閱讀P·G·伍德豪斯 P. G. Wodehouse在小说之家的作品!!! | |||
作為公認的英文散文大傢，伍德豪斯受到很多與他同時代的和後來的現代作傢的欽佩，前者如海萊爾·貝洛剋 、伊夫林·沃 ，以及吉卜林，後者如道格拉斯·亞當斯 ，薩爾曼·魯西迪 以及特裏·普拉切特 。肖恩·奧凱西 形象地稱伍德豪斯是“英國文學表演的跳蚤市場”（English literature's performing flea），伍德豪斯在寫給朋友Bill Townend的一係列信中，以此作為標題。
除了最負盛名的《Jeeves》係列和《布蘭丁斯城堡》係列小說及短篇小說外，伍德豪斯當過編劇，參與創作了15部劇本，還給三十幾個歌舞喜劇片寫過250首歌詞。比如1934年，他與科爾·波特合作過歌舞劇《雙圓爭輝》 。作麯傢傑羅姆·剋恩 、蓋伊·博爾頓也常與他合作，例如他給傑羅姆·剋恩的《畫航璇宮》 （1927）中的熱門歌麯《Bill》寫了歌詞，給格什溫 與竜伯格 的歌舞劇《羅莎莉》（1928）作詞，與魯道夫·弗裏姆爾 合寫了改編自《三個火槍手》的歌舞劇。（1928年）。
早期生活
佩勒姆·伍德豪斯，親朋好友都叫他“梅子”（把Pelham 快點念，很容易讀成Plum），他母親埃莉諾（Eleanor）還在格德郡串門時，他就提前出世了。他父親亨利（1845年－1929年）是駐香港的英國法官。幾個世紀以前，伍德豪斯傢族就開始世世代代住在諾福剋郡。伍德豪斯的名字 Pelham ，是繼承他祖父老佩勒姆的。
三歲時，伍德豪斯就被帶回英格蘭，由奶媽撫養。15歲以前，他輾轉於多個寄宿學校，跟父母相處的日子加起來不到六個月。他跟他哥哥阿米恩（Armine）十分親近，二人都熱愛藝術，時常交換心得。伍德豪斯用不間斷地寫作來填補生活的空虛。學校放假時，他大多數時間是跟他這個或那個姑媽在一起，所以很可能他對“一群嘰嘰喳喳的姑媽”的恐懼，是從這裏開始的，反映在小說裏是Bertie Wooster嚇人的姑媽Agatha和姑媽Dahlia，是《布蘭丁斯城堡》中對侄子侄女特別嚴厲的康斯坦斯·基伯夫人。
伍德豪斯中學就讀於倫敦市郊的達利奇學院（Dulwich College），一所著名的私立寄宿男校，後來這所學校的圖書館也以他的名字命名。在達利奇的生活很得意，他既是出色的學生，在體育方面也有特長。他是古典文學六級成員（衹有最傑出的學生纔有資格加入），任學生會長，負責編輯校刊《The Alleynian》，多次在音樂劇和舞臺劇上當男主角，參加了第十一屆板球比賽，和第十五屆英式橄欖球比賽，給學校爭了光，他還代表學院參加拳擊比賽（後來因為視力不好沒去成），代表小組參加田徑項目。
伍德豪斯的哥哥阿米恩（Armine），獲得牛津大學的古典文學奬學金（後來畢業拿到一等學位）。佩勒姆本來計劃像他哥哥一樣上牛津，但由於印度盧比貶值，他爸爸的工資縮水，迫使他放棄這個想法。爸爸給他在“香港上海銀行”（就是現在的匯豐銀行）找了份工作，在倫敦幹了兩年以後，他被派往海外支行。但是，伍德豪斯對銀行的差事絲毫不感興趣，也知道自己不是那塊料。在銀行上班的時候，他就利用空餘時間來寫作。1902年，成為《環球》（如今停刊了）的記者，後來剛好有個朋友離任，伍德豪斯就接管了他的幽默小品專欄。他定期給《潘趣》雜志投稿，還給男生看的雜志《隊長》、《公學》寫故事，這些文章後來結集出版，成為他第一本小說集。1909年，他在格林威治時，賣給《大都會》和《科利爾》雜志兩部短篇小說，賺了500美元，比他以前賺的多。於是他辭掉《環球》的工作，留在紐約，他定期給創刊不久的《名利場》雜志撰稿（用的是許多不同的筆名）。但錢還是不夠花，1915年，還沒等《星期六晚郵報》連載他的《Something New》，他就迎來了“首次破産”。在這前後，他開始與蓋伊·博爾頓，傑羅姆·剋恩合作（最後達到18部）歌舞喜劇片。
三十年代，他在好萊塢當過兩次短期的編劇，自稱待遇不菲。 他也有許多小說也在《星期六晚郵報》和《海濱》等雜志上連載，稿費也不少。
1914年，伍德豪斯娶了Ethel Wayman為妻，妻子帶過來一個女兒Leonora。伍德豪斯沒有親生的孩子。可能是因為他青春期的時候得了腮腺炎，導致他不能生育。
遠離英國的日子
雖然伍德豪斯和他的小說都公認為屬於典型的的英國風格，但1914年以後，他就在英國和美國兩頭跑。1934年，在英美兩國對他作品雙重課稅的壓力下，他選擇定居法國。他也對政治和國際局勢極其冷淡。1939年二戰爆發，他仍留在法國的勒圖凱（Le Touquet）海邊的傢裏，沒有回到英國，顯然他沒有認識到國際衝突的嚴重。隨後他在1940年，被德國監禁，拘留了一年，起初在比利時，後來轉往上西裏西亞（現在波蘭境內）的Tost（即現在的托謝剋，Toszek）。他曾說，“如果上西裏西亞都這樣，很難想象下西裏西亞該是什麽地步。”
在托斯特，為了活躍氣氛，他常給獄友們講幽默段子。出獄以後，在他還有幾個月就要過六十歲生日的時候，納粹慫恿他以獄中的幽默段子為基礎寫了一係列廣播劇，聽衆對象是美國。伍德豪斯認為自己在監禁期間還能保持樂觀頑強，這一點很值得欽佩。然而，戰時的英國，人們沒有開玩笑的閑情逸緻，而且這個廣播讓他遭受許多非難，人們指責他站在納粹這邊，出賣祖國。有的圖書館甚至取締了他的書。批評他最嚴重的人是A.A.米爾恩，《維尼熊》的作者。作為反擊，伍德豪斯以荒誕人物Timothy Bobbin作為主角，寫了一係列打油詩，戲仿了米爾恩寫的兒童幽默詩歌。伍德豪斯的維護者中有伊夫林·沃和喬治·奧威爾。英國安全局軍情5局的一項調查支持奧威爾的觀點，即伍德豪斯人是幼稚可笑，但决不是叛國賊。1980年代解密的文件顯示，在巴黎居住期間，納粹支付了伍德豪斯生活費。但1999年，軍情5局根據英國公共檔案館的檔案資料，證明他是清白的。
種種批評迫使伍德豪斯和夫人搬去紐約，永久定居下來。伍德豪斯被德國監禁期間，Leonora去世了，除了Leonora，他們沒有第二個孩子了。1955年，他成為美國公民，再沒回到祖國，在紐約長島的Remsenburg度過餘生。
晚年
在他93歲去世前不久，被封為得（第二等）高級英帝國勳爵士。之所以這麽晚纔得到勳位，是因為受“德國廣播事件”的牽連。在接受BBC采訪時他說，自己已經得到爵位，又在杜莎夫人蠟像館裏有自己的蠟像，他已經別無所求了。考慮到健康狀況，醫生建議他不要去倫敦，勳位是他妻子後來嚮英國領事代領的。
2000年，為了紀念伍德豪斯，以他的名字命名的“波靈格大衆伍德豪斯奬”（Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize）成立了，該奬每年頒發給英國最佳幽默作品。
創作態度
伍德豪斯對自己的作品很謙虛，1957年，在《年過七十》（Over Seventy）中，他自云： “我從事所謂的輕文學，幹這一行的人，有時被稱為幽默傢，常為知識分子所不齒。”
文學品位及影響
在一篇文章裏，伍德豪斯提到了幾個當代他十分敬重的幽默傢。其中包括弗蘭剋·沙利文 ，A. P.赫伯特 ，和亞歷剋斯·阿特金森 ，伍德豪斯在《年過七十》中，曾為後者健康的每況愈下感到惋惜，“我希望在每個街角看到一個A. P.赫伯特，在每個小酒館看到一個亞歷剋斯·阿特金森。”他在《聖奧斯丁故事集》 中諷刺了現代文學批評。《湯姆·布朗問題》（The Tom Brown Question）戲仿了分析荷馬的學者，《註解》（Notes）批評了古典文學和英國文學評論傢，並且出人意外地詳談了布朗寧的意義。在《作品》（Work）中，伍德豪斯稱維吉爾“生硬”，“假大空”，相反，埃斯庫羅斯是“調皮鬼”。莎士比亞和丁尼生對他影響很大，在拘留期間他隨身攜帶的正是他們的書。伍德豪斯似乎對傳統的英國驚悚小說也很感興趣，1960年代加文·萊爾 和喬治·麥剋唐納·弗雷澤 的小說一出版，他就擊節稱贊。後來，他愛看納歐·馬什 和雷剋斯。史陶特 寫的推理小說，愛看電視劇《The Edge of Night》，樂此不疲。
筆下人物
伍德豪斯筆下的人物，並不是一開始就受人歡迎，尤其是缺心眼兒的紈絝子弟Bertie Wooster。英國公共檔案館的資料透露，1967年，伍德豪斯獲得名譽勳位 ，駐華盛頓的英國大使Patrick Dean爵士則認為，“伍德豪斯筆下的Bertie Wooster這種人，正是我們英國人要竭力根除的。”
伍德豪斯筆下的人物常常是怪胎，有些特殊的戀物情結，比如Emsworth勳爵迷戀豬，Gussie Fink-Nottle迷戀蠑螈，Archibald Mulliner迷戀襪子。缺心眼兒的主人公，善良溫厚，與世無爭，本來好心替朋友出主意，但無一例外地把事情搞得更糟。
然而，伍德豪斯筆下的貴族，許多都扮演“醜角”。他筆下經典的紈絝子弟往往是怪人，總使自己陷入麻煩的境地。
