Brideshead Revisited

Some consider Brideshead Revisited to be a novel about love, some think it is about family, and others the waning powers of British aristocracy. Evelyn Waugh considered it to be a book about religion. Do you think it is only one of these things, or could it be about all of them?

In his letter to A. D. Peters, Waugh wrote, “I hoped the last conversation with Cordelia gave a theological clue.” What does Cordelia say that reveals Waugh’s true intentions?

In 1944, Henry Wallace, then vice president of the United States, declared that the twentieth century was “the century of the common man.” This statement caused much discussion in England, and because of it Waugh’s portrayal of Hooper, the representative “common man” in Brideshead Revisited, attracted controversy from the book’s critics. Do you find the portrayal of Captain Hooper offensive? Is the class issue still relevant today, or is it particular to the time in which the book was published?

When we first meet Sebastian, he carries a teddy bear with him wherever he goes. Why does he carry the teddy? To what degree is Sebastian still a boy when we meet him? How much of this behavior is affected and how much is genuine?

How much of Charles’s identity is infl uenced by his relationship with the Flyte family?

Though they were all raised in the same household, each Flyte child has a different relationship with Catholicism. How would you define the differing feelings that Bridey, Julia, Sebastian, and Cordelia have about their religion?

What draws Charles to Sebastian? And what draws Sebastian to Charles? Several times Charles refers to Sebastian as “the forerunner” to his love for Julia. What do you think he means?

Infidelity is treated casually by those in Charles and Julia’s social circle. When the two decide they love each other and want to marry, their relationship becomes much more controversial. Is marriage an act of love in the world of Brideshead Revisited?

When Bridey tells Julia she is “living in sin,” it has a great effect on her. Do you think she had never thought of this before? Is it the first time Charles becomes aware of how greatly their “sins” sit on her?

The final impediment to Charles and Julia’s marriage is that in the eyes of the Catholic Church, he is still married to Celia — despite their state-issued divorce. Waugh faced a similar situation in his own life when he decided to marry his second wife, and subsequently pursued an annulment from his fi rst wife (despite their being legally divorced). Why do you think he chose not to make this a part of Charles and Julia’s love story?

There are three significant deaths in Julia’s life — her mother’s, her father’s, and that of her stillborn child with Rex. How do these deaths effect her decisions in life?

Charles is not a writer by profession, but as Julia points out he sees everything “second-hand” as if they were in a play. Is this his personality, or a way of explaining his role of narrator?