#joy in the morning jeeves

[therearenomorevalidblognames]

My reaction to that:

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

you can’t make this shit up

[beetle-goth]

So Jeeves’ heart leaps when he sees a rainbow in the sky 🏳️‍🌈🤔

[andyoullhearitagain]

[kanadraws]

Finished reading the 8th Jeeves book, “Joy in the Morning.”

Here’s a list of the things that Bertie has compared Jeeves to:

A (stuffed) moose / frog

A sheep (with a blade of grass stuck in its throat)

Father

Mother

A gazelle ((← New!))

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

magically, cheesewright is even more annoying in the book than the show. i’d only reread this for the jeeves and bertie garden conversation. the story is fun but too many characters are too annoying for me. i know it’s funny in a lot of ways but i cannot with like most of these characters

[sandwichsapphic]

i think about this part of Joy In The Morning all the time. As far as Jeeves knows, Bertie was just randomly in that garden in the middle of the night, no wonder he tried to flirt. I'd be FUMING if I got told to 'switch it off' when im dropping the most romantic shakespeare i can think of

jeeves had really no reason to begin quoting verse- he didn't even pry to hard into bertie's excuse for being out. in fairness they were already on holiday together because "my valet wanted to go fishing" is bertie's sole reasoning for the entire book, so i suppose jeeves decided to be fair and woo him as well. what a gentleman

feat. my written comments as i read the book lmao

[notanartist143]

been listening to the jeeves and wooster series books! Really enjoyed Joy in the Morning so I sketched a little cover as I finished it.

support me on Instagram :3

[vensre]

Forgive me if I already asked you this (my memory is terrible), but where might one start with the works of P.G. Wodehouse?

You may have, but there's recent advancements in reading/watching the Jeeves and Wooster series at least, so there are new answers!

There's a substack going called Letters Regarding Jeeves that distributes the short stories in bite-sized form.

And the YouTube to watch is this one! It's remastered and the quality is very good.

If you wanted to get your hands on one or more books or listen to audiobooks, the omnibus is called The World of Jeeves, the first novel is The Inimitable Jeeves (pictured, check out this cool cover!), and my own favorite book of the series is called Joy In The Morning. 💕

[noandnooneelse]

two things i'm noticing as i'm rereading Aunts aren't Gentlemen: firstly, I think this book feels worse (not necessarily as in, worse written, but as in meaner) than the others is that usually, Bertie is helping his friends. yes, they're blackmailing and manipulating him into it, yes, they don't care about him as much as he cares about them and they definitely wouldn't do the same for him, but still. there's a difference between "bertie, do this for me - we were at school together!" and someone bertie has met once and doesn't even particularly like like vanessa and orlo making demands of him and taking over his cottage. especially with orlo - bertie isn't usually out helping Spode, and yet in AaG there's Orlo, basically a Spode or a Stilton, Bertie has no reason whatsoever to help him - with Stilton, he at least wanted him to not stop being engaged to Florence. With Stiffy and Gussie and Nobby and the like he usually at least gets a chance to complain, but here there isn't even any "but we were in school together!", they just assume he will do whatever they want him to. which, imo, is worse.

secondly, spinoza. in joy in the morning, bertie asks jeeves if "there [is] any little thing I can do for you while I’m out?’ [...] Any little gift you would like, I mean?", which then doesn't happen, since they don't have the book in stock and then bertie meets florence. but the spinoza does come up, so bertie definitely does get jeeves his spinoza, however. i don't quite remember if there is any indication as to when exactly it takes place, but apparently "one could scarcely desire more delightful conditions for a nocturnal ramble.", so it's probably not the beginning of december. Which is important, since both in Tie that Binds and in Aunts aren't Gentlemen they make reference to the spinoza bertie has given jeeves for christmas. so like. did he, in the middle of summer, ask jeeves if there's anything he wanted, they didn't have it, so he forgot about it, and only remembered at the next big gift-giving occasion? which does not seem like a particularly kind and thoughtful thing to do

[huanglaoshu]

I also had to be similarly firm with Jeeves, who had repeatedly hinted his wish that I should take a cottage there for the summer months. There was, it appeared, admirable fishing in the river, and he is a man who dearly loves to flick the baited hook. "No, Jeeves," I had been compelled to say, "much though it pains me to put a stopper on your simple pleasures, I cannot take the risk of running into that gang of pluguglies. Safety first." And he had replied, "Very good, sir," and there the matter had rested.