親戚，尤其是姑媽和叔叔，通常被誇張地描繪成掌握婚姻和經濟大權的角色，或者至少作為讓生活充滿苦難的存在。他的小說裏，朋友往往不是逆境中的安慰，而是麻煩的淵藪。主人公勞其筋骨餓其體膚，衹為換得朋友一笑。故事中的壞人（尤其是情敵）常常很可怕，幸好在最後大團圓式的結尾，他們都會得到應有的懲罰。
警察和治安管的形象往往是有威脅性的，但容易受騙上當的，被他們抓了很好辦，衹要地臨時報個假名字就好了。偷警察頭盔這一動機被多次提起。
伍德豪斯回到古羅馬喜劇的創作手法（例如喜劇傢普勞圖斯 ），使用類型角色 ，他筆下的僕人遠比主人有頭腦得多，尤以Jeeves最甚。Jeeves無數次把Bertie Wooster從水深火熱的處境中拯救出來。同樣的手法也應用在精明能幹的秘書Baxter與稀裏糊塗的Emsworth勳爵的關係上。
情節
雖然他的情節貌似公式化，但伍德豪斯的天才在於，成功地鋪設了幾條復雜交錯的主綫，讓故事的主人公麻煩重重，最後結尾毫無例外地都是皆大歡喜。一般，主人公的親戚或朋友遇到什麽難題，強迫主人公趟這趟渾水，最後看似不可能完成的任務都漂亮地解决了。長篇的作品綫索鋪設得很巧妙，往往故事發展到一半時主人公身陷多重睏境。傑出的例子是《The Code of the Woosters》，多數章節裏，故事的最後一句發生戲劇化的轉折，把主人公推嚮更棘手的處境。
訂婚是他的小說中常見的主題，男人常常因為某種阻礙不能跟心愛的女人訂婚，恰好在這時候，他不知道怎麽就跟一個他不愛的女人訂婚了，需要找個理由抽身，但又不能直接取消婚約（有悖紳士精神）。例如《Something Fresh》中的Freddie，他跟Peters小姐的婚事告吹，因為她跟George Emerson私奔了。女朋友把白癡的未婚夫蹬了，跟朝氣蓬勃的男人跑了，本來該是件難過的事，但作者巧妙地把氛圍處理得輕鬆愉快，Freddie對此一點也不當回事，他更感興趣的是與令人尊敬的偵探小說傢Ashe Marson見面。（《Something Fresh》中作者塑造的人物形象，單身男青年，畢業於牛津，當過家庭教師，在報紙上發表過偵探小說）
冒名頂替和隨之而來的混亂在《布蘭丁斯城堡》係列小說裏尤為常見。
賭博也是常出現的情節，而且賭局的結果往往有人幕後操縱。
另一個顯著的主題是酒，很多情節圍繞主人公喝醉展開。伍德豪斯自己就好酒，這一點很清楚，他形容過種種醉態，被後人奉為經典：醉如失靈的指南針分不出東南西北，胃裏翻江倒海如混凝土攪拌車，等等。此外，他還多次提到一種叫“五月皇后”的酒，Fred叔叔之口，是這麽形容它的，“任何一種品質上好的幹香檳，兌上白蘭地利口酒、雅馬邑、茴香酒、黃色利口酒、烈性黑啤酒，就可以享用了。”故事裏的人物常常藉此壯膽，例如嚮心上人求婚。
作品
伍德豪斯著作頗豐，在他長達73年的寫作生涯中（1902-1975），一共寫了96本書，包括小說，短篇故事集，歌舞喜劇。短篇故事和長篇小說裏，許多角色和場景是重複出現，貫穿始終的，讀者就以此把他的作品分為幾個“係列”。
《布蘭丁斯城堡》係列
（後來伍德豪斯命名為《布蘭丁斯城堡傳奇》）小說虛構了居住在布蘭丁斯城堡的鄉村貴族的生活。主要角色有怪胎Emsworth勳爵，特別迷戀他那頭得奬的豬——“布蘭丁斯皇后”，一度也同樣迷戀獲奬的南瓜——“布蘭丁斯希望之星”。
《無事忙俱樂部》係列
講的是倫敦一傢鬧哄哄的俱樂部裏，一群無所事事的有錢人的那點破事兒。無事忙俱樂部的故事出自Jeeves係列小說，也因為一係列短篇故事而自成一係。代表人物如俱樂部成員Freddie Widgeon 和Bingo Little，以及多次出現的小角色百萬富翁Oofy Prosser。
《高爾夫球和Oldest Member》係列
故事是圍繞沃德豪斯最感興趣的事物——高爾夫球展開的，故事中的人物都把高爾夫球當作畢生追求的事業。主人公沒有名字，他是高爾夫球俱樂部資格最老的成員，所以人稱The Oldest Member。
《Jeeves和Wooster》係列
是以有錢而沒大腦的Bertie Wooster的口吻敘述的。他和他的朋友們常把自己陷入荒謬又倒黴的睏境，而他足智多謀的男僕Jeeves總有辦法拯救他們於危難之際。《Jeeves和Wooster》係列，或簡稱《Jeeves》係列小說，是伍德豪斯最著名的作品。它的價值還在於，裏面有很多二戰前英語俚語。比如Bertie 常說的"What ho!", "pipped", "bally"，等等。這一點，伍德豪斯之於英國文學，與達蒙·魯尼恩之於美國文學有類似之處。
《Mulliner先生》係列
主人公Mulliner，喜歡在酒吧裏滔滔不絶地講述他們Mulliner傢族的奇談怪事。有時聽衆會對他的長篇大論感到厭倦，有意思的是，聽衆的身份不用名字，而是用他們喝的飲料表示，例如“熱蘇格蘭威士忌加檸檬”，或者“雙份威士忌加水”。
校園係列
伍德豪斯的早期創作，相對寫實。虛構了聖奧斯丁公學和Wrykyn公學。
《The Psmith》係列
主人公是個萬事通，舉止優雅，魅力非凡。最後一部Psmith小說《交給Psmith》中，《布蘭丁斯城堡》故事有交叉——Psmith住在布蘭丁斯城堡，為Emsworth勳爵工作，還和Emsworth的次子Freddie Threepwood交了朋友。Psmith這個人物首次出場，是在校園係列小說《Mike》中。
《The Ukridge》係列
主人公Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge是一個有魅力但沒有原則的人，總是想法設法騙朋友的錢花。
《Fred叔叔》係列
主人公是一個古怪的伯爵，住在Ickenham，總想法設法逃脫妻子的控製，妻子一不在旁邊，他就鬧騰得天翻地覆，而自己覺得這樣“輕鬆甜蜜”。頑皮大膽，喜歡惡作劇，比如經常喬裝打扮成別人。他的這些故事由侄子和朋友Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton的視角展開的，他在布蘭丁斯城堡中也表演過他的“喬裝戲”。
作品改編
和他數量頗豐的著作相比，根據他原著改編的作品卻為數不多。他不願意看到別人把Jeeves係列拿去改編：
“像Jeeves這樣的博學多才的人，過人之處就在於他最起碼的人格不允許自己為了金錢而出賣藝術。這些年來，有人要我為了商業利益，把他出賣給劇院老闆，電影巨頭，喜劇製片人，甚至一傢美國報紙的編輯打算用他的形象來搞連環畫。儘管合同很有誘惑力，但衹要聽到Jeeves暗示反對的咳嗽聲，和他低聲說“我並不贊同，先生。”我就良心發現了。Jeeves知道自己的位置，衹在書的封面和封底之間。”（1967，摘自《Jeeves的世界》全集中的引言）
就算由他自己把作品改編成電影，他也不感興趣。1930年，米高梅電影製片公司把他聘請來，卻很少用到他：“他們每星期付給我2000美金……卻找不到事讓我幹。”後來1937年，他回到米高梅，創作電影劇本《羅莎莉》，每星期拿2500美元的報酬，舒舒服服地住在好萊塢，但即便這樣，他還說“我對這樣的生活並不滿意，我不喜歡搞電影這套東西。”
然而，他跟伊恩·海伊（Ian Hay）合作很愉快，1928年，海伊把伍德豪斯的《困苦中的年輕女人》（A Damsel in Distress）改編成舞臺劇，由海伊，伍德豪斯和A.A.米爾恩共同投資製作。伍德豪斯和海伊一起去蘇格蘭度假，發現彼此有很多共同愛好。1929年，伍德豪斯繼續於海伊合作，把海伊的小說《咩咩小黑羊》搬上舞臺，1930年，二人又合寫了劇本《交給Psmith》。
1937年，由伍德豪斯編劇的歌舞片《困苦中的年輕女人》上映，弗雷德·阿斯泰爾 ，喬治·伯恩斯 ，格雷西·艾倫 ，和瓊·芳登 主演，格什溫兄弟創作詞麯。1962年，改編電影《The Girl On The Boat》，由諾曼·溫斯頓，米利森特·馬丁，以及理查德·布賴爾斯主演。
布蘭丁斯城堡係列和Jeeves係列小說都被BBC改編過電視劇：Jeeves係列被改編過兩次，一次是在1960年代的電視劇《Wooster的世界》，由伊恩·卡邁剋爾扮演Bertie Wooster，Dennis Price 扮演Jeeves；第二次是在1990年代的電視劇《萬能管傢》（Jeeves and Wooster），休·勞瑞扮演Bertie Wooster，史蒂芬·弗萊扮演Jeeves。另外，戴維·尼文 和阿瑟·特雷徹也分別演過Bertie和 Jeeves，在1930年代的短篇電影《謝謝，Jeeves》，對原著改動很大的。續集《加把勁兒，Jeeves》在沒有Bertie 的情況下，特雷徹單獨演了Jeeves。
