JEEVES IN THE SPRINGTIME

"Jeeves in the Springtime" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the December 1921 edition of Strand Magazine in two parts, "Jeeves Exerts the Old Cerebellum" and "No Wedding Bells for Bingo", and appeared in the same format when first published in a book, The Inimitable Jeeves in 1923. However, since the plot of the first story concludes in the second, the two are often published as a single story.

CHARACTERSBertie Wooster, a young man of the British upper class (the narrator)Jeeves, Wooster’s valetBingo Little, a friend of WoosterMr. Mortimer Little, Bingo’s uncleMabel, a waitress Bingo is in love withJane Watson, Mr. Mortimer’s cook

SUMMARY

1. Problem – Bingo Little is in love with Mabel and wants to marry her. He needs his uncle’s approval so that the latter will not only not cut off his allowance, but will, in fact, increase it.Solution – suggested by Jeeves, who is, incidentally, engaged to Mr. Little’s cook. "The method which I advocate is what, I believe, the advertisers call Direct Suggestion, sir, consisting as it does of driving an idea home by constant repetition.” “The same method was the basis of all the most valuable propaganda during the recent war. I see no reason why it should not be adopted to bring about the desired result with regard to the subject's views on class distinctions. If young Mr. Little were to read day after day to his uncle a series of narratives in which marriage with young persons of an inferior social status was held up as both feasible and admirable, I fancy it would prepare the elder Mr. Little's mind for the reception of the information that his nephew wishes to marry a waitress in a tea-shop." Jeeves suggests that Bingo should read romances written by Rosie M. Banks to his uncle. The theme of these stories is the same: a rich upper class man marrying a poor working class girl. The stories would influence Mr. Little and change his outlook; he would become receptive to Bingo’s marital plans.

2. The plan proceeds as outlined and appears to be succeeding. Bingo reads to his uncle after dinner every evening. The dinners are delicious as Mr. Little has an excellent cook; however, he himself is not able to have them as he is on a diet on doctor’s orders. Meanwhile, Bingo says that he has had an idea.

3. Bingo tells Bertie that his uncle has invited him to lunch. Bertie is extremely reluctant to accept the invitation. Bingo reiterates that he has had an idea.

4. When Bertie arrives at Mr. Little’s residence, the latter welcomes him eagerly, which surprises Bertie. He finds out why when he receives a call from Bingo, telling him that he has told his uncle that Bertie writes romances using the pen name Rosie M. Banks.

5. Bertie has a difficult time at lunch as Mr. Little insists on discussing “his” books. Mr. Little mentions that his cook had given notice, but he had found a way to retain her services. When Mr. Little mentions his approval of Banks’ ideas of mixed class marriages, Bertie gets the opportunity to mention that Bingo wishes to marry a waitress. Mr. Little approves and Bertie thinks everything will be all right, and requests Mr. Little to increase Bingo’s allowance.

PC/TSRS-DLF/ENG-XII/06 Page 1 of 5

6. However, Bertie gets a surprise. Mr. Little regrets his inability to do so, as he himself is getting married. Under the influence of Banks’ romantic novels, he has decided to marry his cook.

7. Later, when Bertie offers his sympathy to Jeeves who he knew to have been engaged to Jane Watson, he gets a further surprise. It seems that Jeeves had wanted to end his engagement with Jane Watson because he is interested in someone else. That someone else turned out to be Mabel, the waitress Bingo wanted to marry.

CHARACTER STUDYThe Jeeves and Wooster canon was written between 1917 and 1974, and includes Wodehouse's final complete novel, Aunts Aren't Gentlemen. Bertie narrates all the stories but one, "Bertie Changes His Mind", which Jeeves himself narrates. The stories are set in three primary locations: London, where Bertie has a flat and is a member of the raucous Drones Club; various stately homes in the English countryside, most commonly Totleigh Towers; or New York City and a few other locations in the United States. All take place in a timeless world based on an idealised version of England before World War II.

