Reginald Jeeves

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Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character by the British-American writer PG Wodehouse (1881-1975) who plays a role in short stories and novels written by Wodehouse between 1917 and 1974. Jeeves, who is almost always only addressed by his surname, is, contrary to what is often assumed, not a butler , but as a personified “gentleman's personal gentleman”, the valet of the wealthy Bertie Wooster . While a butler is in charge of his employer's household, a valet serves his employer personally and is characterized by a particularly close relationship with his employer. Nonetheless, Bertram Wooster borrows Jeeves as a butler in various short stories and novels and therefore maintains that "if the call is made, he can also butler as well."

Some of the novels in which Jeeves is the protagonist are considered classics of British humor. Robert McCrum leads Without me, Jeeves! in the Guardian's list of the 100 best English-language novels . In 2015, 82 international literary critics and scholars voted Old Adel Not Rusting one of the most important British novels . John le Carré, on the other hand, stated in a newspaper article published in 1996 that every book collection does not have to contain a well-read copy of Dann, Jeeves .

Wodehouse novels, in which Jeeves is the protagonist alongside Bertie Wooster, have been adapted several times for film, television and radio. The best known Jeeves actors include Arthur Treacher and Stephen Fry . Plot motifs from Wodehouse novels are also the basis for the musical By Jeeves , which premiered in 1975 and for which Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote the music.

Jeeves as a character in a novel

With the exception of the short story " Bertie Changes His Mind ", which is told from Jeeves' perspective, the actions of all of Bertie's narratives are narrated in the first person. For more than fifty years Jeeves did not get a first name from its creator. It was only in the late novel Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971) that Bertram Wooster describes how he learned the first name of his servant: "Hello Reggie," he said, and I froze in my chair, overwhelmed by the revelation that Jeeves first name was Reginald was ...

In the canon of Wodehouse books, there is only one book in which Bertram has to do without Jeeves: " Ring for Jeeves " documents the time when Jeeves was awarded to the 9th Earl of Rowchester while Bertram attended a course in which rich idlers can learn self-sufficiency in the event of social unrest.

Even though PG Wodehouse wrote stories about these two characters for more than half a century, they don't age. The time period in which the plot takes place is also not precisely defined: In an article for the Sunday Times Magazine in 1961, Evelyn Waugh wrote that the characters from Wodehouse were not characters from the Edwardian age , as is often claimed, but purely fantasy- They are characters who live in a fantasy world of unspoiled, paradisiacal innocence. The novels often begin in Bertie's London apartment, but then continue in various English country estates such as Brinkley Court or Totleigh Towers. Occasionally, however, New York and several other locations in the United States are also the setting. This also reflects the fact that Wodehouse spent a large part of his life in the USA.

Professional background

Jeeve's first job was that of a page in a girls' school; after that he had at least eleven other employers. Known are Lord Worplesdon, whom he left after a year because of his unacceptable evening wear, and Digby Thistleton (later Lord Bridgenorth), who sold a hair tonic; Montague Todd, a financier who was serving his sophomore year in prison at the time Jeeves mentioned him to Bertram; Lord Brancaster, feeding his parrot grain biscuits soaked in port wine; Lord Frederick Ranelagh, who had been betrayed in Monte Carlo by the recurring gangster Soapy Sid. Jeeves later worked for Lord Rowchester for the term of " Ring for Jeeves ". Bertie's old friend Lord 'Chuffy' Chufnell could consider himself lucky for a week in “ Bertie in Wild Anticipation ” after Jeeves had resigned from Bertram Wooster because Wooster did not want to give up the banjo game at any price. Jeeves briefly worked for the US millionaire J. Washburhn Stoker. However, his occupation with this also turns out to be a ruse to deliver a love letter to Lord Chuffnell's lady of the heart. The brief change of employer ends when Jeeves smuggles Bertie Wooster off the yacht on which Stoker was imprisoned. Another brief employer of Jeeves is Augustus (Gussie) Fink-Nottle, who had to dress up as Bertram Wooster in “The Mating Season” ; after all , he served Sir Watkyn Bassett on " Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves " to free Bertram from prison by this trick.

