#Jeeves/wooster analysis

[aspiring-creative-person]

Ok but I was just thinking

Jooster is kind of the only actual solid relationship in Jeeves and Wooster?? Like platonic or romantic, let me explain

Like obviously it’s the focus, but like. Listen.

Everyone else hops from girl to girl, or guy to guy, and each one is filled with turmoil. This is just talking about Bertie’s friends, right?

But also, as friends, they really suck. They constantly get him to do things for them and do nothing in return.

Even the aunts and uncles don’t usually have spouses that are actually on screen!! Who knows if there were divorces or something?? Like people’s parents are hardly ever present it’s always some rich aunt or uncle, with Bertie yes but even with all his friends 😅😂

Everyone in that show is just so… detached from each other. There’s a particular moment where Bertie is driving Bingo and Tuppy home, and they’re just ranting about their women to each other and not listening to the other, and Bertie is just so done with it. I think that illustrates this point pretty well.

Anyway, Jeeves and Bertie are so not that. There’s another post somewhere on Tumblr talking about how Bertie always replies to Jeeves’ subtext and they pick up on each others moods essentially, which I think is a great point. And generally they just really like each other. Just read any of the books to see how much Bertie admires Jeeves, and read “Mr. Wooster Changes His Mind,” which is from Jeeves’ perspective, and you can see how he cares a lot for Bertie as well.

And like. They have their own language. Bertie is used to Jeeves materializing into rooms (this generally freaks out other people), he is now comfortable with it. Also he knows that whenever Jeeves is cold to him it’s almost always about his fashion choices, and that is a constant theme of how they interact. They have their quips about music sometimes. Jeeves always helps solve Bertie’s (and friends’) problems, and even when Bertie gets the short end of the stick, if it’s Jeeves’ plan he immediately is satisfied with the conclusion.

The biggest thing, though, is probably their brief break-up. Like. They had a disagreement and broke up, and then missed each other. There weren’t even any hard feelings, just longing tbh. And at the end they got back together, and stayed together, and were happy to see each other again. They clearly enjoy each others’ company. And Jeeves seemed to think that the other candidates for his employer did not even compare to Bertie.

Name another couple in this show who is as devoted as they are

Half of the women go for men for their status, the other half at whims

All of the men go for women on whims, and half of them find another girl when they have some sort of disagreement with the previous one

And even if they get back with a previous partner, there’s no guarantee that they will stay together

But Jooster is in for the long haul. The most consistent relationship, the most caring relationship, the most in-tune relationship, the most long-term relationship.

Oh yeah also with familial relations and all that. Aunt Agatha has been quoted to say she thinks Bertie should probably be put in some home. Like, that’s pretty rude and everything. She also tries to get him to marry all the time, she doesn’t care about him in a way that is healthy at least, only so much as he can be out of the way and out of trouble. Even Aunt Dahlia, who says he is her favorite nephew, and who takes advantage of his nature to get him to do things for her, insults him and throws things at him sometimes. His cousin Gussy, when he gets drunk, insults him in front of a crowd, going so far as to say he hates him. Claude and Eustice put him into the soup without a care for how mad Aunt Agatha will be at him.

Jeeves never insults him, or not his character at least. Yes, they have their disagreements about fashion and music. But Jeeves never insults his intelligence. He never calls him clumsy. He never underestimates him. Yes, he is his employee, but I have a feeling that it doesn’t have to do with that. Even when he was split up, like I mentioned, he came back and said the other employers weren’t up to snuff compared to Bertie.

Omg and then there’s all the women who think Bertie loves them/who want to marry Bertie. Of course, they all have delusions about him, because if they knew him at all they would know he is not in love with them. They would know that he’s too much of a pushover to say no to them. But they don’t. Which just shows further the disconnect everyone has in this show.

Ok referencing one more post because I like the point they have. It was something about how the actors keep changing for the side characters, unintentionally showing how Jeeves is really the only constant in Bertie’s life. Again showing the difference in their relationship vs his disconnected everyone else is. While I’m sure it’s not an intentional choice in that regard, it certainly is an interesting connection.

Anyway like I said at the beginning of this, you can interpret their relationship as romantic or platonic or somewhere in between, but it’s definitely the only solid one in the series.

[frogayyyy]

Jeeves & Wooster + Mirrors analysis

S1E01: Jeeves Takes Charge

under the cut because it got ridiculously long for just the first episode lol

We first meet Bertie as a dishevelled, hungover young gentleman currently being charged with petty theft. He stumbles home to a disordered house, with clothes all over the floor and cupboard doors wide open, then he immediately passes out on his bed. To put it lightly - he’s a mess.

Enter Jeeves.

Jeeves sweeps in and fixes the place up with what feels like a magic wave of his hand. He mixes a little restorative drink without so much as a word from Bertie (not for lack of trying). The drink doesn’t magically fix Bertie’s rumpled appearance like the flat, but the effect on his mind and spirit is clear.

Bertie stands in front of the large mirror in his living room, apparently inspecting himself and the effects of Jeeves’ drink.

Despite his still ruffled hair and crooked tie, Bertie is viewing a reflection of a restored, fresh, well put together gentleman. He’s seeing an echo of a future self, one that accepts Jeeves into his life.

He turns away from the mirror and immediately hires Jeeves.

This could indicate that Bertie sees what he wants to see in mirrors, the version of himself that he likes most. Or perhaps, rather than reflecting his outward appearance - the mask he displays to the world - the mirror reflects his inner mood and emotions.

After their first back and forth about Bertie’s outfit, in which Bertie asserts that he will wear the clothes he already has on, it cuts to Bertie on the station platform and we see through the steam that he is wearing the tweed suit Jeeves had suggested.

He inspects himself in the train window, seemingly coming to the conclusion that Jeeves was right and the tweed suit was indeed the better choice. This troubles him, not wanting Jeeves to get the wrong impression that just because he conceded on this occasion that he would continue to do so, and reasserts himself to Jeeves.

W: Jeeves, I have to make one thing crystal clear.

J: Yes, sir?

W: I am not one of those who become absolute slaves to their valets.

J: No, sir.

W: Very well. We understand each other.

J: Perfectly, sir.

The phrase ‘smoke and mirrors’ comes to mind. As we know, eventually Bertie does in essence become an “absolute slave” to his valet, albeit willingly. Jeeves seems to know this perfectly well. The steam from the train serves as the ‘smoke’ obscuring the deception: Jeeves happily allowing Bertie to believe that he is in complete control.

I mention this scene because it highlights the beginning of an important evolution in their relationship. At first, Bertie strongly resists being “moulded” (“I’m not a jelly” as he said to Aunt Agatha earlier in the episode, though referring to a possible future wife) and Jeeves (falsely) reassures him that he isn’t.

