Earliest Wodehouse satires discovered
From The Guardian:
"Writings from 100 years ago emerge to cast new light on the author's politics
The discovery of four satirical "playlets" by PG Wodehouse, seen by the public for the first time in 100 years this weekend, prove that the humorist - who is often viewed as apolitical - had a strong interest in public affairs from his youth."
Wodehouse is best known as the creator of the all-knowing Jeeves and his egregious boss, Bertie Wooster. However, the four sketches, written between 1904 and 1907 - and complete with lampooning songs - show he was closely engaged with British politics and happy to function somewhat as the Have I Got News For You of his day.
In a meeting room at Calders bookshop on London's South Bank yesterday, Wodehouse fans from across Europe met to read the playlets for the first time with the man who found them, literary historian Paul Spiring.
Wodehouse, or "Plum" as he was known to friends, used the sketches to parody the debate of the time about tariff reform and proposed changes to tax law that split the Conservative government, and led to a Liberal landslide in 1906.
He wrote the sketches with his friend Bertram Fletcher Robinson, known as "Bobbles", and they were published in the Daily Express and Vanity Fair before disappearing into publisher archives. Hilary Bruce, chairman of the Wodehouse Society, is among those keen to see the works. "Lovers of literature, be they scholars or simply voracious readers, are always delighted when early or little known works are collected and republished," she said.
"Scholars welcome comparison between early and later works. Wodehouse was just 22 when the first of these satires was published, and that makes them interesting to us now."
In later life the author faced angry public accusations, including from writer AA Milne, that he had sympathised with the Nazi regime in Germany.
During a period of internment in what is now Poland, Wodehouse made a series of light-hearted broadcasts that were viewed by critics as treason. His supporters, including George Orwell, defended Wodehouse by saying he was naive and not interested in politics. It is now clear this was not the case. "People who enjoy Wodehouse like to think he was apolitical, but actually as a young man he was highly attuned to the political nuances of the day," said Robert McCrum, author of the biography, Wodehouse: A Life
"He was conservative with a small 'c' - a supporter of Joseph Chamberlain and tariff reform. But he had started out as a journalist and was alert to controversy, and could always write to commission."
While Wodehouse was politically aware, McCrum suggests that the writer would have been happy to deliver pieces to suit the political position of the owners of the Daily Express.
"He would turn his hand to anything that paid, and do it well. He was ambidextrous when it came to writing, and not snooty. But more than anything at that time, he liked writing funny poems and lyrics."
Wodehouse's father was in the civil service in India, but not wealthy enough to send his son to Oxford. As a result, the young Wodehouse worked in a bank after leaving school. He hated the work, and took up writing in his spare time, hoping to establish a career that would free him from a life in finance.
As one of the first modern "freelance" writers, Wodehouse went on to satirise politicians in the character of Roderick Spode, 7th Earl of Sidcup and leader of the "Black Shorts", who appears in several Jeeves stories.
The new playlets were discovered, one by one, during four years of research by Spiring, who is also an expert on the work of Arthur Conan Doyle. He came across the first Wodehouse sketch almost by chance. "They all followed from a successful set of poems he had written known as the Parrot Poems," he said.
"They are quite powerful and show that he was very much a supporter of the Tariff Reform League and pro-Chamberlain. His writing has often given people the impression that he was above politics. But the songs show that he was quite astute.""
Although these may stir up the Poland broadcasts debate once again, I'm very interested to see these. I do hope they're published or even made available online for all to see.
"Writings from 100 years ago emerge to cast new light on the author's politics
The discovery of four satirical "playlets" by PG Wodehouse, seen by the public for the first time in 100 years this weekend, prove that the humorist - who is often viewed as apolitical - had a strong interest in public affairs from his youth."
Wodehouse is best known as the creator of the all-knowing Jeeves and his egregious boss, Bertie Wooster. However, the four sketches, written between 1904 and 1907 - and complete with lampooning songs - show he was closely engaged with British politics and happy to function somewhat as the Have I Got News For You of his day.
In a meeting room at Calders bookshop on London's South Bank yesterday, Wodehouse fans from across Europe met to read the playlets for the first time with the man who found them, literary historian Paul Spiring.
Wodehouse, or "Plum" as he was known to friends, used the sketches to parody the debate of the time about tariff reform and proposed changes to tax law that split the Conservative government, and led to a Liberal landslide in 1906.
He wrote the sketches with his friend Bertram Fletcher Robinson, known as "Bobbles", and they were published in the Daily Express and Vanity Fair before disappearing into publisher archives. Hilary Bruce, chairman of the Wodehouse Society, is among those keen to see the works. "Lovers of literature, be they scholars or simply voracious readers, are always delighted when early or little known works are collected and republished," she said.
"Scholars welcome comparison between early and later works. Wodehouse was just 22 when the first of these satires was published, and that makes them interesting to us now."
In later life the author faced angry public accusations, including from writer AA Milne, that he had sympathised with the Nazi regime in Germany.
During a period of internment in what is now Poland, Wodehouse made a series of light-hearted broadcasts that were viewed by critics as treason. His supporters, including George Orwell, defended Wodehouse by saying he was naive and not interested in politics. It is now clear this was not the case. "People who enjoy Wodehouse like to think he was apolitical, but actually as a young man he was highly attuned to the political nuances of the day," said Robert McCrum, author of the biography, Wodehouse: A Life
"He was conservative with a small 'c' - a supporter of Joseph Chamberlain and tariff reform. But he had started out as a journalist and was alert to controversy, and could always write to commission."
While Wodehouse was politically aware, McCrum suggests that the writer would have been happy to deliver pieces to suit the political position of the owners of the Daily Express.
"He would turn his hand to anything that paid, and do it well. He was ambidextrous when it came to writing, and not snooty. But more than anything at that time, he liked writing funny poems and lyrics."
Wodehouse's father was in the civil service in India, but not wealthy enough to send his son to Oxford. As a result, the young Wodehouse worked in a bank after leaving school. He hated the work, and took up writing in his spare time, hoping to establish a career that would free him from a life in finance.
As one of the first modern "freelance" writers, Wodehouse went on to satirise politicians in the character of Roderick Spode, 7th Earl of Sidcup and leader of the "Black Shorts", who appears in several Jeeves stories.
The new playlets were discovered, one by one, during four years of research by Spiring, who is also an expert on the work of Arthur Conan Doyle. He came across the first Wodehouse sketch almost by chance. "They all followed from a successful set of poems he had written known as the Parrot Poems," he said.
"They are quite powerful and show that he was very much a supporter of the Tariff Reform League and pro-Chamberlain. His writing has often given people the impression that he was above politics. But the songs show that he was quite astute.""
Although these may stir up the Poland broadcasts debate once again, I'm very interested to see these. I do hope they're published or even made available online for all to see.