1975年，安德魯·勞埃德·韋伯 創作了一處出音樂劇，原名叫《Jeeves》，1996年，重新修改後的劇本更名為《By Jeeves》，大受歡迎，後來在百老匯上演，演出還錄製了電影版，電視臺也放映過。
1995年，BBC拍了電影《Heavy Weather》，彼德·奧圖 飾演Emsworth勳爵，理查德·布賴爾斯，（之前演過《The Girl On The Boat》）飾演Emsworth的哥哥Galahad Threepwood。
1936年，《Piccadilly Jim》首次拍成電影，由羅伯特·蒙哥馬利 主演。2004年，Julian Fellowes寫了另一個版本的劇本，由Sam Rockwell主演，不過電影並不成功。
1975年，BBC播出了一部題為《伍德豪斯劇場》的電視劇，該劇主要根據是“Mulliner”係列故事拍的，主演是John Alderton 和Pauline Collins。第一集是伍德豪斯親自介紹的，想來很不同尋常，那時他93歲高齡了，就在電視劇播放的當年他去世了。 由Dudley Moore 和 John Gielgud主演的《亞瑟》及其續集《亞瑟2：On the Rocks》，也是根據“Bertie和Jeeves”係列中的人物改編的，雖然沒有正式承認，但電影中的很多臺詞和情節，包括跟訂婚有關的情節，都直接受伍德豪斯人物的影響。
想知道更多世界範圍內受伍德豪斯影響的電影電視作品，可參考Brian Taves寫的人物史《伍德豪斯於好萊塢：編劇，諷刺與改編》（P.G. Wodehouse and Hollywood: Screenwriting, Satires, and Adaptations）McFarland, 2006。
註釋
^ 海萊爾·貝洛剋 Hilaire Belloc(1870~1953)，20世紀早期的最多産的英國詩人、史學家和散文作傢。1894年入牛津大學，以優異成績畢業。早期作品有：《韻文和14行詩》（Verses and Sonnets, 1895）、《壞孩子的動物故事書》（The Bad Child's Book of Beasts）。對政治有很多一針見血又幽默諷刺的評論。
^ 伊夫林·沃 Evelyn Waugh（1903-1966）英國作傢。著有《重返布萊茲海德莊園》，《一把塵土》，《榮譽之劍》，《邪惡的軀體》等。
^ 道格拉斯·亞當斯 Douglas Adams（1952—2001）英國著名的科幻小說作傢，也是幽默諷刺文學的代表人物、第一個成功結合喜劇和科幻的作傢。不過，他並不把自己定位為科幻作傢，而是喜劇作傢，衹是把科幻當成喜劇的一種表現方式。同時他也是一位廣播劇作傢和音樂傢。他尤其以《銀河係漫遊指南》係列作品出名。這部作品以廣播劇起傢，後來發展成包括五本書的“三部麯”，拍成電視連續劇。亞當斯逝世後還拍成電影。
^ 薩爾曼·魯西迪爵士 Sir Salman Rushdie（1947年6月19日－），又譯為薩爾曼·拉什迪，生於孟買，十四歲移居英國讀書。其作品風格往往被歸類為魔幻寫實主義，作品顯示出東西方文化的雙重影響。作品《午夜之子》獲得1981年布剋奬，內容充滿豐富的想像。《撒旦詩篇》（The Satanic Verse'，或譯《魔鬼詩篇》）因為責駡伊斯蘭教的不公平，而遭伊朗精神領袖賽義德·魯霍拉·霍梅尼下達追殺令。
^ 特裏·普拉切特 Terry Pratchett (1948-)，英國著名幻想小說傢，有“幻想小說傢超級巨星”之稱。特裏·普拉切特是當代最著名的幽默奇幻作傢，同時也是英語文壇最具影響力的諷刺作傢之一。被人譽為“筆鋒犀利、擅於諷刺的J·R·R·托爾金”。深受讀者推崇的“碟形世界”係列奇幻小說是普拉切特的代表作品，為他贏得了世界聲譽。該係列從1983年《魔法的顔色》問世算起，到2006年，共出版了36部長篇小說，其中多部被改編成了漫畫、動畫、舞臺劇、電視劇、廣播劇、桌面遊戲和電腦遊戲等。
^ 肖恩·奧凱西 Sean O'Casey（1880～1964）愛爾蘭劇作傢。著有《都柏林三部麯》。1918年開始寫劇本，成為和J.M.辛格前後輝映的兩大愛爾蘭劇作傢之一。奧凱西被稱為“一個來自工人階級的粗獷的天才”，最優秀的愛爾蘭劇作傢之一。他的早期劇作，以都柏林為背景的三部麯，被認為是他的傑作。 道格拉斯·亞當斯 Douglas Adams（1952—2001）英國著名的科幻小說作傢，也是幽默諷刺文學的代表人物、第一個成功結合喜劇和科幻的作傢。不過，他並不把自己定位為科幻作傢，而是喜劇作傢，衹是把科幻當成喜劇的一種表現方式。同時他也是一位廣播劇作傢和音樂傢。他尤其以《銀河係漫遊指南》係列作品出名。這部作品以廣播劇起傢，後來發展成包括五本書的“三部麯”，拍成電視連續劇。亞當斯逝世後還拍成電影。
^ 《雙圓爭輝》，《Anything Goes》，又譯《隨心所欲》。
^ 傑羅姆·剋恩Kern, Jerome。（1885- 1945）。美國作麯傢。師從保羅·加利科。1904年寫成第一首成名歌麯。作品有流行音樂喜劇多部，包括《哦，孩子》（Oh,Boy）(1917)；《薩利》（Sally）（1920）、《陽光明媚》（Sunny）(1925)；《演藝船》（Show Boat）(1927)；《空中音樂》（Music in the Air）（1932）和《羅貝塔》（Roberta）（1933）。由保羅·羅伯遜（Paul Robeson）首次演唱的《老人河》（Ol'Man River）以及《不由得不愛我那漢子》（Can't help Loving that Man of Mine）都是《演藝船》中的插麯。還作有《煙塵進入你的眼中》等流行麯調，有幾首是電影插麯。
^ 《畫航璇宮》，《Show Boat》，又譯《演藝船》。
^ 喬治·格什溫Gershwin, George（1898-- 1937）美國作麯傢、鋼琴傢。代表作《藍色狂想麯》（Rhapsody in Blue）。為音樂喜劇和電影創作歌麯[其中不少歌詞出自他哥哥艾拉（Ira）即伊斯雷爾（Israel）的手筆]，而且也寫大型作品。繼1925年的鋼琴協奏麯之後，《一個美國人在巴黎》（An American in Paris）、又一首《狂想麯》（Rhapsody）、《古巴序麯》（Cuban Overture）等作品接踵而至；1935年寫成的《波吉與貝絲》（Porgy and Bess）至今仍是美國作麯傢的歌劇中惟一能在保留劇目中立於不敗之地的作品。格什溫的旋律才華是不同凡響的。他的歌麯中藴藏着20世紀20年代紐約的精髓。
^ 西格蒙德·竜伯格Romberg, Sigmund。（1887年生於匈牙利的塞格德；1951年卒於紐約）。匈牙利出生的作麯傢。在維也納師從霍伊貝格（Heuberger）。1913年定居紐約，成為美國公民。曾連續寫出一係列的通俗輕歌劇，其中包括《五月時光》（Maytime,1917）、《開花時節》（Blossom Time）（根據舒伯特的旋律寫成，1921）、《學生王子》（The Student Prince）（1924）、《沙漠情歌》（The Desert Song）（1926）、《新月》（New Moon）（1928）、以及《在中央公園》（Up in Central Park）（1945）。
^ 魯道夫·弗裏姆爾Friml, Rudolph。（1879年生於布拉格；1972年卒於好萊塢）。捷剋作麯傢。1906年定居美國。1901年以鋼琴傢身份初次訪問美國，與揚·庫貝利剋（Jan Kubelik）同行。曾與紐約交響樂團合作演奏自己的鋼琴協奏麯。作品有鋼琴麯和室內樂。主要因其通俗國歌劇而揚名於世：《螢火蟲》（The Firefly）（1912年）；《卡金卡》（Katinka）(1916)；《羅斯·瑪麗》（Rose Marie）（1924年）；《流浪國王》（The Vagabond King）（1925年）。他的通俗歌麯《驢之小夜麯》(Donkey Serenade)1937年當《螢火蟲》拍成電影時，是加進電影的。
^ 弗蘭剋·沙利文Frank Sullivan(1892-1976)美國記者，幽默傢。
^ A. P.赫伯特爵士Sir Alan Patrick Herbert（1890-1971）英國幽默傢，小說傢，國會議員，律師。畢業於牛津，作國會議員時，主張廢除娛樂稅，改革離婚法和淫穢審查制度。
^ 亞歷剋斯·阿特金森Alex Atkinson (1916-1962)英國記者，小說傢，編劇，代表作是1958年與插畫傢Ronald Searle合作的《The Big City or the New Mayhew》，登載在《潘趣》雜志。
^ 《聖奧斯丁故事集》《Tales of St. Austin’s》伍德豪斯的短篇小說和隨筆集。1903年於倫敦首次發行，收錄了先前發表在《隊長》、《公學》等雜志上的文章。