Jeeves and Bertie first appeared in "Extricating Young Gussie", a short story published in 1917, in which Jeeves' character is minor and not fully developed. In the later stories, he assumed the role of Bertie's co-protagonist; indeed, in recent years they have come to be called a comic duo. The Jeeves canon consists of eleven novels and thirty-five short stories:

Bertie WoosterBertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is the foppish, dim-witted, and very wealthy co-protagonist and narrator of P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories. A minor British aristocrat and member of the "idle rich", he always appears alongside his highly intelligent "gentleman's personal gentleman", Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of his friends from numerous awkward or difficult situations. Bertie has been given a first-rate British establishment education, having been schooled at Eton and Oxford University (Magdalen College). However, the little he may have learned has mostly escaped him by the time he narrates the Jeeves tales. Standard characters and passages of English literature are typically recalled with scant more detail than "Tum-tum, tum-tum, tum-tumty-tum, I slew him, tum-tum tum!". Bertie typically fails to recognise Shakespeare when it is quoted to him by Jeeves. He frequently uses only partial quotes, and the situations for which he uses them are completely incongruous with the original meaning. In this story he quotes Tennyson’s Locksley Hall - "In the spring, Jeeves, a livelier iris gleams upon the burnish'd dove." This quote is entirely appropriate as the poem talks about young men’s fancy in Spring.

JeevesReginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the stories and novels of P.G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is the "gentleman's personal gentleman" (valet) of Bertie Wooster, and is named in the title in most of the series of books about him and his employer. He is undoubtedly Wodehouse's most famous character and has come to be seen as the quintessential example of his profession, inspiring many similar characters. Wodehouse named him after Percy Jeeves, an English cricketer who played 50 first-class matches for Warwickshire County Cricket Club between 1912 and 1914. Despite a common misunderstanding, Jeeves is not a butler. The difference is that a valet serves his employer as a person, whereas a butler serves his employer's house. However, Bertie Wooster has lent Jeeves out as a butler on several occasions, and notes that "if the call comes, he can buttle with the best of them."When Bertie caught his valet Meadowes stealing his silk socks, he sacked him and sent for another from the agency. Jeeves, arriving in Jeeves Takes Charge, mixes Bertie a hangover cure of his own invention and is hired almost immediately. According to the latter book, Bertie is 24 when he hires Jeeves.

PC/TSRS-DLF/ENG-XII/06 Page 2 of 5

Thereafter, Bertie cedes much of the control of his life to Jeeves, clashing occasionally on matters of dress. Jeeves has distinct opinions about certain items that Bertie adopts, such as a moustache, handkerchiefs with initials, straw boater, an alpine hat, or purple socks. Should Jeeves express his disapproval for an accessory of Bertie's, it is certain that his charge will reluctantly dispose of it in some way or another before the end of the story, or will announce his intention to do so only to find Jeeves has already "taken the liberty" of discarding it himself.Jeeves is well known for his convoluted, yet precise, speech and for quoting from the plays of Shakespeare and famous romantic poets.Richard P. "Bingo" Little"Bingo" Little appears in a number of books by comic author P. G. Wodehouse. Bingo is a friend of Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club in Dover Street, London.He has a tendency to fall in love with most young girls he comes across, but is apt to fall just as quickly out of love with them when he sees someone else. This is not out of spite; he's just a very indecisive young chap. Among his heart's desires have been the formidable Honoria Glossop, her friend Daphne Braythwayt, and Myrtle, the barmaid of the Five Crowns in Twing.

After much heart-ache and falling in love with girls he saw on the bus, Bingo settled down and married the romance novelist Rosie M. Banks. The union was then blessed with a son, Algernon Aubrey. He continued to appear in short stories, both alongside and independently of Bertie Wooster, and usually involving some financial scrape.

Rosie M. BanksShe is the wife of Bingo Little in the short stories and books of P.G. Wodehouse. She is an American romance novelist, the author of the fictional works is a romance novelist, the author of fictional works such as: All for Love; A Red, Red Summer Rose; Madcap Myrtle; Only a Factory Girl; The Courtship of Lord Strathmorlick; Mervyn Keene, Clubman; 'Twas Once in May; By Honour Bound; and A Kiss at Twilight.

LANGUAGEWith a single exception, all the Bertie Wooster stories are told in the first person by Bertie himself. This allows Wodehouse a comedic paradox: although Bertie himself is, as Jeeves puts it, "mentally negligible", his descriptive style employs a considerable facility with English. Arguably, it is the idiosyncratic nature of Bertie's narrative descriptions that makes the tales difficult to adequately translate to a visual medium, such as film. Bertie displays a fondness for pre-war slang, peppering his speech with words and phrases such as "What ho!", "pipped", "bally", and so on. He also commonly abbreviates words and phrases, such as "eggs and b.", “persp.”