characterization

Language and quotations

Jeeves is characterized by his elegantly reserved language and differs in this from Bertie Wooster, who tends to use a more casual expression. Unlike his employer, he is very demanding in his reading. Not only did Bertie give him a new edition of the works of Baruch de Spinoza (in Ohne mich, Jeeves! ), But also read Nietzsche (an author he advised against Bertie in Without me, Jeeves! ), As well as Dostoyevsky and the other "great Russians". Jeeves is happy to delight Bertie and his friends with quotes. The sources from which he draws are very extensive. In addition to the works of Shakespeare , the Bible and Charles Dickens , he likes to quote the Roman poets and philosophers Lucretius , Pliny the Younger , Marcus Aurelius , Horace and Virgil . No less textually confident, he draws on the works of great English, Scottish and Irish poets, writers and philosophers such as Percy Shelley , Lord Byron , Alfred Tennyson , Rudyard Kipling , John Keats , Walter Scott , Elizabeth Barrett Browning , Thomas Moore , John Milton , William Ernest Henley , Robert Louis Stevenson , Robert Burns and William Wordsworth . His repertoire also includes quotes from the works of the Americans John Greenleaf Whittier and Ralph Waldo Emerson . The occasionally quoted Rosie M. Banks, on the other hand, is a fictional character - she is the wife of Bertie's long-time friend Bingo Little and has made a name for herself as a writer of romances. Richard Usborne points out that although the list of authors cited is impressive, the authors named were all British upper class literature.

Encyclopedic knowledge

Jeeves' immense knowledge and wisdom has become proverbial, so an internet search engine was named after him ( Ask Jeeves ). For example, in Without me, Jeeves! tells his employer how the stock market works and why it is so essential that Lord Worplesdon, husband of Bertie's fearsome Aunt Agatha , meet in secret with his American business partner to negotiate a merger of the two shipping lines. He also uses this to give his employer a Latin sentence on the way, which is then alluded to several times in the course of the novel. When Bertie finally explains the connections correctly, Jeeves answers him:

"That's right, sir. Rem acu tetigisti. "

"Rem ...?"

“Acu tetigisti, sir. A Latin phrase. It literally means: you touched the matter with the needle, but an idiomatic translation would be [...] "

"[…] Nailed it?"

"Exactly, sir."

“Yes, now I understand. You have shed light on the matter! "

Member of the Junior Ganymede Club

Jeeves is a member of the Junior Ganymede Club , a club for butlers and valets. This club also keeps a club book in which they write down the misdeeds of their employers. The section “Wooster B” is the longest in this book at eleven pages. As a member of the Junior Ganymede Club, however, Jeeves has access to information about other employers. In Alter Adel Don't Rust , that's exactly what puts Bertie's opponent Roderick Spode out of action. Spode, whose character Wodehouse is closely based on Oswald Mosley , the founder of the fascist party British Union of Fascists (BUF) , designs lingerie with passion and sells it secretly in London in the “Eulalie” shop. Since this passion would put an end to his political career, Jeeves and with it Bertie Wooster have found a lever to force Spode to take on the theft of a police helmet.

Assertiveness

Bertie Wooster is proud to have once contributed an article to Aunt Dahlia's magazine "Mylady's Boudoir". His article, titled “What the Well Dressed Gentleman Wears,” is mentioned in more than one novel by Bertie. Despite this excursion into the world of fashion, Jeeves is more than skeptical of a number of Bertie's wardrobe decisions: In his opinion, handkerchiefs with initials, straw or Tyrolean hats and purple socks do not belong in a man's wardrobe. One of the plot components that are particularly typical of the novels is that Jeeves expresses his disapproval for one of Bertie's accessories at the beginning of the plot. Jeeves proves to be extremely assertive when it comes to removing those items of clothing that he disapproves of.

Already in the short story Jeeves takes over the helm (first published in 1916), in which PG Wodehouse explains how Bertie Wooster comes to this valet, Jeeves manages to talk his employer out of a suit that he sees too conspicuously patterned. Bertie's engagement to Lady Florence Craye - an extremely unfortunate choice of partner from Jeeves' point of view - also comes to a quick end thanks to his intervention. In Then you don't, Jeeves disagrees with Bertie's white dinner jacket - in the end it is burn marks that Jeeves accidentally inflicts on the jacket while ironing that gets this dinner jacket out of the way. The Tyrolean hat that Bertie wears at the beginning of SOS, Jeeves! so proud is owned by Sir Watkyn's valet at the end of the novel.

Jeeves also proves to be able to enforce much more far-reaching decisions: In Without me, Jeeves! Jeeves is keen to spend the summer in Steeple Bumpleigh, which would offer Jeeves such excellent fishing opportunities, and a short time later Bertie is on the way. In Alter Adel does not rust it is a cruise that Jeeves advertises at the beginning of the novel and that Bertie Wooster finally agrees to at the end of the novel.

