jeeves is such a kind man his heart too big his love all consuming. Sick and tired of people portraying him as a psychopath Leave my wife alone You are not allowed to perceive her. I am revoking your right to do so
I don't talk about this here because I dislike being a contrarian in the open, but it's aggravating when people take J&W as a critique structured in comical emulation instead of deconstruction. J&W applies satire through deconstruction and presents a contrast that emphasizes real world absurdity, it is a mockery of the naked. That's why Bertie being the text is something that's immutable in his capacity as the magic eye of this ridiculous, "raw" placeāhe is completely integrated, we are annexed through him. That's why in relation to the master-servant deconstruction, they don't need to say equality, they exist within it, that is where the narrative's formed.
Fanfics where Bertie is like 'ooh Jeeves you're my equal ~ what's your first name ~ let me do all the chores if you're sick ~ call me Bertie ~ ect' are misunderstanding Bertie Wooster's character so bad it hurts.
His idle rich ass doesn't have the introspection needed for any of that!! He probably thinks servants pop out of their mothers in tuxedos and aprons ready to serve the rich. He is friendly, but has never once thought about the implications of the class he is nestled in. Nor jeeves. He is NOT progressive. Passively ok with progress if not finding it corny and silly (comrade bingo is an example of this) at most. Maybe.
Anyway he sees Jeeves as his valet. Intrinsically someone there to help. And should help! Because he is a servant. And he's never once thought too deeply about that fact unless he has to spend time without a valet and gets big sad lol
There's a misunderstanding with your point. Fanworks that hammer in vulgar equality are futile because Jeeves and Bertie are already equals in canon. This is the intent; employing reverse idioms to question and mock roles and their supposed association (e. g. a position of power invariably comes with virtue, as to acquire said position in the first place you need an "inherent" distinction) Bertie isn't "progressive" in the sense that his character is explicitly longing for class abolitionāas Wodehouse himself did not have leftist inclinationsāhe is "progressive" because he is a character inserted in a narrative that employs equality within its base structure. Even when Bertie's upper-class affectations are put forth (āIt might be unworthy of the prestige of a Wooster to squash in among the proletariat in the standing-room-only section, but at least, I felt, I was out of the danger zoneā), apart from featuring Bertie being well aware of the existence of positions, it's noticeable how the narrative does not comply with it, for the narrative does not regard this existence as material; J&W is a deconstruction, and the master-servant relationship is in central aim. The notion of someone being "intrinsically" something because of a role is what the books question.
TL;DR bertie does not see jeeves as his valet bc this would break the entire narrative. it is a conversation we need to have through the narrative and not through the characters as beings alienated from it. wdym intrinsically lmfao
now do i agree with wodehouse's hypermega liberal perspective of class? no. but let's be serious. *this* topic is what misunderstands j&w as a whole so bad it hurts lmfao. also ntm bertie knows the implications of having jeeves of all people as a valet lmfao -> "It beats me sometimes why a man with his genius is satisfied to hang around pressing my clothes and what not. If I had half Jeeves's brain I should have a stab at being Prime Minister or something." this is in carry on jeeves like šš
anyways an extension of my idea -> "bertie doesn't see jeeves as his valet"
this bit from summer day always kills me bc. i know it's him getting progressively more desperate but like bingo, yeah. gussie? sure. BASSETT??? š oh bertie...
hey i don't really know you but im a fellow jeeves enthusiast. i just saw your post about jeeves '75 post and im intrigued! i am an... enjoyer feels too strong of a word.... i am an occasional listener of by jeeves, and i didn't know there was another (better?) jeeves musical!! its sort of made me realize i don't know a ton about the non-prose or 90s television jeeves content.
basically what im trying to say is that do you have any resources regarding jeeves '75 that i could watch/listen to, and, by extension, could you point me in the direction of a masterlist of jeeves adaptations (radio plays, films(?), etc)?
hey, good to meet another jeeves enthusiast š«” and ofc! here are the helpful links:
jeeves (1975) cast recording
jeeves (1975) and by jeeves page on alan ayckbourn's official website -- most stuff about jeeves (1975) can be found here! it's extremely informative
my WIP google doc with every bit of info on jeeves (1975) i could find lol
for an adaptation masterlist, there's this neocities (though i've heard it's not being updated anymore... or at least not as frequently)
What ho! Just want to say that I love reading about the random anecdotes on the infamous ā75 Jeeves musical, please never stop sharing what you find.
