Bertie Wooster

Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. A British gentleman, member of the "idle rich" and the Drones Club, he appears alongside his gentleman's personal gentleman, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of his friends from numerous awkward situations. As the first-person narrator of ten novels and over 40 short stories, Bertie ranks as one of the most vivid comic creations in popular literature. Bertie's middle name "Wilberforce" is the doing of his father, who won money on a horse named Wilberforce in the Grand National the day before Bertie was born and insisted on Bertie carrying that name (mentioned in Much Obliged, Jeeves).

Family

Bertie's family relationships are a major theme in the stories and novels in which he appears, particularly the relationships with his aunts. Due to the volume of stories and time span over which they were written, there are a number of inconsistencies and contradictions in the information given about his relatives. Also, "Bertie" and several of his relations appear in the early Wodehouse story "Extricating Young Gussie," however the family name in that story is Mannering-Phipps, not Wooster, and the story has never been included in collections of Jeeves and Wooster materials, casting doubt on whether family information included in that story can be considered part of Bertie Wooster's history.

Bertie's immediate family: It is established throughout the series that Bertie is an orphan. In the story "Bertie Changes His Mind" he mentions a sister who has two daughters. None are these are named, and no other siblings are mentioned.

Bertie's aunts and uncles: Bertie's father is said to have had many siblings. In "Extricating Young Gussie" Bertie's Uncle Cuthbert is described as the "late head of the family". Bertie's Uncle George carries the title of Lord Yaxley. Other uncles who come into the stories are Henry Wooster, a "looney", whom the family find a considerable embarrassment; and Willoughby Wooster, upon whom Bertie is initially dependent for financial support, but who passes away during the course of the stories, allowing Bertie to inherit a vast fortune.

Two sisters of Bertie's father play major roles in most of the stories and novels. They are Aunt Dahlia and Aunt Agatha.

An aunt by marriage, Aunt Julia, the widow of Uncle Cuthbert, appears only in Extricating Young Gussie but is mentioned by Bertie occasionally.

Bertie has three uncles-by-marriage throughout the series; they are Tom Travers, Aunt Dahlia's husband; Spenser Gregson, Aunt Agatha's first husband; and Percy Craye, Earl of Worplesdon, her second.

Bertie's Cousins: Henry's twin sons, Claude and Eustace, play significant roles in several stories, as do Aunt Dahlia's children, Angela and Bonzo Travers, and Aunt Agatha's young son, Thomas Gregson, nicknamed "Thos". The title character of "Extricating Young Gussie" is Bertie's cousin Gussie, son of Aunt Julia and Uncle Cuthbert.

The family title: Bertie's Uncle George is Lord Yaxley, indicating that he is the eldest living uncle and that Bertie's paternal grandfather likely held the title as well. However, the relative ages of Bertie's father and remaining uncles is unclear, so it is unknown whether Bertie or one of his male cousins would be in line to inherit the title. In "Extricating Young Gussie" Uncle Cuthbert is described as the "late head of the family" however it is explicitly stated that his son Gussie "has no title."

Education

Bertie's early education took place at the semi-fictional Malvern House Preparatory School. Wodehouse himself attended a school by that name, located in Kearsney, Kent; however, the Malvern House which appears in the stories is located in the fictional town of Bramley-on-Sea.

He was further educated at the non-fictional Eton^[1] and Magdalen College, Oxford^[2].

Most of Bertie's friends and fellow Drones Club members depicted in the stories attended one or more of these institutions with him. Also, Bertie's former schoolmaster at Malvern House, Aubrey Upjohn, appears or is mentioned several times.

One detail of Bertie's school life which comes into several stories is his winning of the prize for Scripture Knowledge while at Malvern House. Bertie speaks with pride of this achievement on several occasions; however, in Right Ho, Jeeves, the character of Gussie Fink-Nottle publicly accuses Bertie of having achieved the award through cheating.

Romance

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Bertie never marries, but does become engaged in nearly every story and novel. In the early years he is rather given to sudden and short-lived infatuations, under the influence of which he proposes to Florence Craye (in Jeeves Takes Charge, the second story in terms of publication and the first in the internal timeline of the books), Pauline Stoker, and Bobbie Wickham. In all of these cases, he rethinks the charms of the holy state and a "lovely profile" upon a closer understanding of the personalities of the girls in question. However, having already received a proposal from him, each assumes in her own way that she has an open invitation to marry Bertie whenever she has a spat with her current fiancé. Madeline Bassett and Honoria Glossop are similarly deluded, though in their cases Bertie was attempting to plead the case of a friend (Gussie Fink-Nottle and Bingo Little respectively) but was misinterpreted as confessing his own love. In all of these cases, Bertie feels himself honour-bound (also known as the Code of the Woosters) to agree to the marriage. He often cites his determination to act as a preux chevalier, and observes that "one is either preux or one isn't". In the later stories and novels, Bertie regards engagement solely as a dire situation from which Jeeves must extricate him.