^ 加文·萊爾Gavin Lyall，英國推理小說傢，著有《射擊腳本》Shooting Script (1966)。
^ 喬治·麥剋唐納·弗雷澤George MacDonald Fraser（1926～2008）英國暢銷書作傢。生於卡萊爾，18歲加入邊境團，參加過二戰。退伍後進入新聞業，在《格拉斯哥先驅報》報社工作，後升至副總編輯，一度擔任總編輯。他撰寫的電影劇本包括1973年的《三個火槍手》和10多年後007係列中的《八爪女》。他創作的12本弗拉什曼係列叢書虛構了維多利亞式花花公子哈裏·弗拉什曼的冒險生涯；該係列叢書在十幾歲的男孩當中很流行。弗雷澤2006年曾說，這些書能取得成功不足為奇，“人們喜歡無賴、小混混”；但批評人士認為，這些書種族色彩太濃。弗雷澤1999年在英國女王生辰日被授予英帝國軍官勳章。弗雷澤是位非常謙和、低調的人，除了授勳那次，他很少出現在公開場合。
^ 納歐·馬什Ngaio Marsh（1895-1982）謀殺小說女王。新西蘭人，早歲當過演員，晚年在新西蘭戲劇界還很活躍，小說也多涉筆演藝，筆下著名人物是總探長 Roderick Alleyn，一九三四年到一九四七年的名著是《一個死了的男人》（A Man Lay Dead）、《Vintage Murder》、《Surfeit of Lampreys》、《羊毛袋》（Died in the Wool）和《Final Curtain》。英國皇室給她封了爵位。
^ 雷剋斯。史陶特Rex Stout（1886-1975）美籍作傢，創造出推理史上響當當的大偵探尼羅·伍爾富（Nero Wolfe），與賈德納（Erle Stanley Gardner）筆下創造的派瑞.梅森（Perry Mason）並稱“安樂椅神探”。
^ 名譽勳位（Order of the Companions of Honour）是英國和英聯邦的一種勳章。由英皇喬治五世於1917年6月創設，用以表彰在藝術、音樂、文學、自然科學、政治、工業和宗教方面獲得重大成就的人士。除君主以外，名譽勳位的數量限定65人。名譽勳位衹有一等，並不屬於騎士勳章，所以受勳者不可冠上“爵士”頭銜，但可以在名稱後冠上“CH”字樣。
^ 普勞圖斯Plautus古羅馬最重要的喜劇作傢。他的喜劇都是由古希臘新喜劇改編而成的，具有一定的現實意義。普勞圖斯的許多劇本，從文藝復興時期開始就成了歐洲各國戲劇傢學習和模仿的對象，也給後人提供了希臘新喜劇的某些知識。
^ 類型角色stock characters。類型角色一般具有性格特徵突出，概括性強的特點，他們的一言一行都突出地表現了其主導性格。如莫裏哀筆下的《偽君子》中的答丟夫，幾乎就是偽善的化身，而他的《慳吝人》中的阿爾巴貢也集中了吝嗇鬼的基本特點。
^ 弗雷德·阿斯泰爾Fred Astaire（1899-1987）美國出身的電影演員、舞者、舞臺劇演員、編舞傢與歌手。他在舞臺與大銀幕上的演出生涯長達76年，在這段期間他參與了三十一部歌舞劇的演出。亞斯坦最常與金姐·羅潔絲一同提及，這兩人曾搭檔演出十部電影。
^ 喬治·伯恩斯George Burns（1896-）從小就在雜耍劇舞臺上演出，後又成為喜劇演員。1925年他與格雷西.艾倫組成一對喜劇搭檔，他們在三、四十年代合作了《無綫電播音大會》、《大學生的幽默》等二十多部影片。在經過三十五年的引退後，他於1975年重返銀幕，以喜劇片《陽光少年》中的精湛演出獲得了第四十八屆奧斯卡最佳男配角金像奬。此後他還演出了《噢，上帝》（1977）和《比布軍曹的單身漢俱樂部樂隊》等片。
^ 格雷西·艾倫Gracie Allen（1895-）美國電影、戲劇女演員，出身於舊金山市的歌舞雜耍藝人家庭，從小開始表演生涯。1922年和喬治·伯恩斯組織伯恩斯-艾倫喜劇演出隊。1926年後成為歌舞、電影、廣播、電視界著名女演員。在電影方面，格雷西·艾倫共參加演出了約二十部故事片和大量短片。主要有《無綫電播音大會》（1932）、《大學生的幽默》（1933）、《多角戀愛》（1934）、《學院假期》（1936）、《格雷西·艾倫謀殺案》（1939）、《諾恩夫婦》（1942）、《雙姝奪鸞》（1944）等。
^ 瓊·芳登Joan Fontaine（1917-）美國女演員，代表作《蝴蝶夢》，《深閨疑雲》。
^ 戴維·尼文David Niven（1910-）第31屆奧斯卡影帝。生於倫敦一個貴族家庭，父親曾任軍官。少年時期就讀於桑赫斯特軍事學校，畢業後參加蘇格蘭輕騎兵團，6年後退伍，從事記者等多種職業。後到好萊塢當臨時演員，因出衆的才華和優雅的風度，逐漸升至一號主角。50年代是他藝術生涯的鼎盛時期，其中以《環球世界八十天》最為出名。1958年以《分離的桌子》榮鷹奧斯卡最佳男主角金像奬和紐約電影評論奬的最佳男演員奬。1981年因病去世，共拍有影片100餘部，主要代表作有《孤軍血戰記》、《鐵血忠魂》、《美滿姻緣》、《彩鳳朝陽》、《月亮是藍的》、《金龜婿》、《紅桃王後》、《尼羅河慘案》、《逃往雅典娜》等。
^ 安德魯·勞埃德·韋伯Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber（1948-）生於英國倫敦，是一位非常成功的音樂劇作麯傢。他的弟弟是大提琴傢朱利安·勞埃德·韋伯。韋伯是20世紀晚期最受歡迎也頗有爭議的劇院作麯傢，他為百老匯和倫敦西區劇院創作了大量的作品。韋伯的具有代表性的歌麯有：耶穌基督萬世巨星中的"I Don't Know How to Love Him"，《艾薇塔》（貝隆夫人）中的"Don't Cry for Me, Argentina"，貓中的"Memory"，歌劇魅影中的"The Music of the Night"。
^ 彼德·奧圖Peter O'Toole（1932-）憑藉《末路愛神》獲第79屆奧斯卡最佳男主角提名。
^ 羅伯特·蒙哥馬利Robert Montgomery（1904-1981）美國演員，導演。演出《湖上豔屍》《史密斯夫婦》《佐丹先生出馬》等。
An acknowledged master of English prose, Wodehouse has been admired both by contemporaries such as Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by modern writers such as Stephen Fry, Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith and Terry Pratchett. Journalist and writer Christopher Hitchens commented, "there is not, and never will be, anything to touch him."
Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of 15 plays and of 250 lyrics for some 30 musical comedies, many of them produced in collaboration with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton. He worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes (1934), wrote the lyrics for the hit song "Bill" in Kern's Show Boat (1927), wrote lyrics to Sigmund Romberg's music for the Gershwin – Romberg musical Rosalie (1928), and collaborated with Rudolf Friml on a musical version of The Three Musketeers (1928).
Early life