However, even by the end of the first episode, Bertie starts to realise that he doesn’t mind these changes as much as he imagined he would.

Another important part of Jeeves and Bertie’s relationship is music. Music is used throughout the series to show the change in familiarity and ‘feudal spirit’ between them and the relaxing of their positions as servant and master.

The first time we see Bertie at his piano playing a simple call and response song on his own. When he asks Jeeves to join in singing the responses, we see Bertie through the mirror and Jeeves continuing his tasks.

Jeeves obliges and joins in, but still adds the proper ‘sir’s at the end of every line.

Bertie is disappointed with this and asks Jeeves to sing it again but to drop the sirs. He pauses his task and moves forward closer to the piano, and now we no longer see them separated in the mirror but side by side.

Although he can’t fully let go of etiquette, he tries to acquiesce and Bertie seems delighted with this.

Afterwards, they both move back to the mirror this time, firmly returning to their roles as master and servant as they prepare for dinner with the Glossops.

This could suggest that the mirror is being used to show the barrier of propriety between them. Bertie being isolated in the mirror at first but inviting Jeeves closer and trying to get him to abandon his feudal spirit. Here, the only time Jeeves joins Bertie in the mirror is when he’s performing his duties.

(Bertie realising he might not mind being moulded (not a euphemism) a little bit by Jeeves)

At the end of the episode, after Bertie escapes the engagement to Honoria Glossop and avoids being sectioned by Rodrick Glossop, we find them in the bathroom.

As we view them both only through the mirror, Jeeves reveals that he did indeed ‘work the whole thing’.

J: Well, if you’ll pardon the liberty, sir, I doubt if the young lady would have been entirely suitable for you.

In contrast to his earlier remarks about not ‘becoming a slave to his valet’, Bertie now seems perfectly content to know that Jeeves was controlling the whole evening.

We no longer see them divided by the mirror - the barrier between master and servant. Although the mirror is still there, it’s not separating them anymore. Jeeves has revealed his plan and his intentions and has been allowed into Bertie’s space (in a private and intimate place as his bathroom, no less), almost elevated to his equal.

It’s also interesting to note that for Jeeves, the mirror is used when he confesses a truth - in this case his role in getting Bertie out of the soup and his reason for doing so. We see this again in future episodes 👀

[whathobertie]

my #1 source of joy is reading fellow jooster enthusiasts analyse Jeeves and whatever the hell he does. i feel like I've just joined the world's cosiest tavern. jooster is happiness !!!

[my-mistake-lets-do-this-again]

I was rewatching ✨The Divorce✨ episode (again) and please just look at how awkward this man is. But I have like actual points here.

1. What do you even think you’re doing Bertie? This is definitely not consensual but it’s him and her so idek what’s happening. Like bro kissing someone should not be you turning into a suckerfish.

2. Despite whatever this is. I genuinely love the friendship between Pauline and Bertie’s friendship. I feel like she’s one of the few actual friends that Bertie has that doesn’t just use him to get things. Most of the major messes of hers that Bertie gets wrapped up in are genuine caused exclusively by Jeeves. Her asking a favor from him when she feels unsafe is a regular act of friendship and it results in both caring about one another in a genuinely brother and sister way. They both cover for one another and it’s not like ANY of Bertie’s other friends.

[thealogie]

I’m so used to NOT getting gay kisses I have wanted to see in media since I was 12 years old that I don’t even know what to do with this. This is like when Jesse and Kim interacted but times one billion.

[lookingatacupoftea]

About

After a year and a half on this site, I guess I should make an intro post. As a neurotypical cis het allo white lady, I feel like a bit of a unicorn on Tumblr. There are literally dozens of us here! I'm the American mom with a brown ponytail in athleisure wear picking up her kids at school, then going home to bang out more work for my nonprofit job, cook dinner, and write fanfiction. 

This blog primarily shares Good Omens fanworks. Since the Neil Gaiman allegations came out in July 2024,* I've moved away from posting about canon. I may share a few analysis posts about the book/show thus far or the finale/s3, but my focus is on promoting fans’ creative endeavors, not NG. I believe taking tangible action like donating, volunteering, and organizing for SA survivors is much more impactful than arguing online. If you can, consider donating to RAINN, the Survivors Trust, or the Good Omens fan fundraiser On Our Own Side.

Other interests you might see reflected: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Slings & Arrows, Our Flag Means Death, The Good Place, Interview With the Vampire (TV), The West Wing, All Creatures Great & Small (2020 TV), Kevin Can Fuck Himself, Jeeves & Wooster, Anne of Green Gables. I rarely post about politics or current events. That part of my life is lived offline.

My fic: I’m nearly finished writing my own take on Good Omens season 3. It's got plot and pining and time/reality fuckery and the power of community to change the world and zero “I was wrong” dances. I aim to begin posting in February. 

* If you're new to this topic, the most complete coverage is Lila Shapiro's January 2025 Vulture/New York Magazine article (tw/cw for sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual coercion and child abuse). Proceed with caution!

[cornelleus2nd]

It would be quite inappropriate for me to not place a introduction into my dearest friends hands so I shall go ahead.

<3

Hello there, my name is Cornelleus, I use He/Him pronouns. As you may be aware I obnoxiously post about Wes Anderson related contents - especially 'The Grand Budapest Hotel'.

I have no age restrictions on my account as I am slowly growing into unsupervised adult life at 17. To me it doesn't matter how old you are as I quite like to hear anyone's wonderful thoughts and opinions and to chatter with said folks. My birthday is on the 22nd of November, a quite adored date by me.

I happen to be a chatterbox of sorts - my words being a endless waterfall so I do apologize for any subjected Rambles. In return I do not mind listening at all. You may be inclined for compensation if I make you subject of any poetic items.

I revel in literature, poetry and art. And sometimes I quite adore to create some of my own. Baking is also something I am fond of - especially if it's in purpose for my dearest friends.

Other than that I am invested in riveting Personality analysis.

For the personality nerds out there, here is my full choice: ESFJ, 3w2 - 371 - sx/so, Neutral Good, EVFL/FEVL, |S|xOax - SCOAI, EIE, Sanguine [Dominant]

Other fandoms I catch my heart drawn to and adoring are especially the NATM, Wonka, Jeeves and Wooster and Sherlock Holmes ones.

I love my friends the most and meeting new people - I hope we find plenty enjoyments with eachother. ✨

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Hobbit!