...

I shook the head. "Out of the q., Jeeves." "The young lady tells me the fish are biting well there just now." "No, Jeeves. I'm sorry. Not even if they bite like serpents do I go near Steeple Bumpleigh." "Very good, sir."

-- Joy in the Morning, chapter 1

"His lordship is placing one of his own at your disposal, sir. He instructed me to say that he wishes you to proceed tomorrow to Steeple Bumpleigh -- " "Steeple Bumpleigh!" "-- where you will find a small but compact residence awaiting you, in perfect condition for immediate occupation. It is delightfully situated not far from the river --" It needed no more than that word "river" to tell me what had occurred. On his good mornings, I don't suppose there are more than a handful of men in the W.1 postal district of London swifter to spot oompus-boompus than Bertram Wooster, and this was one of my particularly good mornings. I saw the whole hideous plot. "Jeeves," I said, "you have done the dirty on me." "I am sorry, sir. It seemed the only solution of his lordship's problem. I feel sure, sir, that when you see the residence in question, your prejudice against Steeple Bumpleigh will be overcome. I speak, of course, only from hearsay, but I understand from his lordship that it is replete with every modern convenience. It contains one large master's bedroom, a well appointed sitting-room, water both hot and cold --" "The usual domestic offices?" I said. And I meant it to sting. "Yes, sir. Furthermore, you will be quite adjacent to Mr. Fittleworth." "And you will be quite adjacent to your fish." "Why, yes, sir. The point had not occurred to me, but now that you mention it that is certainly so. I should find a little fishing most enjoyable, if you could spare me from time to time while we are at Wee Nooke."

--Joy in the Morning, chapter 4

I had foreseen that some explanation of my presence might be required, and was ready with my story. My lips being sealed, of course, on the real reason which had brought me to Steeple Bumpleigh, it was necessary to dissemble. "Jeeves thought he would like to do a bit of fishing. And," I added, making the thing more plausible, "they tell me a fancy dress dance is breaking out in these parts tomorrow night."

-- Joy in the Morning, chapter 7

It's not dissembling if you're telling the truth, Bertie.

[therearenomorevalidblognames]

Jeeves, making Bertie do his bidding in the guise of a solution to Bertie's or his friends' problems:

[yeah-thats-probably-it]

Left: Psmith having an unexpected nocturnal meeting with his future wife, who’s currently preoccupied with other things

Right: Jeeves having an unexpected nocturnal meeting with his employer, who’s currently preoccupied with other things

Spot the difference

[beetle-goth]

please share your goth jeeves thoughts i am very interested

Goth Jeeves thoughts let’s go!!

I’ll start with my least coherent and go towards my most

Honorable mention: music is tough. The first real instance of goth music came in the 50’s and in the one story that took place in the 50’s we hear no mention of music. However, Jeeves is not a fan of popular music or showtunes and shows preference for classical music. Not goth, per se, but Bach and Beethoven do kinda have some goth-y vibes.

First, he’s very into serious literature and poetry. Which isn’t saying much but gothic poetry and literature was very prominent in forming the subculture and it sort of seems like the stuff that Jeeves would be into. He likes philosophy and lots of gothic literature has overarching philosophical thought on the nature of good and evil, man vs creator, the nature of death and mourning. And for poetry, the stuff he quotes in Joy in the Morning makes me feel like he’d enjoy Edgar Allan Poe, especially his more romantic stuff like Annabelle Lee and The Raven

“ "It is indeed, sir. I always feel that nothing is so soothing as a walk in a garden at night."

"Ha!"

"The cool air. The scent of growing things.

That is

tobacco plant which you can smell, sir."

"Is it?"

"The stars, sir."

"Stars?"

"Yes, sir."

"What about them?"

directing your attention to them, sir.

Look how the foor of heaven is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold."

