Jeeves & Wooster: An Overview by Sine
'It is pretty generally recognised in the circles in which he moves that Bertram Wooster is not a man who lightly throws in the towel and admits defeat. Beneath the thingummies of what-d'you-call-it, his head, wind and weather permitting, is as a rule bloody but unbowed, and if the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune want to crush his proud spirit, they have to pull their socks up and make a special effort.'
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'Yes, sir,' said Jeeves in a low, cold voice, as if he had been bitten in the leg by a personal friend.
Introduction
PG Wodehouse: the exceedingly brief bio
The Characters
Our Heroes// Family and Friends// Objects of (Dis)Affection
The Stories
The Slash
Jeeves & Wooster on the small screen
The Granada TV adaptation// Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry on Bertie and Jeeves
The Fandom
Fic & Art// Livejournal Communities// The Big Grown-Up 'Official' Sites// Fan Sites// The Canon Online
Thanks to...
Introduction
The appeal of Jeeves & Wooster is eternal. Set in the upper-class environs of 1920s London, the stories offer an irresistibly witty look at life through the eyes of one Bertram Wilberforce Wooster, Esq. The audience is immense - there are fanclubs and fans across the world, who affectionately refer to the author PG Wodehouse (pronounced 'Wood-house') by his nickname, Plum; there's been adaptations for screen and stage; the books have never been out of print. 'Jeeves' is the archetypal name for a 'gentleman's gentleman' or valet, and has been used as a brand image for (among other things) the search engine Ask Jeeves.
And it never hurts to have these people in your fanbase...
"Wodehouse is the greatest comic writer ever" - Douglas Adams
"The finest and funniest writer the past century ever knew" - Stephen Fry
"Sublime comic genius" - Ben Elton
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PG Wodehouse: the exceedingly brief bio
'Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (1881-1975) was an English humorist who wrote novels, short stories, plays, lyrics, and essays, all with the same light touch of gentle satire. He is best known as the creator of the irredeemably dim and unflaggingly affable Bertie Wooster and his invincible valet Jeeves, but Wodehouse also produced multi-volume story cycles on Blandings Castle, Mr. Mulliner's extended family, Mike and Psmith, the Oldest Member, Uncle Fred, and the Drones Club. (All this is in addition to his many stand-alone novels, short stories, and plays.)
Throughout his stories, Wodehouse presents a view of the world which differs from -- his fans would say, improves upon -- the focus most people have...'
(from The P. G. Wodehouse Appreciation Page)
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The Characters
Our Heroes
Bertie Wooster. Man-about-town and member of The Drones Club, which is typically populated by the younger sons of wealthy upper-class families. Not the sharpest tools in the box, the Drones' idea of a good night out is chucking bread rolls across the Club's not-very-hallowed interior, then egging each other on to feats such as nicking policemen's helmets and swimming in public fountains, unhampered by copious amounts of cocktails and foie de gras. Bertie is an amiable, agreeable chap who joins in these japes, but likes the quiet life: 'You can't make it too placid for me. Give me regular meals, a good show with decent music every now and then, and one or two pals to totter round with, and I ask no more.'
'The man who entered - or perhaps one should say shimmered into - the room was tall and dark and impressive. His eyes gleamed with the light of intelligence, and his finely chiselled face expressed a feudal desire to be of service.' (Ring For Jeeves)
Reginald Jeeves, Bertie's personal gentleman's gentleman, is ostensibly responsible only for the management of the household, valeting Bertie's wardrobe, answering the door and announcing visitors, and by and large making Bertie's day go more smoothly. In reality, Jeeves orders Bertie's life for him. Advisor, rescuer, go-between, diplomat, his influence extends far and wide, and Bertie relies on him implicitly. In fact, even Bertie notices that 'there is something dashed insidious about Jeeves' - he always seems to come out on top in their frequent disagreements about Bertie's choice of garish ties or purple socks, and any time Bertie disregards Jeeves' advice, disaster does have a habit of looming... But he makes such a good cup of tea, or whisky-and-soda, or hangover remedy, and manages so adroitly to fish Bertie out of the trouble that he might have, equally adroitly, allowed him to walk into in the first place, that the inevitable softening takes place:
'[...] every dashed thing so bally right, if you see what I mean... And then through the doorway there shimmered good old Jeeves, and there was something about the mere look of the man -' (The Inimitable Jeeves)
Bertie is our narrator; his unique way of expressing himself and fondness for misremembered quotes from literature give a hilarious perspective on the world, and on the events of his frequently hectic existence. The plots often revolve around one or other of Bertie's pals being unsuccessful in the pursuit of the girl of their dreams - Bertie is then called on to lend a hand. This translates as summoning Jeeves to offer his sound advice, based as it is on 'the psychology of the individual'. Love would be then assured if it weren't for such hindrances as jealous rivals, aunts on the warpath, and quite probably a scandalous interlude involving a treasured item purloined from a ferocious old collector, and the blame of it all promptly falling on Bertie... To summarise any one novel would involve many tortured sentences to elaborate the convoluted, yet convincing plots and sub-plots, but American millionaires, enraged swans, eligible Hollywood film-starlets and a bathful of newts are some of the ingredients Wodehouse uses to delicious effect.
