Reginald Jeeves , commonly referred to as Jeeves, is a fictitious character in a series of short stories of comedy and novel by the English writer P. G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is a very competent waiter from a rich and lazy London lad named Bertie Wooster. First appearing in print in 1915, Jeeves continued to feature in Wodehouse's work until his final novel was finished Aunt Are not Gentlemen in 1974, spanning 60 years.
Both the name "Jeeves" and the Jeeves character have been regarded as the classic name and the nature of the waiter or servant, who inspired many similar characters (as well as the name of the Ask Jeeves Internet search engine, now called Ask.com). A "Jeeves" is now a generic term that is validated by an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary .
Jeeves is the waiter, not the butler; that is, he is responsible for serving an individual, while the butler is responsible for the household and arranges the other servants. On rare occasions she fills in for the waiters of others.
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Inspiration
The initial prototype for Bertie Wooster was Reggie Pepper, who looked a lot like Bertie Wooster but without Jeeves, though Jeeves eventually took the name "Reggie". A valet called Jevons appeared in the 1914 Wodehouse short story "Creatures of Impulse", and was probably the earliest prototype for Jeeves. Like Jeeves, Jevons is described as a perfect valet. The "Impulse Being" appears in The Strand Magazine, and is not republished in any collection, although some parts go into making "The Crime Wave at Blandings".
In his 1953 semi-autobiographical book written with Guy Bolton, Bring on the Girls! , Wodehouse states that the Jeeves character was inspired by an original waiter named Eugene Robinson who used Wodehouse for research purposes. Wodehouse describes Robinson as "walking Encylopaedia Britannica ". However, Robinson worked at the Wodehouse house on Norfolk Street where the Wodehouse did not live until 1927, long after Jeeves was created.
Wodehouse named his Jeeves after Percy Jeeves (1888-1916), a popular British cricketer for Warwickshire. Wodehouse watched Percy Jeeves play bowling at the Cheltenham Cricket Festival in 1913. Percy Jeeves was killed at the Battle of the Somme during an attack on High Wood in July 1916, less than a year after the first appearance of a Wodehouse character that would make his name a household word.
Maps Jeeves
Fictional biography
Early life and family
Little is known about Jeeves' early life. According to Jeeves, he was educated personally, and his mother considered him smart.
Jeeves has an uncle, Charlie Silversmith, the butler at Deverill Hall. Silversmith swung Jeeves on his knees often when Jeeves was very young, and when Jeeves grew up, they wrote regularly to each other. Princess Charlie Silversmith, Queenie Silversmith, is a cousin of Jeeves. Jeeves also mentions his uncle Cyril at Right Ho, Jeeves . His nephew Mabel was engaged to a friend of Bertie Wooster, Charles "Biffy" Biffen. His cousin Egbert is a policeman and plays a role in the short story "Without Option".
Jeeves has three quiet aunts, unlike Bertie Wooster's aunts. Aunt Emily is interested in psychic research, and another aunt, Mrs. Pigott, has a cat in Maiden Eggesford; this cat plays a major role in Aunt Gentlemen . Jeeves occasionally appoints an aunt without naming him, including an aunt who read Oliver Wendell Holmes when he was young. In True Ho, Jeeves , he refers to his aunt Annie, though she is very unpopular.
Job history
In his youth, Jeeves worked as a boy in a girls' school. He apparently served in the military to some extent in World War I. In drama Come On, Jeeves Jeeves stated that he was a batman.
Shortly before entering Bertie's service, Jeeves was employed by Lord Frederick Ranelagh, who was deceived in Monte Carlo. Jeeves previously worked for Lord Worplesdon, resigned after nearly a year due to the eccentric choice of Worplesdon's evening gown. Jeeves then helps Lord Worplesdon at Joy in the Morning. Other ex-entrepreneurs include Mr. Digby Thistleton (later Lord Bridgnorth), who sells hair tonic; Mr. Montague-Todd, a financier who was in his second year of jail when Jeeves mentioned him; and Lord Brancaster, who gave the seed cake soaked in the harbor to his pet parrot.
Jeeves becomes Bertie Wooster's valet. However, his tenure with Bertie Wooster sometimes suffered irregularities during the story; at these times, Jeeves finds work elsewhere. Jeeves worked for Lord Chuffnell for a week at Thank You, Jeeves, after giving notice due to Bertie Wooster's reluctance to release the banjolele, and briefly employed by J. Washburn Stoker in the same novel. He served as a substitute waiter for Bertie Bibi Dahlia at Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, and later in the same story, he entered the work of Sir Watkyn Bassett for a short time as a trick to make Bertie Wooster released from prison.. Jeeves is Lord Rowcester's butler for long Ring for Jeeves.