Been thinking about posting my own read throughs of fantasy stories and I’ve finally got a set-up that works for me, so I’m just diving right in. I’d spent a lot of time trying to come up with the perfect approach, but that was daunting and also a little boring, so for now, why not stick with the basics? I’ll be reading through The Hobbit and later The Lord of the Rings, and we’ll see what happens from there. As I'm pretty familiar with the text, be advised that if you aren't there are spoilers galore. Below are my thoughts:

Using the cardinal runes on the map (M being E at top) and the dwarven runes provided in my ebook author’s note for the Hobbit, the two runic messages upon the map can be translated early and read as follows:

“Stand by the grey stone hwen the thrush knocks and the setting sun with the last light of durins day will shine upon the keyhole”

“Five feet high the dor and three may wock abreast. Th. Th.”

Obviously “durins” should be “Durin’s”, though a new reader wouldn’t know this (the note does clarify that the last “Th”s are initials, though). Further, the reader may be confused by the “a” rune in “last” and render it as lost, the a and o runes are nearly identical and this particular rune is actually halfway between them. As dwarven runes have no I/J or U/V distinction, only reading the note to learn this fact will clarify that “five” is not mistakenly spelled “fiue”.

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

First sentence analysis: It’s pretty basic, but the fact that “hobbit” is theoretically outside of the reader’s experience does at least cause interest. Further, the imagery cast is that which the full paragraph spends trying to disavow: this isn’t a miserable ditch, but something comfier.

...bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries (lots of these), wardrobes (he had whole rooms devoted to clothes), kitchens, dining-rooms...

The description of the hobbit hole quickly makes it clear that Bilbo is something of a dandy – indeed by the time he’s repeating “Good morning!” to Gandalf for lack of any other ideas of what to say I suddenly found myself picturing a very short Bertie Wooster dealing with a particularly ragged Jeeves.

He may have lost the neighbours’ respect, but he gained – well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.

He did: besides the treasure (including a cool weapon and a fun cursed magical artifact designed by one of the setting equivalents of the princes of hell), he gained the friendship of Gandalf and nearly a dozen dwarves. Further, he gains quite a lot of strength of character. But we’ll get there.

There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along...

The Hobbit occupies an odd space in that it was originally designed as a simple fairy tale with no broader implications but then was tied into the greater Legendarium. Thus there are many casual statements that become much more interesting in that light – this one in particular suggests that hobbits were still extant in Britain in the early 20th century.

Bungo Baggins

I want to be mature about this but I cannot.

[Gandalf] had not been down that way under The Hill for ages and ages, not since his friend the Old Took died…

As the Old Took is Bilbo’s grandfather and Belladonna was merely one of three remarkable daughters, one wonders if Bilbo (and by extension Frodo) is the result of Gandalf’s meddling. I would not be so crass as to suggest that Gandalf was deliberately practicing the eugenics of the Bene Gesserit, but I could see him encouraging marriages across various family lines to his friends in the hopes of keeping the Shire a good and stable place as part of his overall purpose on Middle Earth.

Not the fellow who used to tell such wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and giants and the rescue of princesses and the unexpected luck of widows’ sons?

While of course Gandalf may well have been merely telling folk lore (it is a poor fantasy world where every bit of fiction is actually true), I do wonder if he had anything to do with the rescue of any princesses – and who they might be exactly. If he wasn’t personally involved, he could still tell them quite old tales indeed.

...or sailing in ships, sailing to other shores!

As this is about the adventures of other hobbits Bilbo is mentioning, I have to wonder exactly what he means by other shores – most of the known world is just the one continent plus a couple islands. This may be another thing that just doesn’t quite fit into the larger picture of the world. It’s not impossible of course, but it’s odd that Gandalf might have taken hobbits so far south as Gondor before, or to such remote places in the north as Tol Himling. And there’s certainly no other continent within sailing distance – Numenor is sunk, Valinar has been removed bar special circumstances, and the predecessors of the Americas are awfully distant. Then again, tobacco and potatoes had to come from somewhere.

“What on earth did I ask him to tea for!”

Presumably Bilbo, you were under Gandalf’s spell. Or the plot’s.

It was a dwarf with a blue beard tucked into a golden belt…

I always forget that Dwalin has a blue beard. I don’t know enough about the Legendarium to say how many dwarves have blue hair (possibly dyed?), but it does seem to be something that exists more for the fairy tale angle. Sadly, not only did Peter Jackson’s adaptation skip this crucial detail, but the cartoon made him a rather old-looking dwarf with a gray beard, almost identical to Balin who arrives next (and in fairness, is his brother).

He had a horrible thought that the cakes might run short, and then he – as the host: he knew his duty and stuck to it however painful – he might have to go without.

Usually fantasy protagonists don’t start worrying about provisions until the adventure’s gotten going. Well, the ones in good stories anyway. The ones in bad stories never worry about provisions at all!

...the four dwarves sat round the table, and talked about mines and gold and troubles with the goblins, and the depredations of dragons, and lots of other things which [Bilbo] did not understand, and did not want to…

1- I’m starting to see where my own love of too many commas comes from. Curse my parents for reading this to me when I was three! They should have read Strunk & White instead!

2- Bilbo really should have paid attention so they wouldn’t have to repeat themselves later. Very rude.

...very soon two purple hoods, a grey hood, a brown hood, and a white hood were hanging on the pegs…

Dwarves might be mostly thought of for their love of metal, but apparently they have hella good dyers too. This joins the green, red, and blue hoods of the dwarves already present, which means we’ve covered effectively the whole rainbow.

...[Gandalf] had also, by the way, knocked out the secret mark that he had put there the morning before.

Gandalf, you’re kind of a dick. Oh, and the remaining dwarves with him add yellow, pale green, and sky blue, so yeah. For the very small number of fantasy writers who long to imitate Tolkien but also want to do something new, please write about dwarvish dyers, I’m begging you. Do they have an extensive collection of mineral dyes? Do they make up for any gaps in the color spectrum with cave mushrooms? What other textile work do they do?

“I suppose you will all stay to super?” he said in his politest unpressing tones.

“Of course!” said Thorin. “And after. We shan’t get through the business till late, and we must have some music first. Now to clear up!”

As someone who hates unexpected guests in general I feel a great deal of sympathy to Bilbo for being caught in my nightmare scenario, though I will give the dwarves credit for clearing up after, though the teasing song can’t have helped matters. Based on his behavior thus far, I assume that Gandalf deliberately misled the dwarves on the psychology of hobbits for a laugh. Probably spent most of Fellowship being angry that Bilbo made sure Frodo was too cultured to be put off by foreign bullshit.

Then Gandalf’s smoke-ring would go green and come back to hover over the wizard’s head.