Family and Friends
'Aunt Dahlia is a large, genial soul, with whom it is a pleasure to hob-nob. In her spiritual make-up there is none of that subtle gosh-awfulness which renders such an exhibit as, say, my Aunt Agatha the curse of the Home Counties and a menace to one and all.' (Right-Ho, Jeeves)
'My Aunt Agatha, the one who chews broken bottles and kills rats with her teeth...'
The two aunts alternately fill Bertie's life to the brim with the milk of human kindness, or with the wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Bertie has many friends from his Oxford days or from the Drones Club; rejoicing in such names as Barmy Fotheringay Phips, Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright, Boko Fittleworth and Stiffy Byng, they're an assorted bunch, some scroungers with rich uncles, some with actual careers like actress, curate, or writer of hearty manful poetry. They can always be relied on to furnish a problem for Bertie to worsen, and for Jeeves to solve.
Objects of (Dis)Affection
A central key to Bertie's existence is his propensity to become engaged by accident.
'I once consulted a knowledgeable pal,' I said, 'and his theory was that the sight of me hanging about like a loony sheep awoke the maternal instinct in Woman. There may be something in this.' (Thank You, Jeeves)
He's fancied himself in love a few times, but it never lasted more than a couple of weeks at the outside, and he's never felt a desire to follow it through to marriage. The major players for Bertie's much-pursued heart:
'Honoria Glossop was hearty, yes. Her laugh was like a steam-riveting machine, and from a child she had been a confirmed back-slapper.'
'Madeleine Bassett was soppy, true. She had large, melting eyes and thought the stars were God's daisy chain.'
'[...] but to do this revolting duo justice neither had tried to mould me, and that was what Florence Craye had done from the start. The root of the trouble was that she was one of those intellectual girls, steeped to the gills in serious purpose, who are unable to see a male soul without wanting to get behind it and shove.' (Joy In The Morning)
Sir Roderick Glossop and Sir Watkyn Bassett, the respective fathers of Honoria and Madeleine, are two of that type of elderly men who despise those of Bertie's stamp as wastrels and a symptom of All That's Wrong With Society Today. It doesn't really help Bertie's cause that Sir Roderick, a nerve specialist who bungs people's mad uncles into lunatic asylums, thinks that Bertie is mentally unstable ever since he found 3 cats and a dismembered fish in Bertie's bedroom (The Inimitable Jeeves); and that all the circumstantial evidence points to Bertie having pinched a valuable silver cow-creamer jug from Sir Watkyn's collection... (The Code of the Woosters)
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The Stories
The stories and novels, listed.
11 novels and 34 short stories make up the Jeeves & Wooster canon. Carry On, Jeeves is the collection of short stories that contains both the account of Jeeves' arrival ('Jeeves Takes Charge') and the one and only story written from Jeeves' point of view ('Bertie Changes His Mind'). It's a good place to start. My personal recommendations for other classics would be:
Thank You, Jeeves
The Code of the Woosters
The Inimitable Jeeves
Right Ho, Jeeves
The Mating Season
Very Good, Jeeves!
Joy in the Morning
However, it's very hard to say one novel isn't as good as another, because they all work well, and everyone has their favourites.
The books have been published in many different combinations, but they're essentially the same except for the covers. (When we start getting to comparison charts - click the 3 links at the bottom - that's when I give up.)