Wodehouse, called "Plum" by most family and friends, was born prematurely to Eleanor Wodehouse (née Deane) while she was visiting Guildford and he was baptised at St. Nicolas' Church, Guildford. His aunt Mary Deane was the author of the novel Mr. Zinzan of Bath; or, Seen in an Old Mirror. His father, Henry Ernest Wodehouse (1845–1929), was a British judge in Hong Kong. The Wodehouse family had been settled in Norfolk for many centuries. Wodehouse's great-grandfather Reverend Philip Wodehouse was the second son of Sir Armine Wodehouse, 5th Baronet, whose eldest son John Wodehouse, 1st Baron Wodehouse, was the ancestor of the Earls of Kimberley. His godfather was Pelham von Donop, after whom he was named.
When he was just three years old, Wodehouse was brought back to England and placed in the care of a nanny. He attended various boarding schools and, between the ages of three and 15 years, saw his parents for barely six months in total. Wodehouse grew very close to his brother, who shared his love for art. Wodehouse filled the voids in his life by writing relentlessly. He spent quite a few of his school holidays with one aunt or another; it has been speculated that this gave him a healthy horror of the "gaggle of aunts", reflected in Bertie Wooster's formidable aunts Agatha and Dahlia, as well as Lady Constance Keeble's tyranny over her many nieces and nephews in the Blandings Castle series.
Wodehouse's first school was The Chalet School, Croydon (now Elmhurst School for Boys), which he attended between 1886 and 1889, together with his two older brothers. (Richard, the youngest of the four Wodehouse brothers, was much younger and became somewhat noteworthy as a cricketer in Asia.) In 1889, the oldest brother, Peveril, was diagnosed as having a weak chest, and the three brothers were sent to Elizabeth College, Guernsey, where Peveril could benefit from the sea air. Wodehouse remained at Elizabeth College for two years, until, at age 10, it became time for him to move to a preparatory school. Wodehouse's first prep school was Malvern House, at Kearsney, near Dover, which specialised in preparing boys for entry to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. Wodehouse spent two unhappy years at Malvern House before finally persuading his father to send him to Dulwich College, where his elder brother Armine was already a student.
He enjoyed his time at Dulwich, where he was successful both as a student and as a sportsman: he was a member of the Classics VIth Form (traditionally, the preserve of the brightest students) and a School prefect, he edited the college magazine, The Alleynian, sang and acted leading roles in musical and theatrical productions, and gained his school colours as a member of the cricket First XI and rugby football First XV; he also represented the school at boxing (until barred by poor eyesight) and his house at athletics. The library at Dulwich is now named after him.
Wodehouse's elder brother, Armine, had won a classics scholarship to Oxford University (where he gained a first class degree) and Pelham was widely expected to follow in his brother's footsteps, but a fall in the value of the Indian rupee (in which currency his father's pension was expressed) forced him to abandon such plans. His father found him a position with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (now known as HSBC), where, after two years' training in London, he would have been posted to an overseas branch. However, Wodehouse was never interested in banking as a career and "never learned a thing about banking". (Some of his experiences in the bank were recounted in Psmith in the City.) He wrote part-time while working in the bank, and in 1902 became a journalist with The Globe (a now defunct newspaper), taking over the comic column from a friend who had resigned.