Sounds like a good mini-game for a vidya. Of course, the purpose is to humble Bilbo even further, since he’d been proud of his smoke rings from yesterday. I wonder what weird crap Belladonna had to put up with; it doesn’t matter that she was a “crazy” Took, you know Gandalf wasn’t happy with her at first either.

The dwarves of yore made mighty spells … They shaped and wrought, and light they caught To hide in gems on hilt of sword.

It’s much less prominent a theme than the decay of the elves, but it’s still very present in the Legendarium that the dwarves used to be a lot more talented than they are in the present day and wrought plenty of magic themselves. There’s also not as much of a distinction between the two kinds of magic as other settings would use – like yeah, the dwarves are mostly craftsmen while the elves are mostly hippies, but we’ll see more dwarven magic in this book that isn’t just making cool loot for level 20 adventurers.

“We like the dark,” said all the dwarves.

I’ve never heard 13 people speak in unison before but I can’t imagine it’s comfortable. This, far more than the song, would make me want to curl up and hide.

...the compliments were quite lost on poor Bilbo Baggins, who was wagging his mouth in protest at being called audacious and worst of all fellow conspirator…

Yes, Gandalf definitely made up a whole bunch of “hobbit facts” for the dwarves to memorize and each and every single one of them was so far away from the truth that if Arda hadn’t been round already it would have changed then and there just to find a place to fit all the bullshit.

Poor Bilbo couldn’t bear it any longer. At may never return he began to feel a shriek coming up inside, and very soon it burst out like the whistle of an engine coming out of a tunnel.

Ignoring the anachronism (the narrator is clearly contemporaneous to the reader and thus may reference things like trains), this is the moment when it becomes clear that Bilbo is an incredible dandy indeed. Even Bertie Wooster was less of a coward than this, as skulking and ill-advised as his schemes generally were. This is precisely the kind of growth that Bilbo will need to experience over the course of this story: can he at least reconcile his Took and Baggins sides to the point where he can talk about adventure without having a full-blown panic attack? And will he be able to invent a sport that is less boring than golf in the process to redeem the family name?

“...And I assure you there is a mark on this door – the usual one in the trade, or used to be. Burglar wants a good job, plenty of Excitement and reasonable Reward.”

Forget GRRM’s ranting about taxes, I desperately want to know how the economy of Middle Earth functions that there can be a consistent symbol to put on your door that says, “Yeah I’m down for some B&E bro”. I’m starting to think that the collapse of Arnor was less about war and plague and more about mass looting collapsing the economy. Last-King Arvedui didn’t flee to Forodwaith, he was stuffed in a bag that Thorin’s great-great-etc. uncle forgot to put air holes in.

“There is a dragon marked in red on the Mountain,” said Balin, “but it will be easy enough to find him without that, if ever we arrive there.”

Balin for snarkiest, and therefore best, dwarf.

‘Five feet high the door and three may walk abreast’

Yeah geez Gandalf anyone who took the time to translate the map themselves already know this, why are you spelling it out for the audience? Too much exposition ruins a story!

“How could such a large door be kept secret from everybody outside, apart from the dragon?” he asked. He was only a little hobbit you must remember.

No it’s actually a fair question. Not sure why Tolkien’s giving him shit.

“...not without a mighty Warrior, even a Hero. I tried to find one; but warriors are busy fighting one another in distant lands, and in this neighbourhood heroes are scarce, or simply not to be found.”

Aragorn was like ten at this point and I expect most of the other Rangers were pretty scarce with Tharbad having been lost thirty years ago so this actually does check out in Legendarium terms.

“Long ago in my grandfather Thror’s time our family was driven out of the far North...”

Thorin doesn’t mention it, but they were driven out of the Grey Mountains by dragons, which just goes to show. One imagines that the Ring of Thror, one of the seven, was likely the very instrument that lead to their ancestral homeland being such a tasty target, and that its powers quickly amassed them the hoard that got Smaug’s attention too. Probably for the best that Thorin never got his family’s ring based on how he acted without it.

“...the toy market of Dale was the wonder of the North.”

This however, does feel like it clashes a bit. One hopes Thorin just assumes magic artifacts of all sorts are “toys” as it seems difficult to imagine the economy of the region supporting a market of children’s goods.

“Probably, for that is the dragons’ way, he has piled it all up in a great heap far inside, and sleeps on it for a bed.”

Thorin, we all know that’s exactly what you’d be doing with it too.

“And Thrain your father went away on the twenty-first of April, a hundred years ago last Thursday...”

Captured by Sauron ninety-six years ago last Thursday, more or less, and of course Gandalf found him a few years later on a reconnaissance mission. As is Gandalf’s usual dickish wont, he left the guy there.

“I tried to save your father, but it was too late.”

Don’t argue just because I’m committing character assassination, Gandalf.

“...we must give a thought to the Necromancer.” “Don’t be absurd! He is an enemy far beyond the powers of all the dwarves put together, if they could all be collected again from the four corners of the world.”

Make it out of this book alive before you worry about the sequel, Thorin. That said, Gandalf is of course trying to regather the dwarves as part of his general attempt to get the west ready for when the Necromancer makes his next move.

It was long after the break of day, when he woke up.

Considering how intent the dwarves were on breakfast, I suppose Gandalf told them all in the night that hobbits explode if woken up forcibly or something.

That’s the end of the chapter though. Considering the fantasy’s genre predilection for long, wandering tomes, it also has to be noted that Tolkien manages to stuff quite a lot into the first chapter. Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin are well-defined as characters at this point (and the rest of the dwarves are pretty interchangeable anyway), the quest is clearly defined, and much of its back half is at least foreshadowed (Murkwood, Long-Lake, the Mountain itself). Indeed, Tolkien even has room for the pretty extraneous talk of Moria and the Necromancer’s domain, neither of which will be visited in this story.

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

This is a fair point and we do need to account for the fact that Jeeves is a known bullshitter. I have some thoughts about this.

From a Doylist perspective, it’s possible that the no-married-gentlemen policy is simply a retcon. Plum hadn’t quite nailed down the characters in those earlier stories. Over the course of the series, Bertie and Jeeves both become increasingly hostile toward the idea of Bertie marrying. The attitude we see here of "don't love the idea of it, would rather not- oh, and she wants us to end our working relationship? fuck that" gradually morphs into Bertie and Jeeves sharing an unspoken understanding that any hint of an engagement to anyone on the horizon constitutes an emergency that requires immediate intervention.

From a Watsonian perspective, I can see a couple possible explanations.

1: Straightforwardly, Jeeves has no such policy and was lying to give himself a pretext for leaving Chuffy without admitting that he really just missed Bertie (“I’m not leaving Chuffy FOR YOU, I was going to leave anyway, and if you HAPPEN to have an open position...)