While working for Bertie Wooster, he occasionally pretends to be a servant of one of Bertie's friends as part of a particular scheme, even though he is actually a Bertie valet. He pretended to be a servant of Bicky Bickersteth in "Jeeves and the Hard-rebiled Egg", Rocky Todd in "The Bibi and Sluggard", and Gussie Fink-Nottle when Gussie disguised as Bertie Wooster in The Mating Season >. Jeeves acts as a scribe clerk in Ring for Jeeves, disguised for a role with a suit and walrus mustache. In the game Wodehouse Come On, Jeeves , most of which have the same plot as the Ring for Jeeves, it is mentioned that Jeeves changed his appearance as a scribe, though in the game Jeeves also imitated a medieval ghost named Lady Agatha, wearing makeup and medieval women's clothing to complete the disguise. He pretends to be a brokerage man in "Jeeves and the Greasy Bird" and Bertie's lawyer at Bibi Are not Gentlemen. In one instance, he pretended to be Bertie Wooster in a telephone conversation with playwright Percy Gorringe. At Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves , he took the alias, calling himself Chief Inspector Witherspoon of Scotland Yard. This alias is also mentioned in Aunt Gentlemen .
Jeeves is a member of Junior Ganymede Club, a London club for butlers and valets.
Stories
Jeeves was first employed by Bertie in "Jeeves Takes Charge". In this short story, Bertie briefly shoots Jeeves after Jeeves, who believes Bertie will not be happy with her fiancée Florence Craye, takes steps to end Bertie's engagement with her. Bertie quickly rethought Jeeves after realizing that Jeeves was right. After that, Jeeves lives with Bertie, usually at their London residence at Berkeley Mansions. During the course of short stories and novels, Jeeves helps Bertie, often removing her from unwanted engagements, and also helps Bertie's friends and relatives with dilemmas. Jeeves often have other motives, such as disposing of items recently acquired by Bertie that Jeeves dislikes, such as bright bright red tubers. He occasionally receives money from Bertie and others he helps in early stories, although this does not happen in the future.
Bertie and Jeeves experience adventures in short stories and novels. Aside from the change in his job status, some events happen that are very important to Jeeves. Jeeves was engaged twice in "Jeeves in the Springtime", though he never referred this fiancÃÆ' Â © ice afterward, and apparently he was not engaged yet. In the only story Jeeves wrote, "Bertie Changed His Mind", he defied Bertie's decision to live with his niece. Jeeves and Bertie visited Deverill Hall, where Jeeves's Uncle Charlie was hired as a butler, at The Mating Season. While on holiday at Jeeves in the Offing, Jeeves was persuaded by a friend to rate the bathle belle contest by the beach.
Jeeves's first name was not revealed until the second novel from behind, Much Obliged, Jeeves . Bertie Wooster learned Jeeves's name when he heard another servant address Jeeves with "Hullo, Reggie." The reader may be surprised to know Jeeves's first name, but Bertie is stunned by the statement "that he has a first name" in the first place. In Jeeves club club book, Junior Ganymede, all members must note the weaknesses of their employers to warn other heads and servants. Bertie wants Jeeves to destroy his share. Jeeves was initially reluctant to oppose his club rules, but he eventually smashed the page for Bertie at the end of Much Obliged, Jeeves.
Jeeves last appeared in Aunt Are not Gentlemen, where Jeeves and Bertie head to the rural village of Maiden Eggesford, though Jeeves wants to go to New York. She and Bertie visited New York at the end of the story. The Ring for Jeeves novel was published earlier, though it was set after World War II, probably after other stories. Jeeves temporarily worked as Lord Rowcester's butler while Bertie was sent to a school where rich, lazy people learned to fend for themselves. This is the only story where Jeeves appears without Bertie Wooster. This novel is adapted from the Wodehouse game Come On, Jeeves.
Personal Characteristics
Age and appearance
While Bertie Wooster was 24 years old in "Jeeves Takes Charge" (1916), Jeeves' age is not included in the story, and has been interpreted differently by various illustrators and adaptations. However, there are some pointers in books on Jeeves age. Jeeves has a long history of work, and he is older than Bertie Wooster. On the other hand, Jeeves is young enough to be engaged to a waitress approached by Little Bingo, who is the same age as Bertie Wooster, in "Jeeves in the Springtime". In Ring for Jeeves , a novel set forth in later periods of other books, Jeeves is described as resembling "a Young Priest of a refined and dignified religion."
