More story notes
Mar. 28th, 2011 04:23 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
ironicbees.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
indeedsir_backupI've completed my notes for the novels, and I decided to put it up in one whole file instead of splitting it in two as originally planned. Since Google docs was such a bitch to work with, I made a pdf instead. All the notes - novels, short stories, chronology - can be downloaded in a zip file here. I tidied up all the files and added footnotes, and corrected a few errors here and there.
Now I can finally get back to doing more art!
Now I can finally get back to doing more art!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 12:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 01:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 01:38 am (UTC)THANK YOU!
no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 05:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 06:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 08:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-29 02:47 pm (UTC)Part 1
Date: 2011-03-30 01:22 am (UTC)-B tells Chuffy he has no sisters
-unlikely he's lying, as a yes would've added support to his tale of a “brotherly kiss”; did his sister die? is even more unlikely that he's telling the truth here while his sister Mrs Scholfield in “Bertie Changes
His Mind” was a fiction
-if he does have a sister, why does nobody ever talk about her?
I have no answer for why he claims not to have a sister here, but as for why she's not mentioned elsewhere, it seems as if a lot of people don't get mentioned in Bertie's stories until they become relevant (either by getting mixed up in his current predicament, or as an example in a later story). It's possible that Bertie may have people in his life who don't get mentioned that often, because they rarely cause him trouble. His sister could be among them.
-B thinks it's ironic that J's opposed to him wearing “a perfectly ordinary white mess jacket” that's tout ce qu'il y a de chic and de rigeur, but wants Gussie to wear scarlet tights (Mephistopheles costume)
Bertie ought to know that a white mess jacket is the very opposite of de rigeur in England. I've been doing a fair bit of research on menswear lately, and one thing I turned up is that white dinner jackets were considered acceptable evening wear in tropical or semi-tropical vacation spots, but not acceptable in England. So Jeeves isn't even being all that hidebound here.
-B tells J his idea of sending Gussie to the fancy dress ball is “dashed silly, drivelling”, “blithering and futile”, says J's methods tend to be too elaborate
-B tells J to leave the case to him: “'You lay off and devote yourself to your duties about the home.'”
-how did J feel about this? No description from B of his manner or expression, but he can't be unaffected
-if they’d already become a couple, or had an understanding, this would probably have made J wonder if B had regretted it and decided to relegate him back to the role of a servant only
Even if they didn't have an understanding, I can imagine it would be pretty hurtful. From an ordinary employer it probably wouldn't matter, but given the way Bertie normally treats Jeeves, the occassions when he does revert to treating Jeeves like a servant must feel like something of a betrayal.
-B tries & fails to convince J that the mess jacket is attractive and that he’ll learn to love it
-gives up, thinks J's “pig-headed”
-B's the one who keeps bringing up the jacket; J hasn't done so since B told him not to
-is J not allowed to simply have a differing opinion on the jacket?
Is Bertie trying to pick a fight? Trying to feel like he has some control in their relationship?
-B refers to previous items J disposed of, e.g. purple socks: “'In the past, when you have contrived to extricate self or some pal from some little difficulty, you have frequently shown a disposition to take advantage of my gratitude to gain some private end... Choosing your moment with subtle cunning, you came to me when I was weakened by relief and got me to get rid of them.''
Except Bertie almost always is the one to offer to get rid of the thing, rather than Jeeves asking.
-B returns & thinks he sees J coming out to meet him; is about to “let myself go and uncork all that was fizzing in the mind”, is “yearning to confront” J
-so it's possible he may have done so later, after learning of the mess jacket's destruction (or did he feel too defeated to give J a proper telling-off?)
To me, Bertie seems to be feeling pretty defeated at the end of the book. They evidently do talk about it, though, because their relationship seems much healthier in all the following books.
-B speculates that Eulalie is a girl Spode got pregnant & abandoned, and who then drowned herself
Perhaps Bertie needs a break from his sensationalist reading?
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-03-30 01:22 am (UTC)Uncle Percy must not resent Jeeves for quitting in the past.
-Dame Daphne says Aunt A often wonders if B should be put in some kind of home; B is offended
Where did she get this idea, I wonder? I can see how someone who didn't know Bertie well might get the impression that he's a bit loopy, but he's evidently more sensible that many of his friends and relatives. I find it strange how many people read Bertie so very wrongly.
-like Aunt A, Corky is authoritative & can make people do what she wants
-when they were kids, B threw a mildewey orange at their dancing instructor at Corky's bidding, “And I did it without a murmur, though knowing full well how bitter the reckoning would be.”
I suspect that whatever crush Bertie had on Corky happened when they were kids.