Jeeves as a mastermind

In Then Just Not, Jeeves , the second full-length novel with Bertie Wooster and Jeeves as protagonists, a driving force behind the plot is that Bertie gradually becomes jealous that friends like Augustus Fink-Nottle and relatives like Aunt Dahlia turn to Jeeves when they find themselves in situations in which they no longer know what to do next. His instruction to Jeeves that he should give up his role as advisor and refer all those seeking advice to him, however, leads to chaos. The entanglements are only resolved when Bertie recognizes that Jeeves is superior to him in bringing lovers back together.

The character of Jeeves in the novels and short stories of Wodehouse

Valet and butler

PG Wodehouse has spoken out on butlers and valets several times outside of his novels and short stories. He explained his fascination with this professional group by the fact that as a boy he was occasionally taken to visit mansions by his aunts and uncles who were in church service. The Wodehouse, who was rather reserved in social intercourse, was allowed to take his tea in the servants' dining room more often during these visits. PG Wodehouse has described a total of 61 different butlers in his extensive humorous work. One of the most famous butlers is Beach , the butler of the slightly cluttered Lord Emsworth at Blandings Castle . Most of these butlers are extremely awe-inspiring people, as Jerry Vail, one of the protagonists of the novel Pig or Not Pig , observes time and again when meeting Butler Beach:

“It is only an extremely fearless young man who can look at an English butler continually and completely without feeling the humility of a worm. All of Jerry's previous encounters with Beach - in the hallways, in the hall, at lunch and dinner - had left him with the impression that his, Jerry's feet were too big, his ears too red, and that his social status was somewhere between that of a teenager Criminal and a badly dressed leper. "

In the work of Wodehouse, valets, on the other hand, are mentioned relatively little, and when they do, the difference to Jeeves is very big: the valet Meadowes, who is briefly mentioned in Jeeves as the predecessor of Jeeves, steals the silk socks of his employer and valet Brinkley, den Bertie has to engage Bertie in wild anticipation as a Jeeves substitute, likes to sing church hymns and attacks his employer with a carving knife, drunk.

The evolution of the figure

The idea, which ultimately manifested itself in the figure of Jeeves, existed before Bertram Wooster. Wodehouse had long thought about a butler or valet who could just solve any problem. A character named Reggie Pepper, who was very similar to Jeeves in many ways, was the main character in four short stories. Soon Wodehouse decided to rewrite the stories: Reggie became Bertram Wooster, who was then combined with Jeeves. In his autobiography “ Bring on the Girls! “Describes Wodehouse that Jeeves was drawn after Wodehouse's real butler Robinson, and reports on a situation in which Robinson had actually helped him out of a mess.

Frances Donaldson, however, points out that it is often overlooked that Wodehouse was not only a novelist for many years, but also wrote for the stage. Many of the protagonists who appear in novels and stories by Wodehouse were originally modeled on stereotypical characters from entertainment theater. When asked whether there was a role model for the character of the valet Jeeves, Wodehouse, who gave notoriously unreliable information about his own life and work, gave a number of different answers. However, he wrote to longtime friend and co-writer Guy Bolton :

“.... When we did Bring on the Girls together, I claimed I had designed Jeeves after a butler whom I called Robinson. Of course that's not true. At the beginning I had no other role model for him than the conventional theater butler. "

Forerunner in English literature

Indeed, there are several forerunners of Jeeves in English literature: Sam Weller, Mr. Pickwick's valet, is a major protagonist in Charles Dickens ' novel The Pickwick Papers and is more cosmopolitan than his employer. In the British satirical magazine Punch , grave valets - often given the unusual Scottish first name Jeames - were a regularly recurring figure from the 1860s. Sir Archie Roylance, a fictional character in John Buchan's spy thrillers , has a valet with encyclopedic knowledge to train his employer. In JM Barrie's play The admirable Crichton , it is the family butler who is the only one with practical life experience to take the lead when he and his employer's family are stranded on a deserted island. In her memoirs of the writer, Cynthia Asquith reported that Barrie's own butler, Thurston, read Latin and Greek texts while polishing the silver and correcting his employer's guests if they misquoted. Richard Usborne points out, however, that PG Wodehouse only knew JM Barrie briefly, was never a guest in his apartment and thus never met this butler.

Film adaptations, radio broadcasts

As a feature film, the character was filmed twice: Thank You, Jeeves from 1936 and Step Lively, Jeeves from 1937. Arthur Treacher Jeeves played in both films , Bertie Wooster was played by David Niven in the first film , but does not appear in the second.

