Evelyn Waugh - More Than Just Brideshead!

So it’s a new week, and time to look at another famous British writer. Today we are going to take a quick peek at the novelist Evelyn Waugh (1903 -1966). Once again I can promise a bit of gossip and scandal, which does seem a common theme when looking at our great writers!

Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (known as Evelyn) was the second son born to Arthur and Charlotte Waugh. He is considered as one of the giants of 20^th Century literature, with much of his work still in print today. Waugh’s many novels include “Decline and Fall” (1928), “Vile Bodies”(1930),  “A Handful of Dust” (1934), “Scoop” (1938), “Brideshead Revisited” (1945), “Sword of Honour - Men at Arms” (1952) “Officers and Gentlemen” (1955) and “The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold” (1957). It must be noted that his elder brother Alec, was also a successful writer, although his work is not as well known as Evelyn’s.

It is a shame that Waugh did not live to see some of his work dramatised and shown on television. It would have been good to hear his views on the BBC’s adaptation of Sword of Honour in 1967, and the success of Granada’s adaptation of Brideshead Revisited in 1981. This serial was hugely popular in both Britain and America, and introduced a whole new generation to Waugh’s work. Brideshead Revisited is an historical novel which tells a story of love, of class struggle, of disillusionment, of war. The television series was nominated for thirteen British Academy Television Wards (BAFTA’s), eleven Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards and won the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for best drama series – wow! Following this success a British made film of “Brideshead Revisited” was released in 2008 to much acclaim at the box office.

Undoubtedly, Waugh had a way with words and has left us a whole host of quotes that are as true today as when he wrote them. One that springs to mind is “Don't hold your parents up to contempt. After all, you are their son, and it is just possible that you may take after them.” Still makes me chuckle! Another that brings a smile to my face has to be “I haven't been to sleep for over a year. That's why I go to bed early. One needs more rest if one doesn't sleep.” Bright, amusing and clever!

Anyway, you were promised a bit of gossip and scandal so I will give you a quick trip through Waugh’s adult life. Waugh studied at Oxford University; although he only managed a 3^rd class degree as his time was not spent so much on formal studies as in drinking and debating with his circle of friends. Indeed, it is possible that this is when his alcohol dependency first began. During this period he also engaged in several homosexual relationships.

For a short time Waugh worked as a teacher and later a journalist. He married Evelyn Gardner in 1928, and amongst friends the couple was known as the He – Evelyn and the She- Evelyn. However the marriage did not last and Waugh filed for divorce in 1929, following his wife’s admission of adultery. Later this marriage would be annulled.

Following the annulment Waugh married Laura Herbert in 1937. Within Laura’s family there was a certain amount of hostility to the wedding, not least because she was a cousin of his first wife Evelyn. However the marriage survived and the couple produced seven children, one of whom died in infancy.

It must be noted that Waugh’s life was plagued with a dependency on alcohol and drugs to relieve his insomnia and depression. In 1954 he suffered a breakdown believing that he was being possessed by devils. Doctors found that it was in fact the result of bromide poisoning, due to his drug regime. Following this episode he was restored back to health, but Waugh was an old man before his time, and was in poor health as he approached his sixties. Evelyn Waugh died of heart failure on Easter Sunday 1966 aged 62 years.   

Evelyn Waugh created real life characters in his novels. He used his own experiences and borrowed characteristics from people he met to produce truly believable people, whom his readers can relate to. Whilst at Oxford University he had a major falling out with one of his tutors called Cruttwell, who tried to get Waugh to change his ways and study harder. It amuses me that in many of his early novels there appears a minor ludicrous character of this name!  If you fancy reading a great bit of English literature then you may wish to try a novel by Waugh.    

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