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The Slash
The Masterpiece Theatre's coffee-table book puts it like this:
'Literature is full of blissfully contented male couples, joined together in companionship that no woman can put asunder. Sherlock had Watson, Hawkeye had Chingachgook, Don Quixote had Sancho, and Robinson Crusoe was the first person in history to say "Thank God It's Friday."
But only in England could we find such a satisfactory male duo as Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, the give-and-take pair who share the same quarters and care for each other...'
The Jeeves & Wooster canon operates on that wonderful dynamic: the man in power, powerless, the suborned man, powerful. That's the joke, but of course it's the slash as well. Why has Jeeves stayed so long with such a master, who isn't a very bright spark and was in fact described once by Jeeves to a third party as 'mentally negligible'? Some see the relationship as almost familial - Bertie is the son Jeeves never had. Others hold the more cynical view that Jeeves knows when he's onto a good thing - he's got the upper hand in the household, and can do pretty much as he pleases. Not bad for a servant's life of the period.
But as all slashers know, there's always the other explanation. There's a definite affection between the two, and fans have been quick to seize on the dejection Bertie displays in the many times when he and Jeeves have had a falling out. For ex., when they part company over Bertie's new-found hobby of playing the banjolele loudly and inaccurately (Thank You, Jeeves), Bertie is heartbroken and mopes around for the entire book. (And I'm quoting a mere fraction of the possible examples!)
'This parting of the ways with Jeeves had made me feel a bit as if I had just stepped on a bomb and was trying to piece myself together again in a bleak world, but we Woosters can keep the stiff upper lip.'
I could not restrain a wistful sigh.
'Jeeves is a wonder.'
'A marvel.'
'What a brain!'
'Size nine-and-a-quarter, I should say.'
'He eats a lot of fish. What a pity he has no ear for music,' I said moodily. Then I stifled regret and tried not to think of my bereavement but of Chuffy's bit of luck.'
When they get back together Jeeves re-enters his employment:
'You really want to come back with me?'
'I should esteem it a great privilege, sir, if you would allow me to do so, sir, unless you are thinking of making other plans.'
It is not easy to find words in these supreme moments, if you know what I mean. What I mean is, you get a moment like this - supreme, as you might say - with the clouds all cleared away and the good old sun buzzing along on all six cylinders - and you feel...well, I mean, dash it!
The impression is given of genuine devotion on either side, from Jeeves' indulgent smile and kindness to Bertie, to Bertie's oft-expressed admiration of Jeeves' intelligence, forcefulness and persuasiveness, and of course, those 'finely-chiselled features' described at least once each book. Their relationship is one of intimates; they can communicate with a mere mutual glance, or in other words, 'I could see by the look of his back what he felt.'
At various times, Bertie strikes out on his own with plans and schemes to impress or to score one off on Jeeves ('The drawback to this otherwise singularly fruity binge was, of course, the fact that Jeeves wouldn't be on the spot to watch me in action.'). However, these ambitions to show Jeeves that the Pride of the Woosters is not to be trifled with don't last very long; living in a state of discord with him is very upsetting to Bertie, who freely admits, 'I couldn't carry on for a day without Jeeves'. It's all in the eye of the beholder, of course, but he does seem a little too obsessed with gaining the approval of someone who is only his valet, the best in London though he may be...
The sceptic may raise the possibility of Jeeves being involved with a woman, even if it's not Bertie's idea of fun. I can but quote the following, about the one and only time Jeeves has been engaged:
'I am on terms of some intimacy with the elder Mr Little's cook, sir. In fact, there is an understanding.'
I'm bound to say that this gave me a bit of a start. Somehow I'd never thought of Jeeves going in for that sort of thing.
'Do you mean you're engaged?'
'It may be said to amount to that, sir.'
'Well, well!'
'She is a remarkably excellent cook, sir,' said Jeeves, as though he felt called on to give some explanation.
Later, all becomes clear:
'Jeeves, I'm sorry to say that fiancée of yours - Miss Watson, you know - the cook, you know - well, the long and short of it is that she's handed you the mitten and gone and got engaged to old Mr Little!'
'Indeed, sir?'
'You don't seem much upset.'
'The fact is, sir, I had anticipated some such outcome.'
I stared at him. 'Then what on earth did you suggest the scheme for?'
