Brideshead Revisited

Evelyn Waugh

Charles Ryder narrates the story of an established old money English family between World Wars I and II. The book opens with him arriving in 1944 with his Army regiment to bunk down at Brideshead mansion. As soon as he sees the homestead he is immersed in his memories from Oxford and after.

Charles met Sebastian his first year up at Oxford. Sebastian claimed him immediately and they became best of friends. Ever after Charles was able to admit he loved Sebastian in days when men would not admit their feelings. Sebastian's problem was his family. He was happy as long as he was apart from them. He tried to keep Charles separate from his family, but eventually they had to mee.

The family is a complex one. They are Catholic, not common in English nobility. The father, Lord Marchmain, had moved to Europe at the end of the war and never returned to his wife. She never divorced him, and instead ran the family with a silk clad fist. Whenever someone new was introduced to the family, she quickly let her presence be known. Quickly Charles was pulled into the web. The more Charles came to know the family, the more Sebastian pulled away. After the first parting with the Marchmain family, Charles finds himself pulled in again about ten years later.

This novel depicts the downfall of old English nobility ways of life. Traditions that remained for hundreds of years fell apart after World Wars I and II. This shows how difficult it was for those families trying to retain traditions, religious beliefs, and their standards of years.