Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. An amiable English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligence manages to save Bertie or one of his friends from numerous awkward situations. Bertie Wooster and Jeeves have been described as "one of the great comic double-acts of all time".
Bertie is the narrator and central figure of most of the Jeeves short stories and novels. The two exceptions are the short story "Bertie Changes His Mind" (1922), which is narrated by Jeeves, and the novel Ring for Jeeves (1953), a third-person narration in which Bertie is mentioned but does not appear. First appearing in "Extricating Young Gussie" in 1915, Bertie is the narrator of ten novels and over 30 short stories, his last appearance being in the novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen, published in 1974.
Inspiration
The Wodehouse scholar Norman Murphy believes George Grossmith Jr. to have been the inspiration for the character of Bertie Wooster. Others have asserted John Wodehouse, 3rd Earl of Kimberley, was the inspiration. P. G. Wodehouse was a distant cousin of John Wodehouse. He was also the godfather to the 3rd Earl's son, John Wodehouse, 4th Earl of Kimberley.The Earl of Kimberley (obituary) in The Daily Telegraph dated 29 May 2002, accessed 23 February 2018
The Wodehouse character Reggie Pepper was an early prototype of Bertie Wooster.
Fictional biography Early life
Bertie Wooster and his friend Bingo Little were born in the same village only a few days apart. Bertie's middle name, "Wilberforce", is the doing of his father, who won money on a horse named Wilberforce in the Grand National the day before Bertie's christening and insisted on his son carrying that name.Wodehouse (2008) , Much Obliged, Jeeves, chapter 9, p. 92. The only other piece of information given about Bertie's father, aside from the fact that he had numerous relatives, is that he was a great friend of Lord Wickhammersley of Twing Hall. Bertie refers to his father as the "guv'nor", and seems to have had a friendly relationship with him.Wodehouse (2008) , The Inimitable Jeeves, chapter 13, p. 139.
When he was around seven years of age, Bertie was sometimes compelled to recite "The Charge of the Light Brigade" for guests by his mother; she proclaimed that he recited nicely, but Bertie disagrees, and says that he and others found the experience unpleasant.Wodehouse (2008) , Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, chapter 13, p. 123. Bertie also mentions reciting other poems as a child, including "Ben Battle" and works by Walter Scott. Like Jeeves, Bertie says that his mother thought him intelligent.Wodehouse (2008) , Very Good, Jeeves, chapter 5, p. 128. Bertie talks with Jeeves: "'Tell me, were you always like this, or did it come on suddenly?' 'Sir?' 'The brain. The grey matter. Were you an outstandingly brilliant boy?' 'My mother thought me intelligent, sir.' 'You can't go by that. My mother thought me intelligent.'" Bertie makes no other mention of his mother, though he makes a remark about motherhood after being astounded by a friend telling a blatant lie: "And this, mark you, a man who had had a good upbringing and had, no doubt, spent years at his mother's knee being taught to tell the truth."Wodehouse (2008) , Very Good, Jeeves, chapter 4, p. 109.
When Bertie was eight years old, he took dancing lessons (alongside Corky Potter-Pirbright, sister of Bertie's friend Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright).Wodehouse (2008) , The Mating Season, chapter 3, p. 30, chapter 9, p. 102, and chapter 10, p. 114. Bertie later becomes very good at dancing, being the favourite to win the Drones Club Dancing Competition in Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit. It is established throughout the series that Bertie is an orphan who inherited a large fortune at some point, although the exact details and timing of his parents' deaths are never made clear.
Education
Bertie Wooster's early education took place at the semi-fictional Malvern House Preparatory School, headed by Rev. Aubrey Upjohn, whom he meets again in Jeeves in the Offing. (Wodehouse himself attended a school by that name, in Kearsney, Kent, but the Malvern House that appears in the stories is in the fictional town of Bramley-on-Sea.) At Malvern House, Bertie's friends called him "Daredevil Bertie", though Upjohn and others called him "Bungling Wooster".Wodehouse (2008) , The Code of the Woosters, chapter 5, p. 114. Gussie Fink-Nottle says that Bertie was called "Daredevil Bertie" as a boy at school, and Bertie confirms this.Wodehouse (2008) , Jeeves in the Offing, chapter 4, p. 41. Aubrey Upjohn says, "'Bungling Wooster we used to call him'".
One detail of Bertie's Malvern House life that comes into several stories is his winning of the prize for scripture knowledge. Bertie speaks with pride of this achievement on several occasions, but in Right Ho, Jeeves, his friend Gussie Fink-Nottle, while intoxicated, publicly accuses Bertie of having won the award by cheating. Bertie stoutly denies this charge, however, and on the same occasion, Gussie makes other completely groundless accusations against other characters. Despite his pride over his accomplishment, Bertie does not remember precisely what the prize was, simply stating that it was "a handsomely bound copy of a devotional work whose name has escaped me".Wodehouse (2008) , Aunts Aren't Gentlemen, chapter 7, p. 65.
