Joshua Bennett
In Brideshead Revisited, the protagonist Charles Ryder's relationship with Lord Sebastian Flyte is a pivotal one. Sebastian, hailing from a wealthy English Catholic family, introduces Charles to his faith and way of life. Despite his family's religious devotion, Sebastian struggles with his obligation to be holy, eventually drifting away from his family and faith. Critics debate whether Sebastian's Catholicism is genuine, with some arguing that his religious guilt and desire for holiness contribute to his tragic decline, while others view his religion as a facade, masking his true desires and struggles. The novel explores how Sebastian's Catholicism influences his relationship with Charles and shapes the narrative's themes of love, loss, and spiritual transformation.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Religion | Catholic |
| Family | The Flytes |
| Family members | Lord Marchmain, Lady Marchmain, Brideshead (Bridey), Julia, Cordelia |
| Relationship with Charles Ryder | Close friends, romantic relationship |
| Relationship with family | Distant |
| Relationship with Kurt | Shoddy |
| Relationship with Nanny | Positive |
| Relationship with Rex | Territorial |
| Relationship with religion | Conflicted |
| Relationship with alcohol | Alcoholic |
| Relationship with art | Encouraged Charles' artistic talent |
| Relationship with childhood | In love with his own childhood |
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What You'll Learn
The relationship between Charles and Sebastian
In the novel Brideshead Revisited, Charles Ryder and Lord Sebastian Flyte meet at Oxford University and develop a close relationship. The exact nature of their relationship is left ambiguous, with some interpretations suggesting they are lovers, friends with benefits, or simply friends. Their relationship is characterised by a deep emotional and spiritual connection, with Charles becoming fascinated with Sebastian's Catholic family background.
The novel follows the lives of Charles and Sebastian over several decades, from their initial meeting at Oxford to their later lives. Despite their close relationship, Charles and Sebastian's paths eventually diverge. Sebastian struggles with alcoholism and drifts away from his family and Charles, seeking treatment for his addiction at a monastery in Tunisia. Meanwhile, Charles pursues a relationship with Sebastian's sister, Julia, which is complicated by their differing religious beliefs and values.
The interpretation of the relationship between Charles and Sebastian has been influenced by the author Evelyn Waugh's own life. Waugh, a Catholic convert, had a gay lover at Oxford and incorporated autobiographical elements into the novel. The relationship between the two men in the novel reflects Waugh's exploration of Catholicism, homosexuality, and the intersection of these themes in the context of 20th-century British culture.
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Charles' conversion to Catholicism
Charles Ryder, the protagonist of Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited, undergoes a spiritual journey that culminates in his conversion to Catholicism. This conversion, which occurs more than 20 years after his first meeting with Sebastian Flyte, is a subtle yet pivotal moment in the narrative.
At the beginning of the novel, Charles is an agnostic who views Christianity as "without substance or merit". However, when he falls in love with Sebastian, a member of a wealthy English Catholic family, he becomes fascinated with their religious background. The Flytes' Catholic faith influences their lives and conversations, and Charles is drawn into their world. Despite the family's devout beliefs, they are portrayed as profoundly unhappy and unpleasant, with Sebastian's mother and older brother being particularly manipulative and sadistic.
As the novel progresses, Charles's relationship with Sebastian becomes strained due to Sebastian's heavy drinking. Sebastian eventually drifts away from his family and struggles with alcoholism, finding solace in a Catholic monastery in Tunisia. Meanwhile, Charles enters into a relationship with Sebastian's sister, Julia, which ends due to Julia's Catholic guilt and her inability to marry a non-Catholic.
It is through his relationships with Sebastian and Julia, characterised by eros or possessive love, that Charles is led to agape, or self-gift. His spiritual journey is one of suffering and renunciation, and it is through this process that he finds his way to the Catholic Church. In the climactic scenes of the novel, Charles surrenders his doubts and accepts Catholicism, kneeling in front of the tabernacle of the Brideshead chapel and praying.
Waugh himself was a Catholic convert, and the novel reflects his interest in exploring religious themes and the operation of grace. However, some readers have questioned the authenticity of Charles's conversion, viewing it as a psychological portrait of grief and nostalgia rather than a genuine redemption arc. Despite this, the portrayal of Charles's spiritual transformation and his complex relationships with the Flyte family remains a captivating aspect of Brideshead Revisited.
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The role of Catholic guilt
In Brideshead Revisited, the Catholic guilt of the Flyte family is a central theme. The novel's protagonist, Charles Ryder, is an agnostic who falls in love with Sebastian Flyte, a young Catholic man. Despite his initial fascination with Catholicism, Charles ultimately finds the religion to be a source of guilt and shame.