In the Wodehouse reference work in Woostershire by Wodehouse experts Geoffrey Jaggard and Tony Ring, it is speculated using information given in the Jeeves cannons that Bertie's age ranges from about 24 to 29 during the story (excluding Ring for Jeeves, and Jeeves is approximately ten years older than Bertie, giving an age range of 35 to 40. This happened to approve a personal letter written in 1961 by PG Wodehouse to scholar Robert A. Hall, Jr. , in which Wodehouse, explains that his character does not age with real-life time, gives an age estimate for Jeeves:
Keggs in A Damsel in Distress should be the same person that appears on The Butler Does It , but does it work okay? That's not if you go when the books are written. The Damsel was published in 1919 and Butler in 1957. But I always ignore the real-life time. After all, Jeeves - first heard about the age probably about thirty-five years of 1916 - will now be about eighty-five, counting the real years.
In appearance, Jeeves is described as "tall and dark and impressive". On several occasions, Bertie states that Jeeves has "a finely carved feature", and a big head, which Bertie seems to show intelligence. As Bertie says, Jeeves is "a man like a god in a bowler hat with doodles, a finely chiseled sheep and a protruding head at the back, showing great brain power." Bertie also depicts Jeeves's shimmering eyes with intelligence.
Personality
Bertie often describes Jeeves as a "feudal spirit". Jeeves aims to help and will devote much time and effort to solving Bertie's personal problems although not required to do so. Showing his loyalty to Bertie, Jeeves interrupted his vacation twice to come to Bertie's help (in "The Love That Purifies" and Jeeves in the Offing). He regularly rescues Bertie, usually from unwanted marriages but also from other threats, such as when he saved Bertie from a hostile goose or when he pulled Bertie out of the way of a taxi. Proud to be a valet, Jeeves is clearly offended when a revolutionary tells her that the waiters are out of date in "Comrade Bingo".
Jeeves often shows sympathy for Bertie and others. He generally manipulates the situation for the better and is described as a "kind-hearted man" in Ring for Jeeves. However, he will influence Bertie's decision to fulfill his own preference, as when he caused Bertie to change his mind about living with his nephew in "Bertie Changing his Mind". Jeeves is also stubbornly opposed to Bertie's new favorite items, such as an alpine hat or purple sock. Usually, Jeeves finds a way to help Bertie with problems, and Bertie agrees to deliver the items that Jeeves rejected. Even when Bertie and Jeeves had a dispute, Jeeves still showed sympathy, as much as she showed emotion, when Bertie was in serious trouble.
Often wearing "a tranquil expression of intelligence combined with feudal desire to oblige", Jeeves consistently maintains a calm and polite attitude of a dutiful valet, and barely displays any emotion. When he feels uncomfortable or being secretly, he assumes the expressionless face that Bertie describes as resembling a "stuffed deer" or "stuffed frog". When he was very surprised, he would raise his eyebrows little by little, and when he was amused, the tip of his mouth twitched slightly. His serenity extends to his voice, which is gentle and respectful. When he wants to talk without talking or to talk about complicated matters, he makes a low soft cough "like a very old sheep clears his throat over a misty mountain top". He may also cough to show disapproval.
Bertie says that Jeeves is persuasive and magnetic. He notes that there is something about Jeeves that seems soothing and hypnotic, making Jeeves effective for calming angry people. He believes that Jeeves can convince a candidate who stands for Parliament to vote against himself. There is a poetic side to Jeeves, who reads many poems. She is especially affected when couples pair up, and tells Bertie that her heart jumps when she sees a rainbow in the sky.
Skill
Jeeves presents the ideal image of a polite, highly competent, dignified, and respectful servant. He speaks intelligently and correctly, using the right titles for members of the nobility. One of his skills moves quietly and conspicuously from room to room. According to Bertie, Jeeves silently "floats" and "sparkles"; Bertie once commented, "Right now I realize that Jeeves is with me, I do not hear him come in, but you often do not with Jeeves, he just flows quietly from point A to spot B, like gas." In addition to being an expert valet, Jeeves can serve well as a butler, and do so on several occasions. As Bertie said in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, "If the call comes, he can do his best."