BBC 1 - (1960s)

May 1965 - November 1967: The World of Wooster was a half hour series for BBC 1 starring Ian Carmichael as Bertie and Dennis Price as Jeeves. Derek Nimmo played Bingo Little.

BBC Radio 4 series

In the 1970s, a radio series with Michael Hordern as Jeeves and Richard Briers as Bertie was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 .

ITV series

In the early 1990s, Stephen Fry (Jeeves) and Hugh Laurie (Wooster) played in Jeeves and Wooster .

Adaptations in the works of other authors

Cyril Northcote Parkinson wrote a fictional biography of Jeeves in 1981 : A Gentleman's Personal Gentleman (similar to the one about Horatio Hornblower ).

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn wrote the musical By Jeeves based on the Jeeves motif .

Trivia

Jeeves is not the only servant who arranges everything for his employer. Lord Emsworth , protagonist of PG Wodehouse's Blandings Castle novels, employs the heavyweight Sebastian Beach, a butler who, in a manner comparable to Jeeves', plays a large part in ensuring that the difficulties that his employer gets into are dissolved in good pleasure.

Book editions (English)

Jeeves and Bertie first appeared in "Extricating Young Gussie," a short story published in September 1915, in which Jeeves only played a minor role. There are a total of 11 novels and 35 short stories with Jeeves.

  • The Man with Two Left Feet (1917) - with twelve other stories
  • My Man Jeeves (1919), new Everymans Library 2006, ISBN 1-84159-146-7 - as four of eight stories:
    • "Leave it to Jeeves"
    • "Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest"
    • "Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg"
    • "The Aunt and the Sluggard"
  • The Inimitable Jeeves (1923), Penguin, ISBN 0-14-028412-5 . German title: The incomparable Jeeves . Originally a novel with 18 chapters, but mostly published as eleven short stories:
    • "Jeeves Exerts the Old Cerebellum" with "No Wedding Bells for Bingo" (also together as Jeeves in the Springtime )
    • "Aunt Agatha Speaks Her Mind" with "Pearls Mean Tears" (together "Aunt Agatha Takes the Count")
    • "The Pride of the Woosters is Wounded" with "The Hero's Reward" (together "Scoring Off Jeeves")
    • "Introducing Claude and Eustace" with "Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch" (together "Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch")
    • "A Letter of Introduction" with "Startling Dressiness of a Lift Attendant" (together "Jeeves and the Chump Cyril")
    • "Comrade Bingo" with "Bingo Has a Bad Goodwood" (together "Comrade Bingo")
    • "The Great Sermon Handicap"
    • "The Purity of the Turf"
    • "The Metropolitan Touch"
    • "The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace"
    • "Bingo and the Little Woman" with "All's Well" (together "Bingo and the Little Woman")
  • Carry on, Jeeves (1925), Penguin 1999, ISBN 0-14-028408-7 - ten stories:
    • " Jeeves Takes Charge ", relates his first meeting with Bertie,
    • "The Artistic Career of Corky", new version of "Leave it to Jeeves" from My Man Jeeves
    • "Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest", first in My Man Jeeves
    • "Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg", first in My Man Jeeves
    • "The Aunt and the Sluggard", first in My Man Jeeves
    • "The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy"
    • "Without the Option"
    • "Fixing it for Freddie", a rewrite of the "Reggie Pepper" story, "Helping Freddie", first appeared in My Man Jeeves
    • "Clustering Round Young Bingo"
    • "Bertie Changes His Mind" - the only story told by Jeeves
  • Very Good, Jeeves (1930), Penguin ISBN 0-14-028410-9 - eleven stories:
    • "Jeeves and the Impending Doom"
    • "The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy"
    • "Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit " (US title: Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit )
    • "Jeeves and the Song of Songs"
    • "Episode of the Dog McIntosh" (US title: Jeeves and the Dog McIntosh )
    • "The Spot of Art" (US title: Jeeves and the Spot of Art )
    • "Jeeves and the Kid Clementina"
    • "The Love That Purifies" (US title: Jeeves and the Love That Purifies )
    • "Jeeves and the Old School Chum"
    • "The Indian Summer of an Uncle"
    • "The Ordeal of Young Tuppy" (US title: Tuppy Changes His Mind )
  • Thank You, Jeeves (1934) - the first longer Jeeves novel, new Penguin, ISBN 0-14-028116-9 . Under the German title Bertie in wild anticipation and many thanks, Jeeves! released.
  • Right Ho, Jeeves (1934) (US title: Brinkley Manor ), Penguin, ISBN 0-14-028409-5 , German title: Then just not, Jeeves
  • The Code of the Woosters (1938), new Penguin 2001, ISBN 0-14-118597-X , German title Alter Adel rostet nicht
  • Joy in the Morning (1946) (US title: Jeeves in the Morning ), new Penguin 1999, ISBN 0-14-028117-7 , German title Ohne mich, Jeeves!
  • The Mating Season (1949), new with the novels Right Ho, Jeeves and The Code of the Woosters in Jeeves and Wooster Omnibus , Penguin 2001, ISBN 0-14-028469-9
  • Ring for Jeeves (1953) - The only novel with Jeeves without Bertie (US title: The Return of Jeeves ), Penguin 1999, ISBN 0-14-028118-5
  • Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1954) (US title: Bertie Wooster Sees It Through ), Penguin 1999, ISBN 0-14-028120-7
  • A Few Quick Ones (1959) - a short story with nine others
    • “Jeeves Makes an Omelette”, rewrite of a Reggie Pepper story from My Man Jeeves
  • Jeeves in the Offing (1960) (US title: How Right You Are, Jeeves )
  • Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963), new Penguin 1999, ISBN 0-14-002479-4 .
  • Plum Pie (1966) - one short story among eight others.
    • "Jeeves and the Greasy Bird"
  • Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971) (US title: Jeeves and the Tie That Binds ), Penguin 1999, ISBN 0-14-005102-3
  • Aunts Aren't Gentlemen (1974) (US title: The Cat-Nappers ), Penguin 1999, ISBN 0-14-004192-3