-J feels bad for Thomas: “’The announcement of Miss Pirbright’s betrothal came as a severe blow to him.’”
-does J actually like Thomas? Does he view him as extended family? Is J just an especially sympathetic person? He doesn't really seem like a kid person, especially kids with personalities like Thomas has, but they do have an amiable chat in “The Love That Purifies”, so maybe J gets along with him better than B does
Thomas seems like a pretty enterprising kid. Maybe Jeeves sees something of himself in him.
-B asks if there's anything about Stilton in the club book; J tells him without hesitation what it says (Stilton does Swedish exercises in nude each morning before breakfast)
Oh, Stilton. While I don't approve of him trying to break Bertie's spine, I have to admit I have a bit of a soft spot for him, due to his nude Swedish excercises and his brief stint as a Zen Buddhist in university (these days, I'd be more surprised by a college student not briefly becoming a zen buddhist or something of the sort, but in Stilton, it's kind of endearing).
-Florence tells B to kiss her
-”Well, one has to be civil. I did as directed, but with an uneasy feeling that this was above the odds. I didn't at all like the general trend of affairs, the whole thing seeming to me to be becoming far too French.”
-he doesn't enjoy the kiss at all; granted B has an unhappy history with Florence, and he's worried she'll take him back on, but wouldn't most ostensibly straight men enjoy a kiss with a beautiful woman, even if they had no wish to marry her?
-I don't see this as evidence that he's gay (I personally see him as bi), so much as that his affections are engaged elsewhere and he feels guilty about kissing Florence, on top of his other worries
As far as Bertie possibly being bi, I see him as physically attracted to both men and women (though I'm not sure if his attraction to women is merely aesthetic or also carnal), but he doesn't strike me as being truly emotionally attracted to women.
-J tells Aunt D about Eulalie
-an indication that he regards her as family through B now? It's hard to imagine him doing it if he didn't, however much he may like her
One might note that by now he also probably has plenty of dirt on her, if necessary.
-Aunt D casually asks if B's sober
-”I felt a natural resentment at being considered capable of falling under the influence of the sauce at ten in the morning...”
What is with Aunt D's fixation on Bertie being drunk, when it seems he rarely is?
-J refers to Aunt D as “Madam” - why? Is it different in the English edition?
I've got the English edition (I had to have all matching covers, even if it means still having to buy a second copy in order to get the American ending), and he calls her "Madam" there too. Very strange.
too free, forward, lacking in proper reserve, deficient in due respect, impudent, bold and intrusive.”
-by “Dictionary of Synonyms”, does B mean a thesaurus, or is it a euphemism for J’s mind?
-if the former: 1) why consult a thesaurus, when J’s practically a walking thesaurus (and dictionary & encyclopedia) himself?; 2) isn’t the sort of book even J would just have been reading casually & left laying around the flat, so how’d B know he had one? ask? or did he find it in J’s room?
You mean other people don't read thesauruses (thesauri?) and dictionaries for fun?
Re: Part 3
Date: 2011-03-30 01:22 am (UTC)”'Good morning, sir', he said.
He expressed no surprise at seeing me tied to a sofa with curtain cords, just as he would have e. no s. if he had seen me being eaten by a crocodile like the late Abercrombie-Smith, though in the latter case he might have heaved a regretful sigh.”
-J’s either completely unflappable, or he's used to seeing B like that
If he was used to seeing Bertie like that, you'd think he'd be a bit miffed at Bertie getting that way without him.
”'I don't wonder you're upset. Scoundrels like that ought not to be at large. It makes one's blood boil to think of this... this... what would Shakespeare have called him, Jeeves?'
'This arrant, rascally, beggarly, lousy knave, m'lord.'
'Ah, yes. Shakespeare puts these things well.'
'A whoreson, beetle-headed, flap-eared knave, a knave, a rascal, an eater of broken meats; a beggarly, filthy, worsted-stocking –'
'Yes, yes, Jeeves, quite so. One gets the idea.'”
AND
”'There's rather an outsize specimen on the back of your hair.' Bill sprang about six inches in the direction of the ceiling. 'What on earth did you do that for?' he demanded irritably.
Jeeves preserved his calm.
'My reason for screaming, m'lord, was merely to add verisimilitude. I supposed that that was how a delicately nurtured lady would be inclined to react on receipt of such a piece of information.'
'Well, I wish you hadn't. The top of my head nearly came off.'
'I am sorry, m'lord. But it was how I felt the scene. I felt it, felt it here', said Jeeves, tapping the left side of his waistcoat.”
Does anyone else get the impression that Jeeves spends a fair bit of this book having fun at Bill's expense?
-”Jeeves did not speak for a moment. A pained look had come into his finely chiselled face.”