Wodehouse contributed items to Punch, Vanity Fair (1903–1906), Daily Express (1904) and The World: A Journal for Men and Women (1906/1907). He also wrote stories for schoolboy's magazines (The Captain and Public School Magazine) that were compiled to form his first published novels and four playlets with his friend Bertram Fletcher Robinson. During 1909, Wodehouse stayed in Greenwich Village and "sold two short stories to Cosmopolitan and Collier's for a total of $500 – much more than I had ever earned before." He then resigned from The Globe and stayed in New York, where he became a regular contributor (under a variety of pseudonyms) to the newly-founded American Vanity Fair (1913). However "the wolf was always at the door", and it was not until The Saturday Evening Post serialised Something New in 1915 that he had his "first break". Around this time he began collaborating with Guy Bolton and Jerome Kern on (eventually eighteen) musical comedies.
In 1914, Wodehouse married Ethel Wayman and gained a stepdaughter called Leonora. He had no biological children, and it is possible that he was rendered infertile after contracting mumps as an adolescent.
During the 1930s, he had two brief stints as a screenwriter in Hollywood, where he claimed he was greatly overpaid. Many of his novels were also serialised in magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and The Strand, which also paid well.
Life beyond Britain
Although Wodehouse and his novels are considered quintessentially English, from 1914 onward he split his time between England and the United States. In 1934, he took up residence in France, to avoid double taxation on his earnings by the tax authorities in Britain and the U.S. He was also profoundly uninterested in politics and world affairs. When World War II broke out in 1939 he remained at his seaside home in Le Touquet, France, instead of returning to England, apparently failing to recognise the seriousness of the conflict. (One version says that his wife couldn't bear to leave their dog, Wonder). He was subsequently taken prisoner by the Germans in 1940 and interned by them for a year, first in Belgium, then at Tost (now Toszek) in Upper Silesia (now in Poland). He is recorded as having said, "If this is Upper Silesia, one wonders what Lower Silesia must be like..."
While at Tost, he entertained his fellow prisoners with witty dialogues. After being released from internment, a few months short of his 60th birthday, he used these dialogues as a basis for a series of radio broadcasts aimed at America (then not at war) that the Germans tricked him into making from Berlin. Wodehouse believed he would be admired as showing himself to have 'kept a stiff upper lip' during his internment. Wartime England was in no mood for light-hearted banter, however, and the broadcasts led to many accusations of collaborationism with the Germans and even treason. Some libraries banned his books. Foremost among his critics was A. A. Milne, author of the Winnie the Pooh books; Wodehouse took revenge in a short story parody in which a character based on Milne writes about his son, a ridiculous character named "Timothy Bobbin". Another critic was the playwright Sean O'Casey who, in a letter to The Daily Telegraph in July 1941, wrote: "If England has any dignity left in the way of literature, she will forget for ever the pitiful antics of English literature's performing flea." Wodehouse deflected the insult by giving the title Performing Flea to a collection of his letters to a friend, Bill Townend. Among Wodehouse's defenders were Evelyn Waugh and George Orwell. An investigation by the British security service MI5 concurred with Orwell's opinion, concluding that Wodehouse was naïve and foolish but not a traitor. Documents declassified in the 1980s revealed that while living in Paris, his living expenses were paid by the Nazis. However, papers released by the British Public Record Office in 1999 showed these had been accounted for by MI5 investigators when establishing Wodehouse's innocence.
The criticism led Wodehouse and his wife to move permanently to New York. Apart from Leonora, who died during Wodehouse's internment in Germany, they had no children. He became an American citizen in 1955 and never returned to his homeland, spending the remainder of his life in Remsenburg, New York.
Later life
He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in the 1975 New Year Honours, six weeks before his death at the age of 93. It is widely believed that the honour was not given earlier because of lingering resentment about the German broadcasts. In a BBC interview he said that he had no ambitions left now that he had been knighted and there was a waxwork of him in Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. His doctor advised him not to travel to London to be knighted, and his wife later received the award on his behalf from the British consul.
The Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, given annually for the finest example of comic writing in the UK, was established and named in his honour in 2000.
Writing style
Wodehouse took a modest attitude to his own works. In Over Seventy (1957) he wrote:
"I go in for what is known in the trade as 'light writing' and those who do that – humorists they are sometimes called – are looked down upon by the intelligentsia and sneered at."
However, he also lightly taunted his critics, as in the introduction to Summer Lightning.
"A certain critic—for such men, I regret to say, do exist—made the nasty remark about my last novel that it contained 'all the old Wodehouse characters under different names'. He has probably by now been eaten by bears, like the children who made mock of the prophet Elisha; but if he still survives he will not be able to make a similar charge against Summer Lightning. With my superior intelligence, I have outgeneralled the man this time by putting in all the old Wodehouse characters under the same names. Pretty silly it will make him feel, I rather fancy."
His writing style is notable for its unique blend of contemporary London clubroom slang with elegant, classically-informed drawing-room English; for example:
"I once got engaged to his daughter Honoria, a ghastly dynamic exhibit who read Nietzsche and had a laugh like waves breaking on a stern and rockbound coast."
Literary tastes and influence
In the above-mentioned article, Wodehouse names some contemporary humorists whom he held in high regard. These include Frank Sullivan, A. P. Herbert, and Alex Atkinson. Two essays in Tales of St. Austin’s satirise modern literary criticism: "The Tom Brown Question" is a parody of Homeric analysts, and "Notes" criticises both classical and English critics, with an ironic exception for those explicating the meaning of Browning. In "Work", Wodehouse calls the claim that "Virgil is hard" "a shallow falsehood", but notes that "Aeschylus, on the other hand, is a demon". Shakespeare and Tennyson were also obvious influences; their works were the only books Wodehouse took with him in his internment. He frequently quotes Kipling and Omar Khayyam. Wodehouse enjoyed the traditional English thriller: one of his characters declares that "It is impossible not be thrilled by Edgar Wallace", and he dedicated Sam the Sudden to Wallace, while Agatha Christie dedicated her Hallowe'en Party "To P G Wodehouse — whose books and stories have brightened my life for many years. Also, to show my pleasure in his having been kind enough to tell me he enjoyed my books." In the 1960s he gave important praise for the debut novels of Gavin Lyall and George MacDonald Fraser. In later life, he read mysteries by Ngaio Marsh and Rex Stout, and unfailingly watched the soap opera The Edge of Night.
Character
Wodehouse's characters, however, were not always popular with the establishment, notably the foppish foolishness of Bertie Wooster. Papers released by the Public Record Office have disclosed that when Wodehouse was recommended in 1967 for the Order of the Companions of Honour, Sir Patrick Dean, the 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."
Wodehouse's characters are often eccentric, with peculiar attachments, such as to pigs (Lord Emsworth), newts (Gussie Fink-Nottle), antique silver (Bertie's Uncle Tom Travers), golf-collectables (numerous characters) or socks (Archibald Mulliner). His "mentally negligible" good-natured characters invariably make their lot worse by their half-witted schemes to improve a bad situation.
In many cases the classic eccentricities of Wodehouse's upper class give rise to plot complications. The very first Jeeves story ("Jeeves Takes Charge") concerns an attempt to prevent publication of an old man's memoirs, which contain embarrassing stories about aristocrats and other prestigious persons in their youth.
Relatives, especially aunts and uncles, are commonly depicted with an exaggerated power to help or impede marriage or financial prospects, or simply to make life miserable. (Bertie speaks of "Aunt Agatha getting after [someone] with her hatchet".) Several of the Jeeves stories involve helping a pal to deceive a wealthy relative on whom the pal depends financially ("The Aunt and the Sluggard", "Comrade Bingo"). When Bertie Wooster is first introduced ("Jeeves Takes Charge"), he is himself dependent upon his Uncle Willoughby, and only when this uncle hands in his dinner pail (dies) does Bertram become independently wealthy.
Children of both genders are invariably troublesome, annoying, and malicious. The most egregious is Edwin the Boy Scout, whose attempts at "acts of kindness" cause disasters of widely varying severity in several Jeeves novels and short stories.
Friends are often more a trouble than a comfort in Wodehouse stories: Bertie Wooster in particular is often obliged to put himself to trouble, and sometimes to endure considerable suffering, in order to help a friend. (The Code of the Woosters, in the novel of the same name, is "Never let a pal down.") Antagonists (particularly rivals in love) are frequently terrifying and just as often get their comeuppance in a gratifying fashion.