2: Jeeves had no such official policy before coming to Bertie, but really HAD only worked for unmarried gentlemen, whether this was down to coincidence, personal preference, wives not liking him, etc. He didn't decide to make it a hard rule until the end of Thank You, Jeeves, which was the first time in the text that he and Bertie basically married each other (the second time is, of course, Much Obliged, Jeeves/Jeeves and the Tie That Binds). The codification of the no-married-gentlemen rule is both Jeeves realizing that he wants his life with Bertie to remain as it is indefinitely, and him laying out the terms he wants to set on their relationship. Bertie's agreement to take Jeeves back represents a tacit acceptance of these terms.

3: Jeeves does have a policy of only working for unmarried gentlemen which he is prepared to enforce through either resignation or sabotage, and was lying to Bertie about his motivation for breaking the engagement to Honoria. We know that Jeeves has exacting standards when it comes to employers. He left Lord Worplesdon over a sartorial disagreement. He's been turning down offers from Bertie's friends promising higher pay since as early as "Hard-Boiled Egg." He left Bertie himself over a banjolele. If he has a problem, he will leave. If he doesn't want to leave, he'll manipulate the situation to get what he wants.

4: Some combination of the above (I don't think they're necessarily mutually exclusive).

So is Jeeves's concern remaining in Bertie's employment, or is it having Bertie to himself? To gain further insight on this matter, we can actually turn to Jeeves himself. Later on there's a story called "Bertie Changes His Mind", the only Jeeves story written from Jeeves's POV. For those who haven't read it (I don't know if it was adapted into an episode), in this story Bertie announces that he's lonely and tired of monotony. Jeeves reacts thusly:

I confess that his words filled me with a certain apprehension. I had heard gentlemen in whose employment I have been speak in very much the same way before, and it had almost invariably meant that they were contemplating matrimony. It disturbed me, therefore, I am free to admit, when Mr Wooster addressed me in this fashion. I had no desire to sever a connexion so pleasant in every respect as his and mine had been, and my experience is that when the wife comes in at the front door the valet of bachelor days goes out at the back.

Bertie then says that he wishes he had a daughter, and decides on the spur of the moment that he wants to buy a big house and invite his sister and her three daughters to come to live with him and Jeeves. You can guess how Jeeves feels about this:

I concealed my perturbation, but the effort to preserve my sang-froid tested my powers to the utmost. The course of action outlined by Mr Wooster meant the finish of our cosy bachelor establishment if it came into being as a practical proposition, and no doubt some men in my place would at this juncture have voiced their disapproval. I avoided this blunder.

We can gather from this that in the past, the marriage of an employer has resulted in the termination of Jeeves's employment reliably enough that now the mere idea of an employer marrying fills him with trepidation. I thought this was pretty straightforward when I first read it, But I find What's interesting to me is how his phrasing subtly shifts from the first quote to the second, becoming both more certain of the end of his employment and more ambiguous as to the reason why.

In the first quote, Jeeves isn't saying he's certain that Bertie marrying would "sever [his] connexion" (i.e. end his employment) with him, only that his experience has taught him that this is a thing that tends to happen. The implication seems to be that the valet is dismissed after the employer is marrying, whether at the behest of the wife or because the employer feels his services will no longer be needed, but that actually isn't stated either. The valet could just as easily be going out the back door of his own volition. Maybe he can't get along with the wife, or doesn't like working in a larger household with other servants. However, the concern here in any case is about maintaining his employment status.

In the second quote, the hypothetical future wife is out of the picture, taking her hypothetical demands for Jeeves's dismissal with her, but Jeeves remains concerned. If anything, he's more concerned. He's no longer uncertain that something bad will happen, but rather makes a firm statement that the plan WILL spell the end of his "cozy bachelor establishment." It's ambiguous whether this means he would resign, or whether the household would simply change in a way that isn't to his liking-- technically if Bertie remained unmarried and lived with his sister, he would still be a bachelor. Either way, we can infer an obvious preference here for working for a single gentleman who otherwise lives alone. Observe that his fear has now shifted from losing his position to losing his current way of life.

I think with all these ambiguities, you could reasonably interpret this story as supporting any of the three explanations listed earlier, or at least not contradicting them. We get no explicit confirmation that Jeeves will automatically resign a post when his employer marries, and he seems specifically concerned that the wife will be what brings about the end of his employment (he's lying about having a policy). It sounds like any previous attempts to work in a married household haven't worked out for him, and he's specifically worried about losing his position with Bertie, which he finds pleasant (the policy isn't an official one at first, but becomes so when it applies to Bertie). His immediate reaction to his employer wanting to bring other people into their lives is to start the gears turning on a sabotage plan in a way that feels very practiced (he wants to work for unmarried employers and will make sure this is so one way or another).

We also know that one of his very first acts as Bertie's valet was breaking off his engagement to Florence, and as far as we know, she never threatened his employment with Bertie. In the case of Florence and the case of Honoria, he gives Bertie the same explanation: "she wasn't suitable to you." In the latter case there was the additional impetus of the threat to his employment, but we don't know that he wouldn't have broken the engagement regardless. To Bertie, "self-interest in own employment + feudal desire to serve y.m.'s best interest" is probably a more understandable and acceptable explanation than "you can't get married, ever."

This is where I decided to do a detailed close reading of the entire conversation at the end of "Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch," and when I had finished THAT I decided I needed to do the same thing with the conversation at the end of "Jeeves Takes Charge" in order to compare and contrast, and then I realized that this post was spinning wildly out of control, so I copied all that stuff into a Word doc for another day, so, uh, to be continued I guess

I haven't read "Thank You, Jeeves" yet, so I should probably shut up, but "Sir Roderick Comes To Lunch" calls into question whether Jeeves truly has, or has ever had, a rule about not working for married gentlemen, like he says in "Thank You". It seems that in RODE, he acted when he learned that Honoria intended to fire him after she gets married to Bertie. But if he had a rule about not working for married men, it wouldn't matter what Honoria thought of him, because he'd be out of the household anyway. It's almost like the actual rule Jeeves has is "I will do whatever it takes to keep Bertie for myself, and happy" (which means getting Bertie out of an engagement with a woman who makes him listen to her reading Ruskin and dislikes Jeeves, and also getting reunited with Bertie after Jeeves' brief stint with Chuffy).

[ao3feed-jeevesandwooster]

Worldly Cares

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/NzeVnBS " by amendebranch The moon gazes over Brinkley Court, and Dahlia reveals to herself something she always knew. Words: 859, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves & Wooster (TV 1990) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Dahlia Travers, Bertram "Bertie" Wooster, Reginald Jeeves, Seppings (Jeeves) Relationships: Reginald Jeeves/Bertram "Bertie" Wooster Additional Tags: Character Study, POV Third Person Omniscient, Reminiscing, Introspection, Canon - Book, Character Analysis, One Shot " read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/61123759

[preux-chevalier]

1, 17, and 29?

