Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

First published: 1945; revised, 1959

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Social realism

Time of plot: Twentieth century

Locale: England

Principal Characters

• Charles Ryder, an architectural painter and the narrator
• Lord Marchmain, the owner of Brideshead
• Lady Marchmain, his wife
• Brideshead (Bridey), ,
• Sebastian, ,
• Julia, and
• Cordelia, their children
• Celia, Charles Ryder’s wife
• Anthony Blanche and Boy Mulcaster, Oxford friends of Charles and Sebastian
• Rex Mottram, Julia’s husband
• Cara, Lord Marchmain’s mistress

The Story

Captain Charles Ryder of the British Army and his company move to a new billet in the neighborhood of Brideshead, an old estate he often visited during his student days at Oxford. Brideshead is the home of the Marchmains, an old Catholic family. Following World War I, the Marquis of Marchmain went to live in Italy. There he met Cara, who became his mistress for life. Lady Marchmain, an ardent Catholic, and her four children, Brideshead, Sebastian, Julia, and Cordelia, remained in England. They lived either at Brideshead or at Marchmain House in London.

When Charles Ryder met Sebastian at Oxford, they soon became close friends. Among Sebastian’s circle of friends were Boy Mulcaster and Anthony Blanche. With Charles’s entrance into that group, his tastes became more expensive, and he ended his year with an overdrawn account of £ 550.

Just after returning home from school for vacation, Charles received a telegram announcing that Sebastian was injured. He rushed off to Brideshead, where he found Sebastian with a cracked bone in his ankle. While at Brideshead, Charles met some of Sebastian’s family. Julia met him at the station and later Bridey, the eldest of the Marchmains, and Cordelia, the youngest, arrived. After a month, his ankle healed, Sebastian took Charles to Venice. There they spent the rest of their vacation with Lord Marchmain and Cara.

Early in the following school year, Charles met Lady Marchmain when she visited Sebastian at Oxford. Her famous charm immediately won Charles, and he promised to spend his Christmas vacation at Brideshead. During the first term, Sebastian, Charles, and Boy Mulcaster were invited to a London charity ball by Rex Mottram, a friend of Julia. Bored, they left early and were later arrested for drunkenness and disorderly conduct. Rex obtained their release.

As a consequence of the escapade, Charles, Sebastian, and Boy were sent back to Oxford, and Mr. Samgrass, who was doing some literary work for Lady Marchmain, kept close watch on them for the rest of the term. Christmas at Brideshead was spoiled for almost everyone by the presence of Samgrass. Back at Oxford, Charles began to realize that Sebastian drank to escape his family. During the Easter vacation at Brideshead, Sebastian became quite drunk. Later, when Lady Marchmain went to Oxford to see Sebastian, he again became hopelessly drunk. Shortly afterward, he left Oxford. After a visit with his father in Venice, he was induced to travel in Europe under the guidance of Samgrass.

The next Christmas, Charles was invited to Brideshead to see Sebastian, who returned from his tour. Sebastian told Charles that during their travels Samgrass had completely controlled their expense money so as to prevent Sebastian from using any for drink. Before coming down to Brideshead, however, Sebastian managed to circumvent Samgrass and get liquor by pawning his valuables and by borrowing. He had enjoyed what he called a happy Christmas; he remembered practically nothing of it. Lady Marchmain tried to stop his drinking by locking up all the liquor, but her efforts proved useless. Instead of going on a scheduled hunt, Sebastian borrowed two pounds from Charles and got drunk. Charles left Brideshead in disgrace and went to Paris. Samgrass also was dismissed when the whole story of the tour came out. Rex was given permission to take Sebastian to a doctor in Zurich, but Sebastian slipped away from him in Paris.

Rex, a wealthy man with a big name in political and financial circles, wanted Julia not only for herself but also for the prestige and social position of the Marchmains. Julia became engaged to him despite her mother’s protests but agreed to keep the engagement secret for a year. Lord Marchmain gave his complete approval. Rex, wanting a large church wedding, agreed to become a Catholic. Shortly before the wedding, however, Bridey informed Julia that Rex was married once before and was divorced for six years. They were married in a Protestant ceremony.

When Charles returned to England several years later, Julia told him that Lady Marchmain was dying. At her request, Charles traveled to Fez to find Sebastian. When he arrived, Kurt, Sebastian’s roommate, told him that Sebastian was in a hospital. Charles stayed in Fez until Sebastian recovered. Meanwhile, word arrived that Lady Marchmain had died. Charles returned to London. There, Bridey gave Charles his first commission: to paint the Marchmain town house before it was torn down.

Charles spent the next ten years developing his art. He married Celia, Boy Mulcaster’s sister, and they had two children, Johnjohn and Caroline, the daughter born while Charles was exploring Central American ruins. After two years of trekking about in the jungles, he went to New York, where his wife met him. On their way back to London, they met Julia, and she and Charles fell in love. In London and at Brideshead, they continued the affair they began on the ship.

Two years later, Bridey announced that he planned to marry Beryl Muspratt, a widow with three children. When Julia suggested inviting Beryl down to meet the family, Bridey informed her that Beryl would not come because Charles and Julia were living there in sin. Julia became hysterical. She told Charles that she wanted to marry him, and they both made arrangements to obtain divorces.

Cordelia, who was working with an ambulance corps in Spain, returned at the end of the fighting there and told them of her visit with Sebastian. Kurt was seized by the Germans and taken back to Germany, where Sebastian followed him. After Kurt hanged himself in a concentration camp, Sebastian returned to Morocco and gradually drifted along the coast until he arrived at Carthage. He tried to enter a monastery there but was refused. Following one of his drinking bouts, the monks found him lying unconscious outside the gate and took him in. He planned to stay there as an underporter for the rest of his life.

While Bridey was making arrangements to settle at Brideshead after his marriage, Lord Marchmain announced that he was returning to the estate to spend his remaining days. He did not arrive until after he had seen Bridey and Beryl honeymooning in Rome. Having taken a dislike to Beryl, Lord Marchmain decided that he would leave Brideshead to Julia and Charles. Before long, Lord Marchmain’s health began to fail. His children and Cara, thinking that he should be taken back into the Catholic Church, brought Father Mackay to visit him, but he would not see the priest. When he was dying, however, and Julia again brought Father Mackay to his bedside, Lord Marchmain made the sign of the cross. That day Julia told Charles what he had known all along—that she could not marry him because to do so would be living in sin and without God.

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