Aunt Agatha is of the opinion that Bertie, whom she believes to be a burden to society in his present state, must marry and carry on the Wooster name; furthermore, he must marry a girl capable of moulding his personality and compensating for his many defects. (Interestingly, though, in the short story Jeeves Takes Charge, Lady Florence Craye tells Bertie that his Aunt Agatha "called you a spineless invertebrate and advised me strongly not to marry you". Aunt Agatha later marries Florence's father Lord Worplesdon, and Florence begins to call Agatha "mother", to Bertie's bemusement, so evidently the two terrifyingly imperious females feel some sort of spiritual kinship.) This prospect mortifies Bertie, not least because it would mean he and Jeeves would have to part ways.

Jeeves

When Bertie catches his valet Meadowes stealing his silk socks, he sacks him and sends for another from the agency. Jeeves, arriving in Jeeves Takes Charge, mixes Bertie a hangover cure. This comprises an egg yolk, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon oil, a hefty portion of cognac and perhaps a final ingredient of a chili-based concoction (such as Tabasco) of his own invention. The cure is remarkably effective, and Jeeves is hired immediately. According to the text, Bertie is twenty-four when he hires Jeeves. Thereafter, Bertie cedes much of the control of his life to Jeeves, clashing occasionally on matters of dress and appearance. When Jeeves expresses disapproval of a particular article of Bertie's clothing or grooming, be it a brightly-colored cummerbund, a check suit, purple socks, white mess jacket, various hats or even a moustache, it is certain that it will be disposed of by the end of the story, sometimes after a period of coolness between the two. In one particular instance, he goes to the extent of breaking a vase he disliked which had been purchased by Bertie.

Jeeves frequently displays apparent mastery over a vast range of subjects from philosophy (his favourite philosopher is Spinoza) to an encyclopedic knowledge of poetry, science, history, psychology, geography, politics and literature. He is also a 'bit of a whiz' in all matters pertaining to gambling, car maintenance, etiquette and women. However, his most impressive feats are a flawless knowledge of the British aristocracy and making antidotes (esp. for hangovers). His mental prowess is attributed to eating fish, according to Bertie, and the latter often offers the dish to Jeeves.

Among Bertie's many reasons for not wanting to marry are his dislike of children and that all of his fiancées seem to have an aversion to Jeeves, insisting that Bertie sack him after their wedding. More importantly Jeeves is disagreeable to the prospect of his master's matrimonial alliance, as any prospective wife would likely dethrone him as the "true master" of the Wooster household. Because of this, he manages to steer Bertie out of every close relationship, sometimes against Bertie's will. Aunt Agatha also disapproves strongly of Jeeves's influence on Bertie, seeing his position as Bertie's "keeper" as further proof of self-insufficiency and unwillingness to take responsibility. Bertie's Aunt Dahlia, on the other hand, is extremely impressed by Jeeves's intelligence and is often party to his clever schemes.

Acquaintances

Bertie has several friends who keep popping into his life mostly for Jeeves' help. A list of those who play major roles are:

• Hildebrand "Tuppy" Glossop, who once challenged Bertie to swing across the pool in the Drones club and looped the rope across the last ring thereby ensuring Bertie had to jump into the pool in "correct evening costume", or tie and tails. He is the cousin of Bertie's sometime fiancée, Honoria Glossop, and is usually engaged to Bertie's cousin Angela.
• Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle, who keeps newts and has a face like a fish.
• Oofy Prosser, the Drones Club Millionaire with a pimply face. His wealth apparently exceeds Bertie's, though it can't be by much.
• Richard "Bingo" Little, who had the penchant of falling in love with every girl he met before finally marrying Rosie M. Banks.
• Rev. Harold P. "Stinker" Pinker, Curate of Totleigh-in-the-Wold. Pinker is consistently clumsy except when playing rugby as a prop forward.
• Freddie Widgeon
• Harold Winship, Stands for Parliament as the Conservative candidate in Market Snodsbury.
• Beefy Bingham, Parson in the East End
• Marmaduke "Chuffy" Chuffington, the young landowner of Chuffnell Regis, an estate he tries to sell.
• George "Sippy" Sipperly, an author who is arrested for assaulting the police on boat race night.
• Claude "Catsmeat" Potter-Pirbright, an old school friend of Bertie's.
• Charles "Biffy" Biffen
• Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps

Bertie is known for being incredibly loyal to his friends, willing to do whatever he can to solve their problems. He considers it a duty to be able to help them, saying "when it comes to helping a pal we Woosters have no thought of self." This has led to somewhat of a bad connotation in his life though, as he is regularly volunteered for troublesome tasks - he muses in Jeeves in the Offing that "whenever there is dirty work to be undertaken at the crossroads, the cry that goes around my little circle is always 'Let Wooster do it.'" However, to his credit he never shies away from these tasks or enlisting Jeeves' assistance with them.