Cheesed it – stopped Topping – wonderful “In the Spring, a livelier iris gleams upon the burnished dove” – misquote from Tennyson’s poem

“Locksley Hall”. Whangee – walking stick made of a type of Asian bamboo Yellow shoes – fashionable at the time Pastoral dances – dances that were practised in the countryside and obviously took place outdoors Serpentine – The Serpentine (also known as the Serpentine River) is a 28-acre (11 ha)

recreational lake in Hyde Park, London, England, created in 1730. Although it is common to refer to the entire body of water as the Serpentine, strictly the name refers only to the eastern half of the lake. Serpentine Bridge, which marks the boundary between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, also marks the western boundary of the Serpentine; the long and narrow western half of the lake is known as the Long Water. The Serpentine takes its name from its snakelike, curving shape.

Glassy sort of manner – in a dazed way

PC/TSRS-DLF/ENG-XII/06 Page 3 of 5

Byword – an object of notoriety or interest Ripe suggestion – wise suggestion Ritz – a classy hotel frequented by the upper classes Blighted – cursed Homing rabbit – as if it were his home and he was longing to be in it Wedged in – seated very close together Brink – near the edge of The ready – money Finished up the jumping season…..Lincolnshire – won quite a lot of money betting on horses at

various races Godforsaken eatery – low class restaurant Goggling – staring Map – face Soul’s Awakening – a popular painting of the time by artist James Sant (1816-1920) Mazzard – the head or the face Flustered with gratification – made nervous with pleasure at the compliment Smirked – smiled Gruesome – ugly Devoutly – very seriously Macaroon – type of confectionary Limado – probably some kind of fruit drink Bird – fellow Claridge’s – superior hotel in London patronised by the upper classes Sole frit au gourmet aux champignons – sole fried with mushrooms: a gourmet dish Borgia family – a 15th century Italian family, known for its criminal tendencies, particularly their

habit of getting rid of enemies by poisoning them Hopped it – went away Blighter – fellow Subscription dance – it was held in a public hall or hotel ballroom and presided over by a

management chosen from the members of the association that subscribed the money for the expenses of the entertainment. Thus it was a semi-public ball.

Swinging a dashed efficient shoe – dancing expertly For a lark – on a whim The old lemon – the brain In the soup – in trouble Binge – problem He can rely….kingdom – he can be assured that I shall pay him very well On the horizon – an expectation Direct Suggestion – The promotion of specific ideas or views in order to convince some one to buy

something Propaganda – a type of message aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviour of people. Often,

instead of impartially providing information, propaganda can be deliberately misleading, or using logical fallacies, which, while sometimes convincing, are not necessarily valid.

Rosie M. Banks’ novels – contained the same romantic theme: a poor girl marrying someone rich, belonging to the upper classes. It put forward the idea of ignoring class distinctions.

Fruitiest – full of romantic incidents Jibbed – balked, attempted to withdraw Clergyman’s throat – a sore throat resulting from prolonged speech, common in clergymen.

PC/TSRS-DLF/ENG-XII/06 Page 4 of 5

Whack of arrowroot – portion of a starch obtained from the rhizomes of a tropical American perennial herb (Maranta arundinacea), cooked and eaten as a vegetable or used for starch extraction. It is used especially in cooking as a thickener. Apparently eaten as part of a diet here.

Clinch the thing – lead to a favourable outcome Pippin – a thing to be admired Stricken bull-pup – a bull terrier puppy with something stuck in its throat Nation’s scroll of fame – list of people to be honoured by the nation Got the wind up – I was feeling so anxious about the situation Outworn fetishes of a purblind society – old-fashioned ideas of a society that deliberately shuts its

eyes to social injustices/ refuses to accept equality among social classes Guinea stamp – Robert Burns quote: “The rank is but the guinea stamp- / The man’s the gowd for

a’ that!” Probably means that in the pecking-order of Society, high ranks can be purchased with the golden guinea. (an English gold coin which was fixed in 1771, at 21 shillings). It is from ‘Honest Poverty’, a song in the play “A Man’s a Man for a’ That”. Burns is perhaps also saying that every human being is 'golden' or to say of value but the 'men of rank' have their gold stamped into 'coins' which are more readily acceptable in the world at large when compared to an unpolished golden nugget (even with the same weight of gold).

Handed you the mitten – jilted you

PC/TSRS-DLF/ENG-XII/06 Page 5 of 5