Introduction


Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh’s biting attacks on British society and its mores were matched only by his love for them. Therein lies the unique achievement of Waugh’s work, which satirized British aristocratic life with great affection. His seminal novel, Brideshead Revisited, perfectly captures this seeming dichotomy. The expansive novel, regularly ranked among the century’s greatest, is a kind of soap opera writ large, with wry observations about its upper-crust characters. At the same time, it is heralded for perfectly capturing the pre-World War II moment in Britain. Questions of faith, which were so crucial to Waugh’s beliefs, also figure prominently in the epic novel. Ultimately, perhaps it was Waugh’s faith that allowed him to balance his blatant criticisms with knowing warmth.

Essential Facts

  1. Though his father and older brother were writers and editors, Waugh did not immediately take up the pen. He first tried being an artist.
  2. Despite the alleged homosexuality of his youth, Waugh was married twice. His first (and quite short-lived) marriage was to a woman whose name also happened to be Evelyn.
  3. Waugh wrote three novels, dubbed the Sword of Honour trilogy, about his experiences during World War II.
  4. In his adulthood, Waugh became a devout and conservative Catholic. He was very vocal about his dissatisfaction with the changes instituted by the Church in the 1960s.
  5. Waugh put out an extraordinary body of work during his lifetime, but that was only a portion of his writing. Waugh’s diaries and correspondence were released posthumously.