): Rpt. In Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski and Scott. T. Darga. Vol Detroit: Gale Group, Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Sept Nilsen, Don L.F. Humor in Twentieth Century British Literature. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood, Print. Wodehouse, P.G. Very Good, Jeeves! New York: Penguin, Print.