Iām curious to know how you came across the show, and any of your personal opinions or thoughts about it. Do you have any favorite songs, anything you prefer in Jeeves compared to By Jeeves, etcā¦ mostly I just want more discussions of ā75 Jeeves on my dash lol.
Hope you are having a lovely day <3
hello! thank you so much for such kind words. i'm happy to see more people also appreciate the insanity this musical is!! jeeves '75 is a very interesting piece of lost media for me because it's not about the content (seeing it performed/reading its script) but about the enviromentāliving the disaster as it was instead of studying it in detached posterity... but that's all we, in said detached posterity, can do lol. even though it might be a solemn thought, knowing it's something impossible to satiate also maintains the fascination. i enjoy all bertie songs but i have to say my favorite is "code of the woosters" it's such a lovely songādavid hemmings has the definitive bertie voice for me. sorry if this sounds mean but honestly imo *everything* in jeeves '75 is superior to by jeeves š by jeeves could've been saved by decent songs but oh it was not. i know it's the point, so it works well with the lowkey, amateur format the musical's aiming for but did the songs have to sound so cheap? i feel you can do simple without being worse than retail store playlist simple š« i guess... looking up... there's martin jarvis... and he's Trying His Best but that script and direction did not help i fear. he's a proper jeeves in the two radio adaptations i've heard so it rlly wasn't his fault lololol. anyways!!! talking about jeeves '75 is really fun! i really hope more people get into it. i'm having a great day, thank you, and i hope you're enjoying yours too ā¤ļø
the fact that during the production of the 1975 jeeves musical ayckbourn & co came up with the idea of having bingo's actor swinging around on a chandelier just to, apparently, only find out about his "most appalling vertigo" when the man got up on his toes and started SCREAMING kills me. well this is why jeeves '75 is the superior version like wodehouse prophesied its doom bingo's actor was tortured orchestra refused to play voytek made everything green david hemmings had panic attacks and did magic tricks audience and critics mad as hell not a thing to smile about
Critics cite Bertieās endeavours on Right Ho, Jeeves as jealousy, yet that notion is extremely reductive. For this, I will only comment on books before the release of Right Ho, Jeeves and Right Ho, Jeeves itself as the main subject is the study of this specific aspect of Bertieās character and how it slowly evolved until reaching its peak on the book in question.
Bertie has introspective, sensitive and vulnerable partsāsome of which he is glad to present, some of which he doesnāt even want to recognize. By negating it heās able to layer to the point of suffocation.
He has a habit of downgrading himself, and itās clear why. Hearing something so often it conditions yourself to believe it was something you always thought, agreeing to and playing up an externally created notion of your own identity, as seen in Carry On; My Man; Very Good, Jeeves and other worksĀ¹. It must be noted that for Bertie this isnāt putting oneself down, rather just āstating the factsāātalking about this, for him, isnāt downgrading, simply the truth. But by doing this he is merely āprogressingā with the withholding of himself, and that ends up becoming our side-effect.
The inflections are, however, taken into account. While Bertie assures you in Carry On, Jeeves that he doesnāt mind everyone saying heās a āchumpā, and admits he is oneāeven if followed by a demonstration that heās not all āhopelessā as some might say (here we can note a underlying defiance)āweāre also privy to some of his negative reactions* and thoughts when his āmental capacitiesā are questioned/insulted to his face (or in the case of The Pride Of The Woosters Is Wounded, within earshot) rather than something heās saying about himself, having a routine, or relaying the opinion of others to us in sober retrospect.