'To tell you the truth, sir, I was not wholly adverse from a severance of my relations with Miss Watson. In fact, I greatly desired it. I respect Miss Watson exceedingly, but I have seen for a long time that we were not suited.' (The Inimitable Jeeves)
'Not suited' is the general euphemism also used for the breaking-off of Bertie's engagements. In other words, the canonically-termed 'conformed bachelor' Bertie gets entangled time and again with unsuitable awful girls, and Jeeves steps in to rescue him in the nick of time from that terrible fate - heterosexual marriage. *snicker*
Add the facts that Jeeves belongs to a club for manservants called The Junior Ganymede - Ganymede being the young male lover of Zeus in Greek mythology - and that his favourite phrase is 'I endeavour to give satisfaction, sir', and the thing's practically in the bag. :D
See that 'how YOU doin'?' smirk on Jeeves' face, and the probable obliviousness on Bertie's? Therein lies the fandom. All Bertie needs to do is put one and one together, and realise that Jeeves is The Real Thing... The feeling among slashers seems to be that Jeeves recognises his feelings for Bertie, and is waiting for Bertie to see it for himself, since it's too risky to speak out - or vice-versa, with Bertie struggling to hide his emotions. After all, they operate by a gentleman's code. Bertie has the Code of the Woosters, and Jeeves has his pride in serving and being absolutely discreet and knowing what to do in every contingency. The key to Jeeves/Bertie is the understated nature of their interaction; intimate feelings are not displayed easily in these days of the British stiff upper lip. (If you know Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey and Bunter, his valet, Jeeves/Wooster is the relationship that Wimsey and Bunter don't explore for themselves long-term.) The illegality assigned to homosexual liaisons at the time is also a factor calling for discretion - and even a hint of angst, if such a thing is permitted in Wodehouse fic. However, fic springing from such an essentially light-hearted and upbeat canon means that things usually work themselves out to a satisfactory end.
There are other pairings floating around - Bertie/one of his pals (Bingo Little, for ex.), and Jeeves has been paired with a number of OMCs, but this tends to act either as a preliminary (it establishes the fact of same-sex attraction) or as a catalyst (jealousy is aroused by a rival) to the Main Event of Jeeves and Bertie realising that they're made for each other. Taking into account the canonical dismay towards the fairer sex, who seem to be schemers to a woman, het fic doesn't make much of a showing. When a woman does show attraction to Bertie in fic, this is used to send him careening back into the arms of Jeeves - which, one could argue, is exactly what happens in canon.
Put simply: so a couple (pic 553x800 - 76 K).
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Jeeves & Wooster on the small screen: The Granada TV adaptation
Widely acclaimed as the definitive portrayal, 'The World of Jeeves and Wooster' ran for 4 seasons and starred Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry as the eponymous duo, who were seemingly born for the parts they played - Hugh as Bertie, Stephen as Jeeves. When one adds that Stephen and Hugh have their own RPS slash fandom, due to - er - their extraordinarily close friendship *cough*, that Stephen is gay, and... ok, there's just no subtle way to put this, is there? Quick quotes to convince:
Stephen: "I think Hugh and I, just from the moment we met, something clicked, and...there are different cliches for it - chemistry, alchemy and various other versions of that, but it was just simply that we thought the same way."
Reporter: "You didn't look at each other and just -"
Hugh: "Fell in love, yes."
So, the fact that they played Jeeves and Wooster does no harm to the slash, let's put it like that. The series' production and music were spot-on, and the scripts reflected canon to a remarkable degree.
Summaries of the TV episodes' plotlines.
The TV adaptation title music, an example of the 'swing' music of the time (MP3, RealAudio and Midi 1/2 formats).
Or, if you'd prefer, the entire title sequence with music (DivX).
(Unashamed plug: fryandorlaurie takes the slashy vibes radiating off Stephen and Hugh, and...does things with them. Good things.)
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Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry on Bertie and Jeeves
Hugh: Bertie is such a good soul. His whole aim in life is to help his idiot friends out of trouble, and he really has no thought of self. You can imagine that he'd be very good company. His use of language is so fabulous that just asking you if you'd like a cup of tea would become an event.
Stephen: Servants never knock on doors, they just go straight in, and they should never register emotion. So if you were to walk into a room and there were three people naked throwing doughnuts at each other, you would merely say dinner is served.