Bertie once won a prize at private school for the best collection of wildflowers made during the summer holidays.Wodehouse (2008) , The Inimitable Jeeves, chapter 2, pp. 24–25. When Bertie was fourteen, he won the Choir Boys' Handicap bicycle race at a local school treat, having received half a lap start.Wodehouse (2008) , Right Ho, Jeeves, chapter 22, p. 270.
After Malvern House, Bertie was further educated at the non-fictional Eton and at Magdalen College, Oxford. At Oxford he was a Rackets Blue.Wodehouse (2008) , The Mating Season, chapter 17, p. 172.
Bertie is a member of the Drones Club, and most of his friends and fellow Drones members depicted in the stories attended one or both of these institutions with him. It was at Oxford that he first began celebrating the night of the annual Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge. Though ordinarily he drinks in moderation, Bertie says he is "rather apt to let myself go a bit" on Boat Race night, typically drinking more than usual and making mischief with his old school friends.Wodehouse (2008) , Carry On, Jeeves, chapter 7, pp. 169–172. Specifically, Bertie and others tend to celebrate the occasion by stealing a policeman's helmet, though they often get arrested as a result. London magistrates are aware of this tradition and tend to be lenient towards Bertie when he appears in court the morning after the Boat Race, generally only imposing a fine of five pounds; while this would have constituted a significant amount of money for many people at the time, Bertie has no trouble paying it.
The stories The Jeeves canon is set in a floating timeline (with each story being set at the time when it was written though the characters do not age), in an idealized world where wars are downplayed or not mentioned. Certain Edwardian era elements, such as traditional gentlemen's clubs like the Drones Club, continue to be prevalent throughout the stories.
With a few exceptions, the short stories were written first, followed by the novels. The saga begins chronologically in the short story "Jeeves Takes Charge", in which Bertie Wooster first hires Jeeves. Bertie and Jeeves usually live at Berkeley Mansions, though they also go to New York and numerous English country houses. Throughout the short stories and novels, Bertie tries to help his friends and relatives, but ends up becoming entangled in trouble himself, and is ultimately rescued by Jeeves. Typically, Bertie has a new piece of clothing or item that Jeeves disapproves of, though Bertie agrees to relinquish it at the end of the story.
Almost always narrating the story, Bertie becomes involved in many complex and absurd situations. He appears in the one short story he does not narrate, "Bertie Changes His Mind", and does not make an appearance in Ring for Jeeves, though he is mentioned. An important story for Bertie is "Clustering Round Young Bingo", in which Bertie writes an article titled "What the Well-Dressed Man is Wearing" for his Aunt Dahlia's weekly magazine, Milady's Boudoir. For his article, Aunt Dahlia paid Bertie a packet of cigarettes.Garrison (1991), pp. 219–221. As with his prize for scripture knowledge, Bertie is proud of this article and mentions it many times. Two other events that are particularly significant for Bertie are his short-lived interest in living with his nieces in "Bertie Changes His Mind" and his temporary separation from Jeeves when Bertie refused to stop playing his banjolele in Thank You, Jeeves.
On several occasions, Bertie assumes an alias. After being arrested on Boat Race night, he calls himself Eustace H. Plimsoll when appearing in court (in Thank You, Jeeves and Right Ho, Jeeves). He is also brought to court after tripping a policeman in Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, and calls himself Ephraim Gadsby. In one scene in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, he is said to be a thief named Alpine Joe, which is mentioned again in Aunts Aren't Gentlemen. He also impersonates three other people in different stories, namely Rosie M. Banks in "Jeeves in the Springtime" and "Bingo and the Little Woman", Oliver "Sippy" Sipperley in "Without the Option", and Gussie Fink-Nottle in The Mating Season.Ring & Jaggard (1999), p. 129.
In Ring for Jeeves, set in post-WWII England, Bertie attends a school that teaches the aristocracy basic skills, including boot-cleaning, sock-darning, bed-making and primary-grade cooking. This school does not allow its students to employ valets, so Jeeves cannot follow Bertie there and instead works as a butler for Lord Rowcester.Wodehouse (2008) , Ring for Jeeves, chapter 5, p. 61. However, Bertie is eventually expelled for cheating after he pays a woman to do his sock darning, and Jeeves returns to his side.
Personal characteristics Age and appearance
Bertie is approximately 24 years old when he first meets Jeeves in "Jeeves Takes Charge", first published in 1916.Wodehouse (2008) , Carry On, Jeeves, chapter 1. Bertie recounts a story in which he was fifteen years old, and later mentions that this story occurred nine years before, meaning that he is approximately 24 years old in "Jeeves Takes Charge". His age is not stated in any other story. In the reference work Wodehouse in Woostershire by Wodehouse scholars Geoffrey Jaggard and Tony Ring, it is speculated that Bertie's age ranges from approximately 24 to 29 over the course of the stories.Ring & Jaggard (1999), pp. 124–126. Nigel Cawthorne, author of A Brief Guide to Jeeves and Wooster, also suggested that Bertie is approximately 29 at the end of the saga.Cawthorne (2013), p. 160.