Policemen and magistrates are typically portrayed as threatening, yet easy to fool, often through the simple expedient of giving a false name. A recurring motif is the theft of policemen's helmets. One of the most dislikeable characters in the entire opus is a magistrate, Sir Watkyn Bassett.
In a manner going back to the stock characters of Roman comedy (such as Plautus), Wodehouse's servants are frequently far cleverer than their masters. This is quintessentially true with Jeeves, who always pulls Bertie Wooster out of the direst scrapes by means of cunning and resource, often by deceptively manipulating him (e.g. "Bertie Changes his Mind", Right Ho, Jeeves) or by convincing him to sacrifice himself. It recurs elsewhere, such as the efficient (though despised) Baxter, secretary to the befogged Lord Emsworth.
Another recurring type is the successful, square-jawed, ruthless American business executive, most notably in Thank You, Jeeves and in the golf story "The Heel of Achilles" but also in later stories about the Mulliners in Hollywood.
Big bruisers who come and go unexpectedly, muttering threats, abound in Wodehouse, including first and foremost Roderick Spode and Tuppy Glossop but also any number of bookies' henchmen, jealous lovers, nosy neighbours, burglars, and what we now call animal-rights activists.
Many stories involve a strong-willed, independent, middle-aged (or older) female troublemaker. Examples include Bertie Wooster's Aunt Agatha; Lord Emsworth's many sisters, especially Lady Constance Keeble; Headmistress Mapleton in "Jeeves and the Kid Clementina"; Lady Bassett in the Mulliner short story "Strychnine in the Soup"; and the poisonous Princess von und zu Dworniczek in Summer Moonshine. Even Aunt Dahlia, the exceptional aunt who is a "good egg", makes plenty of troublesome demands on Bertie. Most abhorrent are the female writers, young and old, such as Ukridge's Aunt Julia, Bertie Wooster's cousin (and sometime fiancée) Florence Craye, and, when the evil fit is upon her, Bingo Little's wife Rosie M. Banks.
Plot
Even if the broad outlines of his plots were typically formulaic, Wodehouse was known for his consummate skill at their detailed construction and development. This did not come immediately to him; in the early Psmith novels Psmith In The City and Psmith, Journalist, the device by which the author rescues the protagonists from their mounting difficulties is a simple infusion of cash from Psmith's father. This would soon change, and by the 1920s his novels were already showing off his genius for creating multiple layers of comedic complications that the characters must endure to reach the invariable happy ending. Typically, a relative or friend makes some demand that forces a character into a bizarre situation from which it seems impossible to recover, only to resolve itself in a clever and satisfying finale. The layers pile up thickly in the longer works, with a character getting into multiple dangerous situations by mid-story. An outstanding example of this is The Code of the Woosters where most of the chapters have an essential plot point reversed in the last sentence, catapulting the characters forward into greater diplomatic disasters. A key figure in most Wodehouse stories is a "fixer" whose genius soars above the incompetent blather and crude bluster of most of the other characters, Jeeves being the best known example. Other characters in this vein are Lord Ickenham ("Uncle Fred") and Galahad Threepwood, who perform much the same role in the Blandings Castle stories—though never both at the same time—and Psmith, who does the same thing in the stories that bear his name.
Engagements are a common theme in Wodehouse stories. A man may be unable to become engaged to the woman he loves due to some impediment such as poverty, feelings of inferiority, or a relative's objection. Just as often, a protagonist unwillingly or unwittingly gets engaged to a woman he does not love, and must find some back-door way out other than breaking it off directly (which goes against a gentleman's code of honour and renders him vulnerable to a lawsuit for breach of promise). The most widely-read case in point is Bertie Wooster's engagement to the objectionable Madeline Bassett in Right Ho, Jeeves, which recurs in several subsequent novels.
Impersonations, and resulting confusion, are particularly common in the Blandings books, but also occur in other works. Often the impersonation is discovered, but the impersonator is able to silence the discoverer by means of bribery or blackmail, as in Leave it to Psmith and Uncle Fred in the Springtime.
Gambling often plays a large role in Wodehouse plots, typically with someone manipulating the outcome of the wager.
Another subject which features strongly in Wodehouse's plots is alcohol, and many plots revolve around the tipsiness of a major character. In The Mating Season, he enumerated what many people consider as the definitive list of hangovers: the Broken Compass, the Sewing Machine, the Comet, the Atomic, the Cement Mixer and the Gremlin Boogie. Furthermore, he makes several references to a drink called the "May Queen", described by Uncle Fred as "any good dry champagne, to which is added brandy, armagnac, kümmel, yellow chartreuse, and old stout, to taste", which inspires several characters to acts of daring, such as proposing to their true loves. Sometimes, other psychoactive substances are featured, for instance in Laughing Gas and the short story "Mulliner's Buck-U-Uppo".
Writing
Main articles: List of books by P. G. Wodehouse and List of short stories by P. G. Wodehouse
Wodehouse was a prolific author, writing 96 books in his remarkable seventy-three year long career (1902 to 1975). His works include novels, collections of short stories, and musical comedies. Many characters and locations appear repeatedly throughout his short stories and novels, leading readers to classify his work by "series":
The Blandings Castle stories (later dubbed "the Blandings Castle Saga" by Wodehouse), about the upper-class inhabitants of the fictional rural Blandings Castle. Includes the eccentric Lord Emsworth, obsessed by his prize-winning pig, the "Empress of Blandings", and at one point by his equally prize-winning pumpkin ("Hope of Blandings", but, mockingly, "Percy" to Emsworth's unappreciative second son Freddie Threepwood).
The Drones Club stories, about the mishaps of certain members of a raucous social club for London's idle rich. Drones Club stories always involve unnamed club members known as "Eggs", "Beans" and "Crumpets" (after the habit of addressing each other as "old egg", "old bean" or "old crumpet"); in each story, a well-informed Crumpet will endeavour to tell an Egg or Bean of the latest exploits of another Drones Club member, most frequently Freddie Widgeon or Bingo Little. Also featured are a cast of recurrent bit players such as Club millionaire Oofy Prosser.
The Golf and Oldest Member stories. They are built around one of Wodehouse's passions, the sport of golf, which all characters involved consider the only important pursuit in life. The Oldest Member of the golf course clubhouse tells most of them, usually to unwilling listeners who would prefer to be elsewhere.
The Jeeves and Wooster stories, narrated by the wealthy, scatterbrained Bertie Wooster. A number of stories and novels that recount the improbable and unfortunate situations in which he and his friends find themselves and the manner in which his ingenious valet Jeeves is always able to extricate them. Collectively called "the Jeeves stories", or "Jeeves and Wooster", they are Wodehouse's most famous. The Jeeves stories are a valuable compendium of pre-World War II English slang in use.
The Mr Mulliner stories, narrated by a genial pub raconteur who can take any topic of conversation and turn it into an involved, implausible story about a member of his family. Most of Mr. Mulliner's stories involve one or another of his innumerable nephews. His listeners are always identified solely by their drinks, e.g., a "Hot Scotch and Lemon" or a "Double Whisky and Splash".
The School stories, which launched Wodehouse's career with their comparative realism. They are often located at the fictional public schools of St. Austin's or Wrykyn.
The Psmith stories, about an ingenious jack-of-all-trades with a charming, exaggeratedly refined manner. The final Psmith story, Leave it to Psmith, overlaps the Blandings stories in that Psmith works for Lord Emsworth, lives for a time at Blandings Castle, and becomes a friend of Freddie Threepwood. Psmith first appeared in the school novel Mike.
The Ukridge stories, about the charming but unprincipled Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge, always looking to enlarge his income through the reluctant assistance of his friend in his schemes. Besides the short stories, there is one novel about him: Love Among the Chickens.
