Tag: the Jeeves Stories

Guest Posts, P.G. Wodehouse, World of WodehouseLeave a comment

Was P. G. Wodehouse squeamish about sex?

Honoria Plum

Originally posted on EMSWORTH:
We don’t mean this in a negative way, but the fact can’t be avoided: the Master wasn’t comfortable with sex. Not once in dozens of comic novels and hundreds of short stories with romantic plots, does any P. G. Wodehouse character indulge in the carnal passions, on-stage or off.  Considering that people probably joke about sex more than anything else, it’s almost astonishing how well Wodehouse got by as a comic writer without it. Wodehouse wasn’t prudish in other respects. Bertie Wooster and his fellow Drones drink themselves silly, commit petty burglaries, fritter money away at… Continue reading Was P. G. Wodehouse squeamish about sex?

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Plumtopia, World of Wodehouse32 Comments

Wodehouse’s men: objects of desire

Honoria Plum

I’d like to take a short break from my series exploring Wodehouse on Women  to share a remarkable piece entitled 111 Male Characters Of British Literature, In Order Of Bangability by Carrie Frye, in which Ms Frye lists 111 fictional characters she finds sexually desirable enough to take to her bed. Almost as astonishing as her stamina, is the fact that she includes not one, but three Wodehouse characters in her list of male sex objects. These are, in order of appearance: – Gussie Fink Nottle (at 106) – Bertram Wooster (at 87) – Jeeves (at 65) Gussie’s inclusion in … Continue reading Wodehouse’s men: objects of desire

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Criticism, P.G. Wodehouse, Wodehouse Women, World of Wodehouse12 Comments

Wodehouse on women: Bachelors Anonymous

Honoria Plum

Last week, I began a series exploring ‘Wodehouse on Women’ in response to criticism of Indian Summer of an Uncle by Janet Cameron. In Part 1, I opened the case for the defence by demonstrating that Wodehouse did not specifically exclude women as complex characters in his work. One Wodehouse expert has added further evidence, noting that several Wodehouse novels featured well-developed female central characters. The Adventures of Sally (1922) is a good example. Today, I address the next item on the charge sheet. ‘Men are portrayed as being in league against women’ Cameron writes: ‘the male characters (are shown … Continue reading Wodehouse on women: Bachelors Anonymous

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Criticism, P.G. Wodehouse, Wodehouse Women, World of Wodehouse43 Comments

Wodehouse’s Women: the case for the defence

Honoria Plum

In order to better understand and unravel some of the issues, I’d like to consider the charges levelled against Wodehouse in a recent criticism of Indian Summer of an Uncle by Janet Cameron. While I don’t agree with Cameron’s assessment, I am grateful to her for providing a starting point for my thinking. There is too much to be said on this particular subject in one article (I’d like to make it a PhD study) so I propose to respond in a series of pieces. I begin today with the first charge: ‘Women are excluded as complex characters’ This charge is … Continue reading Wodehouse’s Women: the case for the defence

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P.G. Wodehouse, Plumtopia, World of Wodehouse18 Comments

The desert island pickings of a quadragenarian

Honoria Plum

Henry glanced hastily at the mirror. Yes, he did look rather old. He must have overdone some of the lines on his forehead. He looked something between a youngish centenarian and a nonagenarian who had seen a good deal of trouble. The Man with Two Left Feet (1917) I feel much like Henry did, as I glance in the mirror to inspect the remains of my former self on the eve of what I’ll just call a ‘significant’ birthday.  But I shall resist the urge to impersonate the great Russian novelists, and reflect instead upon some of my favourite Wodehouse … Continue reading The desert island pickings of a quadragenarian

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Plumtopia, World of WodehouseLeave a comment

Watching the Birds

Honoria Plum

After my recent piece in defence of Aunt’s Aren’t Gentlemen (aka The Cat Nappers) I was compelled to read it again – and found it ripe with good stuff.   … his idea of a good time was to go off with a pair of binoculars and watch birds, a thing that never appealed to me. I can’t see any percentage in it. If I meet a bird, I wave a friendly hand at it, to let it know that I wish it well, but I don’t want to crouch behind a bush observing its habits.  Aunt’s Aren’t Gentlemen This … Continue reading Watching the Birds

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Jeeves & Wooster, Plumtopia10 Comments

P.G. Wodehouse, Movember, and the psychology of the upper lip

Honoria Plum

The Duke’s moustache was rising and falling like seaweed on an ebb-tide. Uncle Fred in the Springtime Today’s men and women are bewilderingly well informed on matters of sex, relationships and fashion. But our sources are silent on the subject of character. The very notion of character seems to have shifted from something everybody had, for better or worse, to a questionable distinction to be hushed-up wherever possible. That is until November, when faces begin to sprout the first tell-tale signs of Movember. For every upper lip concealed, Movember reveals much about modern man, testing him in ways he is … Continue reading P.G. Wodehouse, Movember, and the psychology of the upper lip

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