"Jeeves

"There's not the smallest orb which thou beholdest, sir, but in his motion like an angel sings, still guiring to tho young-eyed cherubims."

"Jeeves-

"Such harmony is in immortal souls. But whilst this muddy vesture of decay doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it."

"Jeeves-

"Sir?" “ —pages 107 and 108

Second: his fashion! My man does not like colors and while we mostly see him in his uniform, I feel we can make some assumptions based on his non-uniform clothes and the way he tries to dress Bertie. His black, calf length outdoor jacket is such a goth win! Bertie doesn’t own anything like that and we rarely see other domestic staff wear something like that so it’s easy to assume that Jeeves picked that out for himself. He will wear tan, we’ve seen him wear tan clothes coming back from his vacations but that could be because of class status and/or the standards of driving clothes. Because when we do see him on his nights off, he’s still wearing clothes that look like his valeting uniform (black waistcoat, black tie, black jacket, ect). Bertie also mostly wears tan when he’s driving bc it hides the dirt better.

What’s interesting is how he tries to get Bertie to wear dark and subdued colors. Lots of navy, lots of greys. It makes you wonder if that’s how he’d choose to dress if he had the option. Also related to clothing, Jeeves shows an interest in both jewelry and silver in Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit and Jeeves in the Offing, respectively. He was a jeweler apprentice briefly under his cousin. Accessories, especially feminine jewelry and silver, is very goth.

Third: he’s simply a spooky bitch! Season 2 episode 5 he immediately knows a local folktale about a boogeyman called Old Boggy who roams the streets. In a town he doesn’t live in, at night where he cannot access a library. Which leads one to believe that he reads about the folklore about places he and Bertie visit with special focus placed on ghost stories. And in Right Ho, Jeeves he has this whole section.

“'You smile, Jeeves. The thought amuses you?'

‘I beg your pardon, sir. I was thinking of a tale my Uncle Cyril used to tell me as a child. An absurd little story, sir, though I confess that I have always found it droll. According to my Uncle Cyril, two men named Nicholls and Jackson set out to ride to Brighton on a tandem bicycle, and were so unfortunate as to come into collision with a brewer's van. And when the rescue party arrived on the scene of the accident, it was discovered that they had been hurled together with such force that it was impossible to sort them out at all adequately. The keenest eye could not discern which portion of the fragments was Nicholls and which Jackson. So they collected as much as they could, and called it Nixon. I remember laughing very much at that story when I was a child, sir'

I had to pause a moment to master my feelings.

'You did, eh?'

'Yes, sir.'

'You thought it funny?'

'Yes, sir.' “ pages 765 and 766 of the Jeeves and Wooster omnibus.

Smiling?? He laughed very much?? This story stuck with him into adulthood?? So much so that he thought it would be funny to tell Bertie this story moments before Bertie has a late night bike ride?? No matter how you interpret this scene, Jeeves is a morbid and spooky bitch for this. Rip Jeeves, you would have loved watching the Final Destination movies.

My point is that if he could, he would have loved being goth. He’s spooky and morbid, he loves dark, subdued colors, his loves poetry and literature with philosophical themes, he likes silver and jewelry and he likes slower, more subdued music without saccharine and cheery lyrics (let us not forget his disgust while Bertie was singing Sunny Disposish)

Hopefully I didn’t forget anything important but I feel like I’ve covered my bases on this headcanon

[lucere-aeresta]

Stumbled upon this cool site full of annotations of P. G. Wodehouse works. It seems they have 10 Jeeves books annotated. (Missing My Man Jeeves and Joy in The Morning)

I know what my next project is: to read through these books with the annotations!

[kanadraws]

“Or, rather, when I say an expression, I mean a saying. A wheeze. A gag. What I believe is called a saw. Something about Joy doing something.“

“Joy cometh in the morning, sir?”

“That’s the baby. Not one of your things, is it?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, it’s dashed good,” I said.

P. G. Wodehouse “Joy in the Morning”

I like how Bertie always asks Jeeves if a clever saying or literary quote is his own. Bertie’s unwavering faith in Jeeves’ wisdom and knowledge is like that of a child in their parents.