Bertie belongs to the Drones Club, and many of these characters are fellow members and appear in the separate Wodehouse "Drones Club" series of stories. Bertie is also acquainted with Lord Emsworth, another of Wodehouse's best-known characters, and mentions having visited Blandings Castle.

Bertie also has several adversaries who are constantly suspicious of him and on occasion, threaten him. Among them are:

• G. d'Arcy "Stilton" Cheesewright - who is engaged to Florence Craye; and threatens to break Bertie's spine in three, four or five pieces when he suspects him of flirting with Florence
• Lord Sidcup (Roderick Spode) - is in love with Madeline Bassett and had been since their shared childhood. He threatens Bertie when he believes Bertie to be toying with her affections or breaking her heart.
• Orlo Porter - who is a self-described communist, is Bertie's chief nemesis in Aunts Aren't Gentlemen. Like Roderick Spode, Porter repeatedly threatens Bertie with bodily harm. Bertie says he takes Porter's threats more seriously than he did Spode's. In the end Porter inherits a considerable sum and his politics moderate.

Language

With a single exception, all the Bertie Wooster stories are told in the first person by Bertie himself. This perspective allows Wodehouse a comedic paradox: although Bertie himself is, as Jeeves puts it, "mentally negligible", his descriptive style employs a considerable facility with English.

Bertie displays a fondness for pre-war slang, peppering his speech with words and phrases such as "What ho!", "pipped", "bally", and so on. He also commonly abbreviates words and phrases, such as "eggs and b." As the years pass, popular references from film and literature would also feature in his narratives.

Depictions outside the Wodehouse stories

In the Granada Television series "Jeeves and Wooster", Bertie is depicted as being a very capable pianist and singer. He often plays and sings show tunes and popular songs of the 1920s and 1930s, including the songs "Nagasaki", "Puttin' on the Ritz", "Minnie the Moocher", and "You Do Something to Me".

In the fictional biography Jeeves: A Gentleman's Personal Gentleman by Northcote Parkinson, Bertie comes into the title of Lord Yaxley upon the death of his uncle George Wooster, marries Bobbie Wickham and makes Jeeves the landlord of the Angler's Rest pub, which is on the Yaxley estate. Jeeves then supplants Mr Mulliner as the resident expert and storyteller of the pub.

In Alan Moore's graphic novel The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, Bertie appears in the segment "What Ho, Gods of the Abyss?" which comically mixes elements of Wodehouse with H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Bertie blithely recounts the arrival of a Mi-go to Brinkley Court and Aunt Dahlia's possession by Cthulhu. The Lovecraftian menaces are driven off by Jeeves with the assistance of Mina Murray, Allan Quatermain, Carnacki, and Orlando. Throughout the events, Bertie remains unaware of the true nature of the goings-on.

Controversy

Bertie's foppish foolishness was not popular with everyone. Papers released by the Public Record Office have disclosed that when Wodehouse was recommended for a Companion of Honour in 1967, Sir Patrick Dean, British ambassador in Washington, argued that it "would also give currency to a Bertie Wooster image of the British character, which we are doing our best to eradicate".

Actors

Film and TV actors

• David Niven was the only actor to play Bertie in a theatrical film, in Thank You, Jeeves! (1935). But this film bore almost no resemblance to Wodehouse's fiction, and portrayed Bertie as a woman chaser, the opposite of the usual situation in the stories.
• Ian Carmichael played the part of Bertie (opposite Dennis Price as Jeeves) in the earlier BBC World of Wooster (1965–1967).
• Hugh Laurie portrayed Bertie in the early-1990s ITV series Jeeves and Wooster opposite his long-time comedy partner, Stephen Fry, as Jeeves. (Laurie also portrayed in Blackadder the Third, the Prince Regent, whose butler Mr. E. Blackadder, like Wooster's valet Meadowes, stole his socks.)

Radio actors

• Terry-Thomas played Bertie in a dramatisation of "Jeeves Takes Charge" released as a record album in the 1960s.
• Richard Briers portrayed Bertie in BBC Radio 4 series What Ho, Jeeves! opposite Michael Hordern as Jeeves. The series ran occasionally from 1973 to 1981.
• Simon Cadell played Bertie opposite David Suchet as Jeeves in a BBC radio adaptation of The Code of the Woosters.
• Marcus Brigstocke played Bertie in a Radio 4 adaptation of The Code of the Woosters in 2006, with Andrew Sachs as Jeeves.

Audiobook actors

Audiobooks of many of the Jeeves stories and novels have been recorded by British actors, including Simon Callow, Jonathan Cecil, Martin Jarvis, Frederick Davidson, and Alexander Spencer.

See also

• Other characters in the Jeeves stories
• By Jeeves, originally Jeeves, a musical since 1975

References

External links

• BBC's World of Wooster (March 2007 Archive.org cache) at the BBC Comedy Guide (down as of October 2007^[update])
• ITV's Jeeves and Wooster (March 2007 Archive.org cache) at the BBC Comedy Guide (down as of October 2007^[update])