This is studied more in depth on Right Ho, Jeeves, but there are examples of this in books released earlierĀ². There is already a āfrontā Bertie uses to protect himself*. Ironically, when it is his time to construct an identity for himself, it is also on the need to asphyxiate. This self-constructed Bertie, different from the externally-constructed Bertie, isnāt a barely sentient, hopeless, irreflective, vapid chump. He is a man confident on his abilities, with initiative and resource, who can have ideas without assistance. In a crisis between the constructed and the genuine, what emerges is an anti-creation, birthed in rejection and to reject. The barely sentient chump, created to suffocate a complex Bertram Wooster, and the self-created rejection, installed to suffocate a known, but negated, equally complex Bertram Wooster, are dissonant in existence, but its precedents share an equal foundation. The anti-creation is stronger, of course, in the sense that it always goes both ways. It protectsāimpedesāBertie from his own self and from others.
Indeed, for an instant I had half a mind to withdraw from the case and hand it back to Jeeves. But the pride of the Woosters restrained me.
Things start properly spiraling in Right Ho, Jeeves when Bertie and Jeeves disagree in regards to a white mess-jacket with brass buttons Bertie bought in Cannes. Holding the jacket dear to his heart, Bertie doesnāt have any intentions of parting with it. Some time later Bertie speaks with Gussie and listens to his love woes, in the course of which Gussie happens to make a tasteless remark. To add more fuel to the fire, the next morning Jeeves tells Bertie that Gussie failed enormously in following up with the plan Jeeves advisedāa plan which Gussie had told to Bertie when they had their meetup, and a plan Bertie already didnāt like and what made him decide to ātake overā the caseāin turn making an already agitated Bertie see it all as āentirely Jeevesā faultā even when Gussie himself denies thisĀ³.
Bertie makes it clear in the inner-monologue following Gussieās remark that in his circle Jeeves is regarded as the āonly member in the household with brains and resourcesā while Bertie is outright ignored in these situationsāin Chapter seven, when talking to Dahlia, he mentions how he resents the assumption that Jeeves is āthe only fellow with brainā objecting to āthe way everybody puts things up to him without consulting me and letting me have a stab at them firstāāThe characters have well established assumptions, expecting a certain pattern of behavior from him, with this being something which he is very aware of and certainly hurt byā“. (Bertie himself isnāt excusable of this, of course. Iām not trying to put him up as a martyr, as he has a lot to say about many aspects of others and also maintains his own set of well established assumptions that can go from āharmlessā to extremely bigoted, his misogyny being an example. He happily adheres to the system that he can fully participate in while heās desperate to nullify the one he falls victim to). It is a one man crusade where heās trying to seek and confirm his own value by proving himself to others. Going off on his own he will, certainly, show to everyone that heās not only a mere cipher and gain their approval, notice and validation, (as even though Bertie would like to deny, the praise and adulation of the multitude do mean a lotāµ) following self-affirming words that can serve as light and ephemeral comfort coupled with an anti-creation loud enough so it can brute force its way into putting down any (other) vulnerable facet that may arise. This is now the man of abilities, with initiative and resource, who can have ideas without assistance, ingenious like all Woosters, who feels pity for the wreck of once fine thinkers (until the asperity of the Wooster Pride is made to unclawn). After all, it is much more becoming. Wave a hand, shrug a shoulder, āyou are missing an intellectual treatā.