Having a great knowledge of topics ranging from horse racing to history, Jeeves has an encyclopedic knowledge of literature and academic subjects. He often quotes from Shakespeare and the romantic poet. Well told about a member of the English nobility thanks to the club book of Junior Ganymede Club, he also seems to have many useful connections among the various waiters. Jeeves uses his knowledge and connections to solve problems by not attracting attention. Richard Usborne, a prominent scholar of life and works of Wodehouse, describes Jeeves as the "prime mover of the god" and "the main brain found to have invented coincidence or coincidence". To form his plan, Jeeves often studies the "individual psychology" or personality of one or more people involved in the situation. His mental prowess is associated with eating fish, according to Bertie Wooster, who praised the phosphorus content in fish by increasing the strength of Jeeves's brain. Jeeves does not try to refute this claim, though at least once he says he does not eat much fish, and in one conversation, Bertie states that he prefers kippers, while Jeeves prefers ham.
One of Jeeves' greatest skills is to make a special drink from his own invention, a powerful drink that momentarily jolts one's feelings but is very effective in curing a hangover. Bertie first employs Jeeves after his hangover is healed by one of Jeeves's special drinks. Not just drunk drugs, drinks can also give energy to someone who needs it, but to calm someone who is working. The color is dark, Jeeves's special pick-me-up consists of Worcester sauce (pronounced "Wooster" sauce), raw eggs, and red peppers according to Jeeves, although Bertie suspects the drink consists of more than that. Wodehouse mentions other materials in the personal letter he wrote at the end of his life, although the material he declared in the letter was not mentioned in the story. In addition, Jeeves is able to type and write posts quickly.
Jeeves has knowledge in more dubious subjects as well. He gets information on how to steal paintings and kidnap dogs. He uses Mickey Finn to immobilize unscrupulous Bingley. Capable of violence when the situation calls for it, Jeeves uses golf clubs to immobilize Sippy Sipperley in "The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy", and drops a goose with a raincoat and boathook in "Jeeves and the Impending Doom". He feels the need to get Aunt Dahlia to defeat Bertie with a gong stick in "Jeeves Make Omelette", though she agrees with Bertie not to use this kind of tactics anymore. After Jeeves used cosh to paralyze Constable Dobbs in The Mating Season, a Bertie was surprised to describe Jeeves as "something to be gratefully accepted as a muscle man by any gang in search of new blood".
Hobbies
Jeeves often read intellectual books, "fixing up", including works by Spinoza, Shakespeare, and "Dostoevsky and the great Russians". He also enjoys the novelist novelist Rosie M. Banks, and regularly reads The Times, which Bertie sometimes borrows to try crossword puzzles. In "Jeeves in the Springtime", she goes dancing at Camberwell, where she is seen by a friend of Bertie, Little Bingo. Bingo said that he saw Jeeves "swinging shoes efficiently". Once a week, Jeeves takes an afternoon off to play bridge at his club, Junior Ganymede.
One of Jeeves's hobbies is fishing, which he tends to do during his annual summer vacation. Bertie saw her fishing at Joy in the Morning . Appreciating the journey in general, Jeeves wants to go sailing in two different stories, "The Spot of Art" and The Code of Woosters . Jeeves claims that the journey is educational, though Bertie suspects that Jeeves has a Viking strain and "misses the smell of the sea breeze". Jeeves occasionally enjoys gambling, which is why he wants to go to Monte Carlo in "Jeeves and Yule-tide Spirit".
Relationship with Bertie Wooster
The premise of Jeeves's story is that the brilliant waiter firmly controls the lives of his rich and unfashionable young masters. Jeeves became Bertie Wooster's keeper and multipurpose troubleshooter, devising a smooth plan to help Bertie and his friends with problems. In particular, Jeeves frees Bertie Wooster from an engagement to a formidable woman who Bertie is reluctant to get involved, Bertie does not want to hurt women's feelings by refusing her. While Jeeves wants to keep Bertie from a fiancé who she believes will not make Bertie happy, Jeeves also wants to maintain her position, which she feels will be threatened by a wife. Jeeves also provides help when Bertie, who refuses to patronize, gets into trouble trying to help a friend or relative he likes. Bertie usually does not realize the extent of Jeeves intrigue until everything is revealed at the end of the story. On one occasion, Bertie acknowledged and accepted his role as a pawn in Jeeves's grand plan, though Jeeves objected, saying that he could not achieve anything without cooperation with Bertie.