1. If someone wanted to really understand you, what would they read, watch, or listen to?

Read: PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster stories - they're where I got my url, after all. Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South. Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess. Lewis Mumford's The City in History. WB Yeats' Irish Fairy and Folk Tales. Dorothy L Sayers' Gaudy Night. Neal Stephenson's Anathem. Amor Towles' A Gentleman in Moscow.

Watch: QI, Endeavour, Whose Line is it Anyway, Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, Hot Fuzz, Kingsman, Atonement

Listen: Cabin Pressure - this perhaps should be in "watch" but it's a radio show, so I'll be pedantic. Au fond du temple saint, better known as the Pearl Fishers duet. The World in 1984 by Shearwater. Call It Dreaming by Iron and Wine. Diana Krall's version of What Are You Doing New Year's Eve. Friedrich Gulda's Concerto for Cello and Wind Band Ii: Idylle. Something There from Beauty and the Beast. The Skye Boat Song. Mairi's Wedding by the High Kings. Mystery (Living Room Sessions) by Michael Logen.

God, I'm leaving so much out, but that'll have to do.

17. Would you say your tumblr is a fair representation of the real you?

In some ways, yes - certainly in aesthetic and appreciation of terrible jokes. In others, not at all - I often deliberately avoid reblogging things related to politics because while I see quite a lot of it on my dash and don't mind that overmuch, I also find it exhausting. I'm fine with my own tumblr being something of a safe oasis. It's hard enough to manage mental health these days.

Another way my tumblr doesn't quite accurately reflect me is that I'm nearly always thinking about and discussing meta and fic. My writing mojo has rather resoundingly abandoned me, so there's very little external evidence of this, but I have a lot of fic ideas, headcanons, analysis, trope discussion, theorizing, and other general screaming going on at any given moment. (Speaking of which - if any of my followers enjoy the Peter Wimsey novels, slide in my DMs IMMEDIATELY. I don't have any friends who have read them and I feel bad for constantly dumping feels on people who don't care lmao.)

29. Already answered!

[ao3feed-jeevesandwooster]

Chapter Thirteen: The Off-Season

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/sawvNKc " by sandwichsapphic ...Scholars have coined these periods of uneventfulness, ‘The Off-Season,’ and they offer an entirely new light on both the working and the personal relationship of Jeeves and Wooster. -- An analysis into the works of Bertram Wooster, based on imagined writings in between books. Words: 2272, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves & Wooster Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Reginald Jeeves, Bertram "Bertie" Wooster, Honoria Glossop, Madeline Bassett Relationships: Reginald Jeeves/Bertram "Bertie" Wooster, Madeline Bassett/Honoria Glossop Additional Tags: Faux Academia, in universe scholarly writings, Established Relationship, making things up for the sole purpose of studying it, book analysis, honoria and madeline are mentioned, heliotrope pyjamas are mentioned " read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/51591139

[randomisgone]

This is an amazing analysis. Jeeves will never be not autistic to me <33

Reginald Jeeves is autistic. I will tell you why.

Autistic stereotypes and how Jeeves fits and doesn’t fit into them

There are several autistic stereotypes in which Jeeves fits rather well, and there are others where he doesn’t really act in that way. For the most part, Jeeves is rather like a stereotypical depiction of an autistic genius, very much similar to a character he is (to a degree) based off of, Sherlock Holmes.

One of the many ways that Jeeves fits into these stereotypes is how observant he is. His high attention to detail, something which is seen in several autistic people due to how they process their environment, is very evident in almost all of the stories because it’s usually what saves Bertie from the situations that he was landed in. He also has quite remarkable pattern-recognition skills, where he’s able to tell how a situation is going to play out before it happens because he’s seen something like it happen before.

Not only is Jeeves smart enough to be considered a genius, but he’s also seen as rather emotionless and cold compared to other characters, especially Bertie, who wears his heart on his sleeve rather openly. This is another autistic stereotype; the unemotional mastermind genius that seems more machine than man, which, I would say, got popularised partially by a horrific misunderstanding of Sherlock Holmes’ character. Jeeves isn’t unemotional nor cold, he doesn’t really know how to express his emotions all too well, which is something I will discuss later on.

Additionally, Jeeves acts in a very stiff and formal manner towards everyone, even those whom he would normally be very comfortable and slightly informal with, which is seen as “different” compared to all the other characters. Now this, in particular, isn’t necessarily an autistic stereotype but the idea, the behaving in a way that differs so vividly from others, is. I would say that he uses the rules of formality, of feudality, as a sort of social guide on how to interact with others because he wouldn’t really know how to do so otherwise, and it’s something that I will elaborate on further in another section.

Not to mention that the only instances where he acted otherwise was when he was out, gathering notes for Rockmeteller Todd’s letters, and when he was forced to be a part of Bingo’s communist dinner, both of which were instances where he was acting. 

One of the ways that Jeeves deviates from autistic stereotypes, however, is that he’s often quite sarcastic. It’s a stereotype for autistic people to not understand social cues, especially those regarding people joking and people being sarcastic, and Jeeves differs from this; he’s awfully sarcastic with Bertie at times. 

I will now delve into specific aspects of the autistic experience and how they apply to Jeeves.

Masking

Autistic people mask by hiding their autistic traits and by trying to mimic the way in which others act, by either people watching or through seeing how interactions play out in media.

I find that I cannot tell the extent to which Jeeves masks, because although he relies on what he was taught when it comes to formality to interact with others, he doesn’t exactly hide his autistic traits much. I would say that the only thing that he masks is his social confusion, he doesn’t really know how to interact with people outside of feudality and his inability to express his emotions too well.

He sticks very strictly to the social hierarchy rules, the manners in which one should interact with another from a different social class, because they give him guidelines and an outline for how to act and what to potentially expect in return. For someone who would be otherwise lost, this is incredibly helpful; he follows the rules of feudality so adherently because he doesn’t really know what else to do. Because of this, he finds it rather distressing and disturbing when Bertie breaks them by being overly friendly. Due to this, he’s seen as being stiff or formal with other people from his social standing like Brinkley. He just doesn’t know what to do without it, and he hasn’t been told how to interact with people otherwise, so he dials down the formality a tad but it’s still seen as odd.

Social differences

The way that autistic people tend to interact with others tend to differ from that of allistic, or non-autistic, people. This can show up in so many different ways, and, here, I try to shed light on the areas where Jeeves differs from the norm.