German editions

  • Without me Jeeves (Joy in the Morning), also: Schwamm over it, Sir (dtv 1985); Stuttgarter Verlag 1950 (as Zu Hilfe Jeeves ), as well as Epoca 2002 and Suhrkamp, ISBN 3-518-45838-8
  • Then not Jeeves (Right Ho, Jeeves), dtv 1981, 1991 and Rowohlt 1997
  • Jeeves is in a class of its own (Very Good, Jeeves), dtv 1992 (first Jeeves saves the situation , Goldmann 1933)
  • Jeeves Takes Charge / Jeeves takes the helm (bilingual), dtv 1979
  • SOS, Jeeves! (Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves), Epoca and Suhrkamp 2007, ISBN 3-518-45839-6 , also as What do Jeeves do? , Goldmann 1980
  • Where is Jeeves? (Jeeves in the Offing), Epoca, Zurich 2006, ISBN 3-905513-41-2 , also as Keine Ferien für Jeeves , Goldmann 1975, 1984
  • Stories by Jeeves and Wooster , Rowohlt 1996
  • Keep it up Jeeves (Carry on, Jeeves), Rowohlt 1996
  • The incomparable Jeeves (The Inimitable Jeeves), Rowohlt 1995
  • Bertie in wild anticipation (Thank You, Jeeves), dtv 1988 (first Zinnenverlag 1934 as best thanks, Jeeves )
  • Old nobility does not rust (The Code of the Woosters), dtv 1986
  • Adel forgets itself (Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit), dtv 1984
  • Five to twelve, Jeeves! (Aunt's aren't Gentlemen), Goldmann 1981
  • It doesn't work without a butler (Much Obliged, Jeeves), Goldmann 1977
  • Jeeves does everything (My Man Jeeves), Stuttgart, J. Engelhorn's successor 1929

literature

  • Frances Donaldson: PG Wodehouse: A Biography . London 1982, ISBN 0-297-78105-7 .
  • Richard Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. Overlook, Woodstock / NY 2003, ISBN 1-58567-441-9 .

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ↑ The best British novel of all times - have international critics found it? The Guardian , accessed February 6, 2016
  2. ↑ John le Carré; Personal Best: Right Ho, Jeeves , Salon. September 30, 1996 , accessed April 24, 2016.
  3. ^ Evelyn Waugh, The Sunday Times Magazine . July 16, 1961
  4. ↑ a b c Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. P. 82.
  5. ↑ PG Wodehouse: Without me, Jeeves! , P. 28. Translation by Thomas Schlachter.
  6. ↑ Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. P. 174.
  7. ↑ Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. P. 82.
  8. ↑ Richard Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. Overlook, Woodstock / NY 2003, ISBN 1-58567-441-9 . P. 99
  9. ↑ PG Wodehouse: Pig or not pig . P. 187.
  10. ^ Donaldson: PG Wodehouse: A Biography . P. 13.
  11. ↑ a b c d Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. P. 83.
  12. ↑ Usborne: Plum Sauce. A PG Wodehouse Companion. P. 84.