The Flyte family is deeply religious, with the mother, Lady Marchmain, being particularly devout and pushy about her faith. She refuses to grant her husband, Lord Marchmain, a divorce even after he leaves her and rejects his Catholic faith. The eldest son, Brideshead (Bridey), is also a strict Catholic, and the daughter, Julia, struggles with her faith in a materialistic world.
Sebastian, however, has a complex relationship with his Catholic faith. On the one hand, he is described as praying, "Oh God, make me good, but not yet," indicating a reluctance to fully embrace the strict moral code of Catholicism. On the other hand, his obligation to be holy eventually overcomes his desire for happiness, leading him to alienate himself from others and seek solace in a Catholic monastery in Tunisia.
The guilt and self-sacrifice associated with Catholicism are evident in the choices made by the Flyte family. For example, Julia breaks off her affair with Charles because she realises that marrying him would separate her from her faith. Similarly, Charles's conversion to Catholicism at the end of the novel has been interpreted as a way for him to remain connected to Sebastian and his family, even though it is a religion that Sebastian himself struggled with.
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The Flyte family's Catholicism
The Flytes are a wealthy, aristocratic English family who have remained Catholic since before the time of Henry VIII. The family consists of Lord Marchmain, Lady Marchmain, their children—the Earl of Brideshead, Lord Sebastian Flyte, Lady Julia Flyte, and Lady Cordelia Flyte—and Nanny Hawkins, the beloved nanny to the four Flyte children.
The Flytes' Catholicism is a central theme of Brideshead Revisited, with the novel exploring the operation of divine grace and reconciliation. The family's Catholic faith influences their lives and the content of their conversations, which surprises Charles, who had always believed Christianity was "without substance or merit".
Lord Marchmain, who had converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism to marry his wife, later abandoned both his marriage and his new religion, moving to Venice. Lady Marchmain, left alone, focuses even more on her faith, which is also enthusiastically espoused by her elder son, the Earl of Brideshead, and her younger daughter, Lady Cordelia.
The Flytes become aware of Sebastian's heavy drinking, and attempts to stop him are detrimental. Despite his drinking problem, Sebastian is described as charming and flamboyant, and he introduces Charles to his eccentric friends and to his family's palatial country house, Brideshead Castle.
Through his relationship with Sebastian, Charles is drawn into the world of the aristocratic Catholic Flyte family, and he eventually converts to Catholicism. However, some critics question the sincerity of Charles's conversion, suggesting that it is a triumphant redemption arc or an intriguing psychological portrait of grief and nostalgia combining to create a false sense of piety.
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Sebastian's struggle with alcoholism
In the novel Brideshead Revisited, Lord Sebastian Flyte, the younger son of the Marquess of Marchmain, is a charming and flamboyant alcoholic. His alcoholism is an essential part of the novel's reality, mirroring the alcoholism of someone he was close to at Oxford, who drank themselves to death.
Sebastian's family, the Flytes, are aware of his heavy drinking, and their attempts to stop him are detrimental. Lady Marchmain, Sebastian's mother, falls out with Charles Ryder, the narrator of the novel, over her son's drinking. She says, "It's no good, Charles...I've known drunkards before. One of the most terrible things about them is their deceit. Love of truth is the first thing that goes." Despite this, she later encourages Charles to help himself to drinks, which would have been unusual six months ago.
Sebastian's drinking ruins his health, and he eventually flees to Morocco. He finds solace as an under-porter and object of charity at a Catholic monastery in Tunisia, where he is in the service of a former soldier with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
While some readers interpret Sebastian's role at the monastery as a form of redemption, others argue that his alcoholism is an unchangeable part of his character, and that he cannot be helped, neither by himself nor by others.
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Frequently asked questions
The novel Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh explores themes of homosexuality, Catholicism, adultery, infidelity, sin, and shame. It follows the life and romances of the protagonist Charles Ryder, especially his relationship with the Flytes, a wealthy English Catholic family.
Catholicism is a central theme in the novel, with Waugh himself being a Catholic convert. The Flyte family, who are Catholics, influence Charles Ryder's eventual conversion to Catholicism. Waugh intended the novel to "deal with what is theologically termed 'the operation of Grace', that is to say, the unmerited and unilateral act of love by which God continually calls souls to Himself".
Charles and Sebastian's relationship is a significant aspect of the novel. Their love is described as eros, a desire to possess the beloved. Charles's love for Sebastian opens him up to a joy in life he has never known, and their relationship is a catalyst for Charles's spiritual journey and eventual conversion to Catholicism.
In the novel, Sebastian struggles with his Catholic faith. He is described as "in love with his own childhood" and carries around a teddy bear named Aloysius. Sebastian's obligation to be holy conflicts with his desire to be happy, and he eventually alienates himself from others and seeks solace in a Catholic monastery in Tunisia. While he prays, "Oh God, make me good, but not yet", indicating a reluctance to fully embrace his faith.
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