For the most part, Bertie and Jeeves have a good relationship. Loving Bertie, Jeeves considers their connections "fun in every way". Bertie says that he views Jeeves as "a kind of guide, a philosopher, and a friend". At the time when Bertie was separated from Jeeves, Bertie suffered greatly. When Bertie had to stay alone in a hotel in "The Bibi and the Sluggard", she struggled without Jeeves there to press her clothes and bring her tea, saying "I do not know when I feel so rotten.how do I find myself moving around the room gently, as if there was a death in the family "; he then entertained himself by going around in the cabaret, though "the frightening Jeeves loss makes the mind of pleasure more or less mockery". In Jeeves, when Jeeves leaves Bertie's work because of their disagreement over the banjolele, Bertie is still looking for Jeeves to ask for help and Jeeves comes to her aid. Bertie did not like it when Jeeves went on his annual vacation, stating, "without this right hand beside him, Bertram Wooster is a shadow of his former self". Jeeves appreciated the praise Bertie gave him, saying that "Mr. Wooster always appreciates my humble efforts on his behalf".
Jeeves has a strong idea of ​​how an Englishman should dress and behave, and see it as his duty to ensure that his master displays him appropriately. When friction arises between Jeeves and Bertie, it's usually more than a few new items about the enthusiastic Bertie Wooster that does not meet Jeeves's approval, such as bright purple socks, white jackets, or tacky vases. Bertie became attached to the less conservative pieces and Jeeves's opposition view to them as "hydebound and reactionary". This type of discord leads to a period of coolness between them. Conflicts are resolved at the end of the story, usually after Jeeves helps Bertie with his latest problem. Bertie, grateful, agrees to have it by way of Jeeves. He does not mind if he finds out that Jeeves, foresees that Bertie will agree to hand over the item, has thrown it away.
Bertie considers Jeeves as a miracle, and wonders why Jeeves is content to work for him, stating, "Sometimes I sometimes why a man with his genius is content to hang around pressing on my clothes and what's not." Jeeves has been offered two times Bertie's salary to pay him by another man, but still with Bertie. Jeeves views Bertie as a friendly but mentally neglected person, although his opinion of Bertie's intelligence seems to increase with time. In the original story, he says Bertie is "a very pleasant and friendly young man, but not smart, never smart, mentally he can be ignored - quite negligible." Hearing this spurs Bertie tries to solve his own problems, though eventually he fails and needs the help of Jeeves. Nevertheless, Jeeves's view of Bertie's intelligence seems to have been softened by the first novel, when Jeeves says Bertie "may be, mentally rather neglected, but he has a golden heart". At one point in the ninth novel, Jeeves really praised Bertie's quick thinking, saying that Bertie's tactics to hide from an antagonist behind the couch "show the resources and speed of thought that would be hard to overpraise".
Influence
In the twenty-first century, "Jeeves" is a generic term for any useful and reliable person, found in dictionaries such as the Oxford English Dictionary or Encarta World English Dictionary .
Jeeves canon
The Jeeves canon is a series of comedy stories following Bertie Wooster and servant Jeeves, which consists of 35 short stories and 11 novels. With minor exceptions, short stories were first written and published (between 1915 and 1930); later novels (between 1934 and 1974). While a series of stories that feature Jeeves characters are often referred to as the "Jeeves" story, this series is also called by other names like "Jeeves and Wooster" or "Jeeves and Bertie".
Bertie Wooster tells (in the first person) all the stories but two, "Bertie Changes His Mind" (which Jeeves narrated to the first person), and Ring for Jeeves (featuring Jeeves but not Bertie Wooster and written in the third person).
These short stories are mainly established in London, where Bertie Wooster has a flat and is a member of the cruel Drones Club, or in New York City, despite several short stories in and around the magnificent houses of the English countryside. These novels take place in or near an English country house, most often Brinkley Court (in four novels) and Totleigh Towers (in two novels). The background is primariy of the English version idealized during the interwar period, although contemporary references made throughout the story suggest that to some degree the story follows a floating time line. Only Ring for Jeeves mentions World War II. In other stories, the arrangements are almost very beautiful, with international conflicts being underestimated or ignored, and illness and injury lead to meaningless losses. The stories have aspects of cartoons, such as when Bertie says of a distracted Aunt Dahlia, "Suddenly fire wets her eyes, burns my hair".
The World of Jeeves collection (first published in 1967, reprinted in 1988) contains all of Jeeves's short stories (with the exception of "Extricating Young Gussie") presented more or less in narrative chronological order, but with some variations from the original.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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