The Uncle Fred stories, about the eccentric Earl of Ickenham. Whenever he can escape his wife's chaperonage, he likes to spread what he calls "sweetness and light" and others are likely to call chaos. His escapades, always involving impersonations of some sort, are usually told from the viewpoint of his nephew and reluctant companion Reginald "Pongo" Twistleton. Several times he performs his "art" at Blandings Castle.
The stand-alone stories. Stories which are not part of a series (although they may contain overlapping minor characters), such as Piccadilly Jim, Quick Service, Summer Moonshine, Sam the Sudden, and Laughing Gas.
Almost all of these series overlap: Psmith appears in a "School" story and a Blandings novel; Bertie Wooster is a member of the Drones Club; Uncle Fred and Pongo Twistleton appear in both the Blandings Saga and the Drones club stories; Bingo Little is a regular character in the Jeeves Stories and the Drones Club stories, etc.
Adaptation
See also: Category:Works derived from P. G. Wodehouse
Considering the extent of his success, there have been comparatively few adaptations of Wodehouse's works. He was reluctant to allow others to adapt the Jeeves stories:
"One great advantage in being a historian to a man like Jeeves is that his mere personality prevents one selling one's artistic soul for gold. In recent years I have had lucrative offers for his services from theatrical managers, motion-picture magnates, the proprietors of one or two widely advertised commodities, and even the editor of the comic supplement of an American newspaper, who wanted him for a "comic strip". But, tempting though the terms were, it only needed Jeeves' deprecating cough and his murmured "I would scarcely advocate it, sir," to put the jack under my better nature. Jeeves knows his place, and it is between the covers of a book." (from Wodehouse's introduction to the compilation The World of Jeeves, 1967)
Doing his own adaptations for film did not attract him either. He had been retained by MGM in 1930 but little used: "They paid me $2,000 a week.... Yet apparently they had the greatest difficulty in finding anything for me to do." He returned to MGM in 1937 to work on the screenplay of Rosalie, but even though he was now being paid $2,500 a week and living luxuriously in Hollywood, he said "I'm not enjoying life much just now. I don't like doing pictures."
However, he formed a warm working relationship with Ian Hay, who adapted A Damsel in Distress as a stage play in 1928, with Hay, Wodehouse and A. A. Milne all investing in the production. Wodehouse and Hay holidayed together in Scotland, finding "a lot of interests in common". Wodehouse went on to help dramatise Hay's story Baa Baa Black Sheep in 1929, and in 1930 they co-wrote the stage version of Leave It to Psmith.
Wodehouse wrote the screenplay for the musical film A Damsel in Distress released in 1937, starring Fred Astaire, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Joan Fontaine, with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. A 1962 film adaptation of The Girl On The Boat starred Norman Wisdom, Millicent Martin and Richard Briers.
The Blandings, Jeeves, Ukridge and Mulliner stories have all been adapted for television. The Jeeves series has been adapted for television twice, once in the 1960s (by the BBC), with the title The World of Wooster, starring Ian Carmichael as Bertie Wooster, and Dennis Price as Jeeves, and again in the 1990s (by Granada Television for ITV), with the title Jeeves and Wooster, starring Hugh Laurie as Bertie and Stephen Fry as Jeeves. David Niven and Arthur Treacher also starred as Bertie and Jeeves, respectively, in a short 1930s film that had the title Thank You, Jeeves!, though neither this nor the sequel, Step Lively, Jeeves, also starring Treacher as Jeeves but without Bertie, bears any relation to a Wodehouse story.
In 1975, Andrew Lloyd Webber made a musical, originally titled Jeeves. In 1996, it was rewritten as the more successful By Jeeves, which made it to Broadway, and a performance recorded as a video film, also shown on TV.
A version of Heavy Weather was filmed by the BBC in 1995 starring Peter O'Toole as Lord Emsworth and Richard Briers, again, as Lord Emsworth's brother, Galahad Threepwood.
Piccadilly Jim was first filmed in 1919, and again in 1936, starring Robert Montgomery. In 2004, Julian Fellowes wrote another screen adaptation which starred Sam Rockwell. This version was not successful.
There was also a series of BBC adaptations of various short works, mostly from the Mulliner series, under the title of Wodehouse Playhouse starring John Alderton and Pauline Collins, which aired starting in 1975. The first series was introduced by Wodehouse himself, aged 93.
Arthur, starring Dudley Moore and Sir John Gielgud, and its sequel Arthur II: On the Rocks, were also an adaptation of the characters of Bertie and Jeeves, although not officially acknowledged, and many of the lines and incidents from the movie, including the main plot involving an engagement, were directly influenced by Wodehouse's characters.
Wodehouse's involvement with film and television from around the world is chronicled in Brian Taves, P.G. Wodehouse and Hollywood: Screenwriting, Satires, and Adaptations (McFarland, 2006).
Czech author Zdeněk Jirotka based his Saturnin novel largely on the character of Jeeves.
Major character
Lists of P. G. Wodehouse character
Characters in all Wodehouse storie
Characters in the Blandings storie
Characters in the Drones Club storie
Characters in the Jeeves storie
Characters in the Mulliner storie
Characters in the Ukridge storie
Characters in other storie
v • d • e
Major characters of primary importance
Wodehouse's work contains a number of recurring protagonists, narrators and principal characters, including:
Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves; his Aunt Dahlia and Aunt Agatha
Lord Emsworth of Blandings Castle, and his large family
Mr Mulliner, irrepressible pub raconteur of family storie
The Oldest Member, irrepressible nineteenth hole raconteur of golf storie
Psmith, monocled dandy and practical socialist
Ukridge, irrepressible entrepreneur and cheerful opportunist
Uncle Fred (Frederick Cornwallis, Fifth Earl of Ickenham), considered, in some circles, a disgrace to the Peerage. Spreading "sweetness and light" through impersonation
Major characters of secondary importance
Certain of Wodehouse's less central characters are particularly well-known, despite being less critical elements of his works as a whole.
Anatole, French chef extraordinaire, very temperamental
Galahad Threepwood, Lord Emsworth's brother, lifelong bachelor with a mis-spent youth and a kind heart
Sebastian Beach, Lord Emsworth's butler
Rupert Baxter, Lord Emsworth's efficient but annoying secretary
Major Brabazon-Plank, Amazon explorer, afraid of bonnie babie
Sir Roderick Glossop, intimidating psychiatrist
Honoria Glossop, Sir Roderick's daughter and sometime fiancée of Bertie Wooster, demanding, imperious, athletic
Tuppy Glossop, Sir Roderick's nephew, muscular rugby-player
Roderick Spode, later 7th Earl of Sidcup, amateur dictator, very tall and muscular, based on British fascist Oswald Mosley
Pongo Twistleton, Uncle Fred's nephew
Oofy Prosser, millionaire member of the Drones Club
Monty Bodkin, second richest member of the Drones Club (second to Oofy Prosser)
Bingo Little, friend of Bertie Wooster, with a complicated love-life
Rodney Spelvin, big, muscular golfer, inclined to jealousy
Agnes Flack, big, muscular, female golfer
Freddie Widgeon, member of the Drones Club
Gussie Fink-Nottle, fish-faced, socially awkward newt-fancier who cannot hold his liquor
Sir Watkyn Bassett, owner of Totleigh Tower
Madeline Bassett, daughter of Sir Watkyn, very pretty but disturbingly drippy and poetical; often voices conviction that "the stars are God's daisy-chain" and other goofy sentiment
Bobbie Wickham, attractive but ruthless red-haired girl, very demanding and fond of practical joke
Florence Craye, Bertie Wooster's cousin and sometimes fiancee, and author of the novel Spindrift
Lord Uffenham, owner and butler of Shipley Hall
Mike Jackson, Psmith's steadfast, cricket-playing friend
Archibald Mulliner, sock collector who can mimic a hen laying an egg
Extremely minor, but ubiquitous, character
Lord Knubble of Knopp, mentioned in Mulliner stories and Golf Stories and other stories as well; references to him are always so brief and inconsequential that they may not be fully catalogued. Most often mentioned in connection with other characters, without actually appearing. A thin, well-dressed, "horse-faced" man, who occasionally appears at house parties and loses at cards. Very wealthy in spite of this.