As I’ve mentioned in the previous section, one of the ways that Jeeves’ social differences shows up is by how he uses the social hierarchy rules to live by, making him come off as stand-offish at times.

Another way in which his social differences show up is by how quiet, compared to everyone else, he is. This is actually another autistic stereotype, that they’re very quiet people, and Jeeves is definitely one. He’s much more of a listener, which is one, of the many reasons, why his friendship (or at least Bertie sees it as one) with Bertie is so good.

Furthermore, he’s not all that expressive, which is why he could be seen as “cold” or “unfeeling” by others. His facial expressions don’t really change much when he’s trying to convey his feelings on his face and Bertie is the only one who can detect them. I believe this might be to do with masking as well, because one of the most important things for servants and valets is to make their presence unknown, and one of the ways that Jeeves could do that is by reducing his facial reactions to things. It could also be because he simply doesn’t know how to express them aside from his minimal way.

Additionally, he doesn’t really know how to verbalise or express his feelings in words too well without quoting someone. He doesn’t, despite his genius Bertie would say, know how to put his emotions and thoughts into words that are his own.

When it comes to jokes, especially Bertie’s, Jeeves tends to respond in either an annoyed or blank manner. Jeeves typically has a rather morbid humour, so it might be because he simply hadn’t found them funny, and he might be reacting to Bertie’s jokes in the way that he does because he could potentially simply not understand them too well, or he might’ve thought that Bertie was being genuine. This could be because he has a rather literal and very genuine interpretation of Bertie’s words.

Special interests

Autistic people have deep, sometimes called restricted, interests in things that bring them a lot of joy. Jeeves has several of these.

Jeeves has a very deep interest in books, especially philosophy and more intellectual literature, fashion, which has been very evident all throughout the show and the books, amongst several other things. Sometimes even random things that don’t exactly make sense for him to know so much about. He has a tendency to speak about these interests in a rather lengthy manner; he likes to ramble a lot, and, generally, Bertie likes to listen to him ramble. However, Jeeves sometimes does it at inappropriate or unfitting times, which is probably because he didn’t know that it was considered unsuitable to do so now; he wasn’t taught this.

Sensory sensitivities

One of the diagnostic criteria for autism is having sensory sensitivities that are very prominent, regardless of how they may differ in nature (meaning that they could be related to sound, texture, smell, brightness, light, etc). Some of the sensory issues that Jeeves has are ones that people are more familiar with and some others not so much.

Jeeves displays sensory sensitivities regarding colour. He often thinks it garish and distasteful when Bertie brings home another one of his brightly coloured articles, and this is not only because it’s against fashion rules, but it’s also because he finds colours a tad much for him. This shows in the way that he always wears the same thing, even if it’s not his uniform. He still wears darker colours, if not black, outside his valet duties, and this is most likely because he finds colour a bit overwhelming. It could also be to create a sense of sameness and routine within what he wears.

Jeeves has expressed his distaste for loud sounds a lot throughout the series but I would say that the most evident example of this is when Bertie brought the trombone home. He threatened, and did indeed, to leave Bertie’s employ if he continued playing it because Jeeves found it so disturbing and awfully loud.

Additionally, Jeeves always has his hair slicked back, regardless of what he’s doing, which means that it could be a reason for sensory disturbance to him.

Routine

Autistic people tend to find a lot of things rather overwhelming because of how different they can be, so they cope by developing and forming routines and predictable habits to sort of make the world a more familiar place to them. I would say that Jeeves is very fond of routine

One of the reasons why I say this is as he expressed an amount of distress when Bertie told him that he wanted to adopt a girl or live with his sister and her daughters. Despite all the hijinks and shenanigans that they go through, which can actually be seen as part of the routine with how often they happen, he and Bertie have maintained a rather good one. Jeeves thrives with the sameness of everything; he has to do these same tasks every single day, so they’re predictable and they’ve become sort of second-nature to him and not at all tedious nor boring.

This isn’t to say that he doesn’t like travelling, because he does a lot actually, but I would say that he likes it when it’s planned or when it’s a place that they’ve been to before, a place that he’s already familiar with. 

[cucumbermoon]

This was such a great analysis, thank you @noandnooneelse!! One of my favorite and least favorite things about Wodehouse is how deeply impossible it is to actually know exactly what's going on, but you've done a great job rummaging through the Wodehousian nonsense. I based my initial post on my (apparently inaccurate) recollection that no living Wooster uncles other than George are ever mentioned by Bertie. Now that you mention it, I can't believe I forgot that Uncle James bought little Henry the expensive toy aeroplane that Bertie passed off as his own.

You're absolutely right that Bertie's inheritance of the title would depend on his father's placement in the line of succession. That was a detail that I had forgotten, since I am also not an expert on succession of this type. So it is entirely possible that Wodehouse did not intend for Bertie to inherit the title, and instead it could go to James, or Clive, or even perhaps to Claude (or Eustace) depending on where Henry fell amongst the siblings.

Personally, I love the idea of Bertie becoming Lord Yaxley, and I love the idea of Jeeves having to explain it to him even more. Since Wodehouse, in his infinite wisdom (or infinite lack thereof - who's to say) decided to leave it unclear, then I suppose it is now in the hands of the reader to decide Bertie's fate. I know which one I am choosing.

Does anyone else ever think about the possibility that P.G. Wodehouse might not have realized that he set Bertie up to inherit the family title? Bertie never brings it up, not once. No one else does either, not even Aunt Agatha. Doylist wisdom tells me that there’s a good chance Wodehouse just never thought about it. The details of Bertie’s family are notoriously spotty, after all, and Wodehouse himself liked to joke that he barely planned anything while writing. Wodehouse might not have noticed that Bertie has no living biological uncles other than Lord Yaxley, and no elder cousins either.

And as for the Watsonian interpretation… is it possible Bertie hasn’t figured it out, either? Does Uncle George die one day and Bertie has no idea he has inherited the title until Jeeves calls him Lord Yaxley?

[yourpalmalika]

i feel so stupid and inadequate at all times... but i'm happy that i send a message in a server and it sparks a long discussion. i'm happy that my professor gave me a perfect grade for a re-animator analysis and said i can write a paper on jeeves and wooster next. i'm happy that my instagram profile is filled with doodles of my ocs and i don't have panic attacks about posting them now. i'm happy my group project is almost over. i'm happy i'm here

is anybody just really glad to be alive right now

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

Yes to all of this! I adore the idea of Jeeves and Bertie each separately learning more about poetry in order to impress and connect with the other, not knowing that the other has been learning more about poetry to impress THEM. Their special language is really something they built up together!