As pointed out before Bertie, on this matter, isnāt upset at Jeevesāthough that is what ends up presenting itself as, or rather, echoingābut much more at what it all ends up representing. Jeeves, the individual, isnāt the root of his inner conflict. We canāt gloss over the fact that when there are no interferences urging him on, Bertie constantly admits, compliments, affirms etc. Jeevesā capabilityā¶ he also does this in Right Ho, even if oftentimes under a different tone. Bertie being Jeevesā official hype man* is of note when put in direct juxtaposition with his assumed attitude when there are interferencesāāNobody has a greater respect for Jeeves than I have, but the Wooster pride was stungā, and this specific issue is directly addressed in the first encounter with Gussie, āPeople are always nettling me like that. Giving me to understand [...] that in their opinion Bertram Wooster is a mere cipher and that the only member of the household with brains and resources is Jeeves. It jars on me.āāHe is doubling down and projecting so nothing cracks.ā· When Bertie says āMortified by the consciousness of his own ineptnessāor ineptitudeāthe fellow was simply trying to hamper and obstruct.ā about Jeeves, isnāt it in a way analogous to his own endeavours? Inept he is not, yet still mortified by his own consciousness, as it is in the anti-creationās existence to hamper and obstruct, within and outside. Much like the Scripture prize, proof of a past achievement so obviously given extreme highlight when mentioned, is to him a āvictory [that] was the outcome of the most strenuous and unremitting efforts.ā So when a drunken Gussie publicly accuses him of having cheated momentarily taking that victory away (while also being a situation in which no one in his shoes would have achieved personal enjoyment, no less āA Wooster can stand a good deal, but he cannot stand having his name bandied in a public placeā) it is in a second that Bertie decides to shut it downāhere, by leaving and promptly countering Gussieās false claim when it comes up later. The same happens when characters immediately assume that if something intelligent comes out of Bertieās mouth, it must have been Jeevesā idea first. Itās all about the idea of this accomplishment, what it represents, and what will end up representing. The results of thatāthis matters more than the accomplishment itself. It does fulfill, and itās necessary, of course, as you donāt have the results before you actually go through, but the long-term repercussions are certainly stronger. Itās all about the āWhat Does It Meanā, for you, and for everyone else? Indeed, if he ends up solving everything it wouldnāt be an individual victory, as it would always be recalled as proof of triumph (not to be read as a selfish venture, for obviously Bertie truly wants to help. These things should not be considered mutually exclusive). In abundance, then, consolidating an identity much more dignified. His Wooster Pride would not care if changed with Fear. If he gives in, would that not be just proving the distorted identity? In fact, for things to work satisfactorily, it has to be a repeat of what has worked: a victory gained by the most strenuous and unremitting efforts. It needs to come from within. And then, when all is done, the destruction of the externally created Bertie should be immediateābut at this point is it not already a parasite? ... Not entirely, as we have Jeeves to sort that out (but that conversation is for another time).
Addendum: I also notice some of this on Reggie Pepperāø. Self-contained in its space, of course, but it is there.
Quotes and Annotations (I always update on Docs first).
a Big and Importand addendum (update?) to this, but straight from my twitter account because i'm too lazy to properly structure it lmfao. Beware -> bertie just completely disengages identity. after violently fracturing from imposed form he's impulsed to Shape a more honourable another and even then it only exists as a concept, smth he can at the same time 'be' and "strive for' bc being handcrafted its compliant enough to exist within both planes. & He dislodged from the external only to a certain point bc bertie's concept of what is meant to be Respectable is obviously influenced by his context ... Begs the question had bertie any proper agency on this at all? I think that maybe in the rupture. sure it's "impulsed" bc nothing just Happens but he took it & then proceeded to -- here is where it ends -- build a personhood from the dominant debris. I say this bc bertie acknowledged he couldn't just keep being Thatbut if he wasn't then ...? He doesn't know who he is bc of That+is afraid to look for maybe there's nothing and If There Is then who can tell if it's good? if That was built on such a deprecating image how could he even have courage to look at his unothered self? so as i said he creates This which is just dominant debris. & He has to maintain it. We know how that goes. Bc he's not allowed to even nurture it (Sure, HE dislodged from That, but did his peers dislodge Him from what They shaped?) let alone feel any kind of effective power in exercising itbc of the former And bc what he has built this concept on r mere alien virtuous bits n pieces that are Supposed to form an image that of course isn't his. in RHJ jeeves sends bertie to MegaHeaven actually. There NEEDS to be a forceful Stop that shit NOW You're going to die Queen. and bertie goes Well yes Give me an omelette girl! after all is said and done. And he's free from the torture vortex. the bertie that asks for an omelette is a free one -- white boy can go to funky town where he just does Whatever the fuck he wants and is completely free. this is what bertie *is*. Not *should be* not *was made to be* By instinctively avoiding Peeking at his self bertie was merely avoiding freedom and just suffocating further and further Like maybe we all need the hellish bike ride of liberation lmaooo
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