[...] I'm certainly not adroit, efficient, neat, quiet on my feet and respectful like Jeeves. On the other hand, I do tend to remember quotations and regurgitate facts like him. I attempt the sunniness of disposition of Bertie Wooster, but can't achieve the same altruism and sweetness of nature. A mongrel hybrid of both, I suppose. A sort of Jooster. Why take two Wodehouse characters into the shower, when you can simply Jooster And Go?
(Stephen using the fandom slashy term of Jooster just fills me with inexpressible glee.)
Stephen: There is this extraordinary good will that exists between Jeeves and Wooster, though people do tend to think of Jeeves as being incredibly snooty and haughty, which he isn't, and of Bertie Wooster as some kind of yammering ass, which he isn't. He's very intelligent. After all, Bertie wrote these books. The extraordinary language in them is Bertie's language.
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The Fandom
Fic & Art
The fandom, though a respectable size, doesn't produce as much fic as you might expect, though what's there is usually good. It may be down to the Wodehousian style being very individual, and thus harder to pull off. On the other hand, having a distinct peg on which to lay your hat, so to speak, can be helpful; if you get into this fandom, I urge you to do the public a service and write a fic or two. It's not all relationship-based or slashy; gen fic, if Wodehousian, is delicious because of the sheer exuberance of the original text.
What's interesting is that explicit smut is somewhat rare. There's a sort of innocence about Bertie, and of course, with his voice narrating, it's hard to get beyond that generalised 'and then I went into his arms' point. But it has been done, and done well; the problem has also been surmounted by narrating in Jeeves' voice.
Art is none too plentiful either, but the memory posts at indeedsir are a great place to start.
Livejournal Communities
indeedsir (nearly 400 members, slash-friendly)
indeedsir_posts (houses indeedsir's memories, sorting posts into categories such as fic and discussions)
wodehouse
The Big Grown-Up 'Official' Sites
Like the Sherlock Holmes fandom, Jeeves & Wooster fans around the world can join an official society. The International Wodehouse Association links the many societies around the world: a couple which have good sites are The PG Wodehouse Society (UK) and The Wodehouse Society (TWS), which runs a convention every 2 years and has chapters all over the US and Canada.
Fan Sites
Jeeves & Wooster fics at Slash Cotillion: The Historical Slash Archive.
alt.fan.wodehouse is The Wodehouse Society's newsgroup.
The Hat-Sharpening Shop: elegant site dedicated to the stories, TV adaptations and period music. Includes an article by Hugh Laurie, Wodehouse Saved My Life.
Stephen Fry's companion article on Wodehouse.
The Junior Ganymede Club Book site's list of In-depth questions tackles such beauties as 'Why are Drones referred to as "eggs", "beans", and "crumpets"?', 'What's all this about cow-creamers?' and 'What does the phrase "...with knobs on" mean?'
Wiki on Wodehouse - contains bucketfuls of spoilers.
The Canon Online
Project Gutenberg's Wodehouse collection.
The Amazon site of your choice has a huge range, of course; try your favourite large bookstore/site and I can bet they'll have it or will get it.
The DVD boxset, containing all four series in superbly stylish art deco packaging, are on Amazon/eBay, etc. It's worth shopping around, because the US Region 1 'Megaset' is available a lot cheaper on Amazon.co.uk rather than Amazon.com. The series are also available individually on DVD and video. If you have the technical know-how to download episodes from the Net, you can get all four series from #digitaldistractions as bittorrents to be used with eDonkey, Azareus or the like.
The wealth of material out there on Wodehouse is astounding (behold! marvel!). If you know of any top-notch sites, or you have a rec page I missed, please link to it in the comments.
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Thanks to...
laughingacademy, whose Sherlock Holmes overview was so wonderfully done, I promptly nicked it got inspired.
goat_song and lets_get_small who saved the bacon with much-needed pics.
venivincere, who allowed me to use her as a guinea-pig for this overview, to steal certain well-put phrases from our chat session about the delights of J/W, and to rant on about Bertie and Jeeves' general excellence to her ever-patient ear. Most of all, for bringing up that comparison between Wimsey/Bunter and Jeeves/Wooster.
Thanks for reading. I hope my recs over the next month will entice you into the wonderful world of Jeeves & Wooster. Toodle-pip!