Your analysis made me think of a section in Wooster Proposes that I think supports your argument. Thompson (chapter 8 pp. 279-280 if you have the book handy) points out that although Jeeves quotes a lot, his quotations never seem to be from recent reading, like, for example, his BFF Spinoza. "He behaves as if he has a mental file of memorized language and quotations, and his omniscience gives the impression of being timeless." (Doylist explanation is that Wodehouse simply wasn’t a fan of Spinoza so didn’t KNOW any quotations, but this, as you say, is no fun) She then goes on to posit that Jeeves appears to have a fondness for cliches—he often praises them when Bertie uses them, and enjoys using them himself:

For example, in Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, when Bertie remarks that Stilton could easily beat him up, he agrees in a string of cliches: "'Mr. Cheesewright's robustness would enable him to crush you like a fly. He would obliterate you with a single blow.... He would break you in two with his bare hands. He would tear you limb from limb.'" We must assume that he wishes to foster Bertie's use of cliches (and he may even be appealing to Bertie's delight in cliches in order to get this point across more forcefully).

—Wooster Proposes, Jeeves Disposes, Kristen Thompson, page 280

Point one: it sounds like Jeeves has picked up at least a few cliches from Bertie, supporting the “Bertie and Jeeves developed their language together” thesis. Point two, encompassing the last paragraph as well: Jeeves is not a guy who is naturally disposed to expressing himself with poetical language. Beyond the quotations, his speech generally remains very stiff and dry; he doesn't spontaneously come up with flowery turns of phrase on his own. Like you said, he displays much more knowledge about philosophy than poetry starting from the beginning of the series. So the interest in poetry he takes later on isn’t something you’d really expect to be in character for him. I bet if he told that aunt who used to read Oliver Wendell Holmes to him that he’s reading poetry for fun now she would be like “where did THIS come from all of a sudden?”

I think his later interest in poetry IS probably genuine, as he was familiar with the poet Miss Moon in "The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy,” whom Bertie didn’t know and certainly wouldn’t have read in school. So he probably READS new poetry, but he never quotes from it (he didn’t even quote from Miss Moon when Bertie asked about it, just listed some poem titles). Like you said, he only ever quotes writers that Bertie also knows. Which is so adorable! He isn’t so talkative about ALL his interests (at least not all the time, he’ll talk your ear off about diamonds if it’s tangentially related to the matter at hand), but he’s trying to get his crush to like him, so he talks about things they both like.

And I agree that that excerpt from MOJ doesn’t prove Jeeves had any prior interest in poetry. It DOES sound like a hypothetical, not a statement about the actual past. It functions as both a quick dismissal of the idea without needing to explain further (they're not quite at the level of open intimacy where Jeeves would say "actually, I wasn't really interested in poetry back then" or words to that effect) and an explanation of why he's not going to use it: it wouldn't have worked before (which he knows thanks to other characters' reactions to him in earlier books) and it's not going to work now.

Fantastic catch about Jeeves possibly telling Bertie he's reading improving books because it's expected of servants. (you're right btw, to the best of my knowledge it's not really a term that has a specific meaning. my first exposure to it was in old books—possibly these books, I can’t remember—and I just took it to mean books that are very dry and boring and intellectual that are supposed to improve your mind. a "suffering builds character" sort of thing. the books servants were given to read don't sound like that kind of super highbrow literature, but they kind of ARE about suffering building character, so I was partially right there. I had plain forgotten about Bertie using the term to describe his mystery novels and such). Actually, on that note, I had a Barenstain Bears moment reading this post because I was SURE I remembered Bertie describing the books Florence gave him to read (which perfectly match the description of what I THOUGHT improving books were) as “improving” at some point during “Jeeves Takes Charge,” but he didn’t! You’re right, he must have picked it up from Jeeves later and misinterpreted it. That’s so funny. I wonder if his inclusive definition of “improving book” has anything to do with the fact that Jeeves brought it up right before going into Rosie M Banks. I certainly wouldn’t say he’s wrong, any type of book CAN be improving!

(side note I think Jeeves bringing up improving books right before his Rosie M. Banks spiel might also have been a preemptive defensive measure, like "I read deep and/or appropriate-for-servants books, please don't mistake me for one of those peons who read trashy pulp novels despite the knowledge I'm about to drop.")

Going back to poetry, I have another suggestion! Thompson (chapter 8 pp. 286-287) also says "Even in the earliest stories, Bertie was quoting, mostly from the literature he would have been assigned at school. In "Extricating Young Gussie," he quotes "Pippa Passes" without hesitating: "God's in his heaven/All's right with the world. Later he will often forget this one and call upon Jeeves to finish it."

Thus, I would like to propose an additional theory: sometimes Bertie pretends not to know a quotation so that Jeeves will finish it for him. Kind of both the equivalent of that thing in TV shows where female characters will sometimes act a bit ditzy around guys they have a crush on so they can flatter them about their intelligence, and also a bonding exercise (hey, this is kind of related to that "bids for connection" post I reblogged yesterday). And possibly also a soothing thing, i.e. he finds it comforting to hear Jeeves reciting familiar quotations. I've written before about how Bertie uses "the lark's on the wing/the snail's on the thorn" from the aforementioned "Pippa Passes" to signal contentedness and security, but a lot of that contentedness and security comes from being close to Jeeves. Their private language made of references and poetry quotations makes them closer, so Bertie naturally sees it as a good thing that wants pushing along.

Anyway, brilliant brilliant meta OP, your encyclopedic knowledge of the series and all the background information related to it staggers the mind

Here's the thing about how Jeeves, at the beginning of the stories, doesn't quote, and only starts after a certain amount of time. I've been digging around in the Annotations again, and found this:

About this scene:

‘You want time to think, eh?’ ‘Yes, sir.’ ‘Take it, Jeeves, take it. You may feel brainier after a night’s sleep. What is it Shakespeare calls sleep, Jeeves?’ ‘Tired Nature’s sweet restorer, sir.’ ‘Exactly. Well, there you are, then.’

This is the very first time in the entire series that Jeeves is quoting anything. Now, Bertie is usually the one who gets quotes wrong. But But we know that, later on, that's Jeeves' thing, he does that frequently, he regularly monologues about poetry, to the point where Bertie has to ask him to return to the point at hand. But he doesn't do that yet, and here, he's mixing up his quotations - this one isn't by Shakespeare, instead, it's from Edward Young's Night-Thoughts.

So if this is a new thing for him, something he's only just learning, that'd explain it, because he just plain doesn't know. He is, in this scene, just saying the first thing that comes to mind, absolutely panicking, and meanwhile, Bertie is blithely unaware of the crisis he's just caused Jeeves, because of course Jeeves knows everything and is 100% trustworthy