P. G. Wodehouse Analysis

In addition to writing more than ninety novels, P. G. Wodehouse (WOOD-hows) wrote hundreds of short stories, some eighteen plays (of which ten were published), the lyrics for thirty-three theatrical musicals, and a vast, uncollected body of essays, reviews, poems, and sketches. So much of Wodehouse’s early work has been lost that it is impossible to measure his total literary output, and collections of his stories published under titles such as “Uncollected Wodehouse” are likely to appear with some frequency for the next twenty years. He also wrote two comic autobiographies, Performing Flea: A Self-Portrait in Letters (1953; revised as Author! Author!, 1962) and America, I Like You (1956; revised as Over Seventy: An Autobiography with Digressions, 1957).

P. G. Wodehouse has always been regarded as a “popular” writer. The designation is just. “Every schoolboy,” wrote Ogden Nash, “knows that no one can hold a candle to P. G. Wodehouse.” His novels and short stories were among the best-selling works of their generation, but it should be remembered that Wodehouse’s appeal transcended his popular audience. Many of the major writers of the twentieth century have professed a deep admiration for the art of “Plum,” as Wodehouse was known to his friends and family. T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Bertrand Russell—all were fanatic enthusiasts of Wodehouse. Hilaire Belloc said that Wodehouse was the greatest writer of the twentieth century, and Evelyn Waugh offered the following tribute to his genius: “Mr. Wodehouse’s idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own.” It is unfortunately true that critics and readers who expect high seriousness from their literary pleasures will never quite approve of one who makes a lighthearted mockery of most of England’s and America’s most sacred cows. F. R. Leavis, the celebrated English scholar, pointed to the awarding of an honorary doctorate to Wodehouse as proof of declining literary standards. Other critics have been even more emphatic in their deprecation of Wodehouse’s lack of seriousness. For sheer enjoyment, however, or what Dr. Johnson called “innocent recreation,” no one can touch P. G. Wodehouse.

Why was the essentially English P. G. Wodehouse better appreciated in the United States than in his native country?

Was the British forgiveness of Wodehouse after World War II justified?

What does the phrase “musical comedy without the music” mean?

Characterize Wodehouse’s unusual metaphors.

How was Wodehouse influenced by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?

Did elements of early Hollywood films also influence Wodehouse?