-J is distressed by the sight of Bill's mauve pyjamas: “'Mauve does not become your lordship. I was once compelled, in his best interests, to speak in a similar vein to Mr Wooster, who at that time was also a mauve pyjama addict.’”
-does he refer to B's heliotrope pyjamas?
I don't know about pyjamas, but he does object to Bertie wearing mauve shirts at one point (“they would not have become you”).
-“When Rory and Monica entered Jeeves’s pantry, they found its proprietor reading a letter. His fine face, always grave, seemed a little graver than usual, as if the letter’s contents had disturbed him.”
Is he grave because Bertie's been expelled, or does he just miss him?
Re: Part 3
Date: 2011-03-30 05:02 am (UTC)Well then, perhaps he was pleasantly surprised, thinking Bertie was trying out new kinks for him. XD
Is he grave because Bertie's been expelled, or does he just miss him?
I'm sure he did miss Bertie, but I think the graveness was because of the expulsion. He tells Bill a few minutes later that he'd just taken an aspirin, which was almost certainly due (at least in part) to the letter.
Re: Part 3
Date: 2011-03-31 10:54 am (UTC)The next question is whether Bertie got himself expelled on purpose. Cheating doesn't seem like something he'd usually be okay with doing, so I like to think he came up with it as a way to get back to Jeeves sooner.
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-03-30 03:10 am (UTC)Maybe Jeeves gave some excuse for quitting that didn't have anything to do with his clothes? Or maybe Uncle Percy was so desperate for help that he was willing to humble his pride and turn to Jeeves?
Where did she get this idea, I wonder? I can see how someone who didn't know Bertie well might get the impression that he's a bit loopy, but he's evidently more sensible that many of his friends and relatives. I find it strange how many people read Bertie so very wrongly.
I can't figure it out, either. :(
I suspect that whatever crush Bertie had on Corky happened when they were kids.
I had the idea it was in his teens. Well before Jeeves came along, anyway.
As far as Bertie possibly being bi, I see him as physically attracted to both men and women (though I'm not sure if his attraction to women is merely aesthetic or also carnal), but he doesn't strike me as being truly emotionally attracted to women.
Agreed. Bertie reads to me as bisexual but homoromantic. As far as his attraction to women goes...it's hard to say. I do think it's primarily aesthetic. He has an eye for a good profile, and he admires women's curves, but with the way he tells Aunt Dahlia about Ginger's attraction to Florence it sounds like it had taken him a while to figure out the carnal angle.
What is with Aunt D's fixation on Bertie being drunk, when it seems he rarely is?
He was more of a drinker and partier in his college days, so I think that image of him just stuck in her mind.
You mean other people don't read thesauruses (thesauri?) and dictionaries for fun?
True...I'm one of them myself. :D
Re: Part 2
Date: 2011-03-31 10:58 am (UTC)"I fear I must resign, m'lord, as your daughter is a stone cold bitch."
Re: Part 1
Date: 2011-03-30 02:07 am (UTC)That's a good point about why his sister never comes up. Considering how many nutty women there are in his life, however, I'd think Bertie would cling to the few non-trouble causing ones, if Mrs Scholfield is one of them.
Bertie ought to know that a white mess jacket is the very opposite of de rigeur in England. I've been doing a fair bit of research on menswear lately, and one thing I turned up is that white dinner jackets were considered acceptable evening wear in tropical or semi-tropical vacation spots, but not acceptable in England. So Jeeves isn't even being all that hidebound here.
Very interesting!
Is Bertie trying to pick a fight? Trying to feel like he has some control in their relationship?
He knew Jeeves would disapprove of the jacket, so it does seem like he came home expecting conflict. I think he may have been more bothered by Jeeves's not joining him in Cannes than he let on and bringing back the jacket was an act of passive-aggression.
Except Bertie almost always is the one to offer to get rid of the thing, rather than Jeeves asking.
True, but he only offers because he knows Jeeves desperately wants something gone.
To me, Bertie seems to be feeling pretty defeated at the end of the book. They evidently do talk about it, though, because their relationship seems much healthier in all the following books.
He does seem defeated at the end, yeah. But I can't reconcile a truly defeated Bertie with how he is in Code and onward. If they didn't talk, I have now idea how they managed to fix their relationship in the space of only a few months, to the point where it's stronger and more equal than ever before.
Re: Part 1
Date: 2011-03-31 11:02 am (UTC)He's definitely feeling threatened about something and pushing back because of it.
True, but he only offers because he knows Jeeves desperately wants something gone.
Still it seems unfair of him to accuse Jeeves of taking advantage of the situation, when Bertie makes the offers of his own free will.
no subject
Date: 2013-02-21 05:08 pm (UTC)