Aunt Dahlia
Encyclopedia
Dahlia Travers is a recurring fictional character
in the Jeeves
novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse
, being best known as Bertie Wooster
's bonhomous, red-faced Aunt Dahlia. She is much beloved by her nephew, in contrast with her sister, Bertie's Aunt Agatha
. Proprietor of the weekly newspaper for women Milady's Boudoir, she is married to Tom Travers, mother of Angela Travers and Bonzo Travers, and employs the supremely gifted French
chef Anatole.
outside Market Snodsbury in Worcestershire
. They were married "the year Bluebottle won the Cambridgeshire
". Dahlia is Tom's second wife.
Aunt Dahlia is "built rather on the lines of Mae West
", but red-faced. Her most notable personal characteristic is her carrying voice. Riding as she did for years with "the Quorn
and the Pytchley
", she tend to address one as if half a mile away, and can emit a yelp that could be heard in the next county.
She is also a Governor of Market Snodsbury Grammar School, for which she has the formidable task to find speakers for prize-giving day. When called, Bertie would rather shove it off on to his friend Gussie Fink-Nottle
(and not "Spink-Bottle", as Dahlia insists on calling him).
Dahlia employs the French chef extraordinaire Anatole since stealing him from Rosie M. Banks
(Mrs Bingo Little
) with the help of Jeeves. Just the thought of his cooking is usually enough to make Bertie answer Dahlia's call to Brinkley Court, except when some prize-giving is involved.
Despite Tom and Bertie's dislike of Agatha, Dahlia does not mind her sister and even goes so far as to invite her to Brinkley Court, over Tom's objections.
And a few telegrams later, she sent:
Sometimes, Bertie suspects, Dahlia seems to value him more for his association with the exceptionally clever Jeeves
than for his own qualities. Her chief use for Bertie, however, is to commit minor burglaries or acts of calculated vandalism, which often misfire and require Jeeves to extract them both from the soup.
(Britain's oldest weekly women's magazine; The Lady was managed by David Freeman-Mitford
, whose family supplied the original for another Wodehouse character, Roderick Spode
). Milady's Boudoir (and not "Madame's Nightshirt", as Tom Travers insists on calling it) never sold well and only stayed in business because of the reluctant largesse of Dahlia's husband. It lasted for three (according to Bertie) or four (according to Dahlia and Bertie) years before being sold to Mr Trotter.
Backstory
Contributors include
stories, across most of Wodehouse's writing career:
Aunt Dahlia or her Milady's Boudoir are mentioned in:
Radio actresses
Audiobook actresses
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Jeeves
Jeeves
Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
, being best known as Bertie Wooster
Bertie Wooster
Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
's bonhomous, red-faced Aunt Dahlia. She is much beloved by her nephew, in contrast with her sister, Bertie's Aunt Agatha
Aunt Agatha
Agatha Gregson, née Wooster, later Lady Worplesdon, is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being best known as Aunt Agatha, Bertie Wooster's least favourite aunt, and a counterpoint to her sister, Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
. Proprietor of the weekly newspaper for women Milady's Boudoir, she is married to Tom Travers, mother of Angela Travers and Bonzo Travers, and employs the supremely gifted French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
chef Anatole.
Overview
Dahlia and Tom Travers make their residence at Brinkley CourtBrinkley Court
Brinkley Court is a recurring fictional location, a country house in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Tom and Dahlia Travers...
outside Market Snodsbury in Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
. They were married "the year Bluebottle won the Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire Handicap
The Cambridgeshire Handicap is a flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket over a distance of 1 mile and 1 furlong , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late September or early October.The event...
". Dahlia is Tom's second wife.
Aunt Dahlia is "built rather on the lines of Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
", but red-faced. Her most notable personal characteristic is her carrying voice. Riding as she did for years with "the Quorn
Quorn Hunt
The Quorn Hunt, usually called The Quorn, established 1696, is one of the world's oldest fox hunting packs and claims to be the United Kingdom's most famous hunt...
and the Pytchley
Pytchley Hunt
The Pytchley Hunt is a fox hunting organisation formerly based near the Northamptonshire village of Pytchley, but since 1966 has had kennels close to Brixworth. The Pytchley country used to include areas of the Rockingham Forest but was split to form the Woodland Pytchley Hunt...
", she tend to address one as if half a mile away, and can emit a yelp that could be heard in the next county.
She is also a Governor of Market Snodsbury Grammar School, for which she has the formidable task to find speakers for prize-giving day. When called, Bertie would rather shove it off on to his friend Gussie Fink-Nottle
Gussie Fink-Nottle
Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle is a fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a lifelong friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a possible member of the Drones Club...
(and not "Spink-Bottle", as Dahlia insists on calling him).
Dahlia employs the French chef extraordinaire Anatole since stealing him from Rosie M. Banks
Rosie M. Banks
Rosie M. Banks is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves and Drones Club stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a romance novelist and the wife of Bingo Little. Suggested real-life models for this character include prolific early twentieth-century female romance novelists...
(Mrs Bingo Little
Bingo Little
Richard P. "Bingo" Little is a recurring fictional character from the Drones and the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club.-Overview:...
) with the help of Jeeves. Just the thought of his cooking is usually enough to make Bertie answer Dahlia's call to Brinkley Court, except when some prize-giving is involved.
Despite Tom and Bertie's dislike of Agatha, Dahlia does not mind her sister and even goes so far as to invite her to Brinkley Court, over Tom's objections.
Aunt Dahlia and Bertie Wooster
Unlike Aunt Agatha, the "aged relative" seems to enjoy Bertie's company and occasionally shows him an aunt's love, even if she does call him a "young blot", "an idiot nephew", "a worm", etc. Indeed, Dahlia's famous telegram conversations with Bertie can display some rough love; for instance, after Bertie dumped his prize-giving duty on an unsuspecting Fink-Nottle, she sent:
« Am taking legal advice to ascertain whether strangling an idiot nephew counts as murder. If it doesn't look out for yourself. Consider your conduct frozen limit. What do you mean by planting your loathsome friends on me like this? Do you think Brinkley Court is a leper colony or what is it? Who is this Spink-Bottle? Love. Travers. » (in Right Ho, JeevesRight Ho, JeevesRight Ho, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, the second full-length novel featuring the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, after Thank You, Jeeves. It also features a host of other recurring Wodehouse characters, and is mostly set at Brinkley Court, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
, chapter six)
And a few telegrams later, she sent:
« Well, all right. Something in what you say, I suppose. Consider you treacherous worm and contemptible, spineless cowardly custard, but have booked Spink-Bottle. Stay where you are, then, and I hope you get run over by an omnibus. Love. Travers. » (in Right Ho, Jeeves, chapter six)
Sometimes, Bertie suspects, Dahlia seems to value him more for his association with the exceptionally clever Jeeves
Jeeves
Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
than for his own qualities. Her chief use for Bertie, however, is to commit minor burglaries or acts of calculated vandalism, which often misfire and require Jeeves to extract them both from the soup.
Milady's Boudoir
Milady's Boudoir is a fictional weekly newspaper for women, of which Aunt Dahlia is the proprietor. It is probably based on The LadyThe Lady (magazine)
The Lady is Britain's oldest weekly women's magazine. It has been in continuous publication since 1885 and is based in London. It is particularly notable for its classified advertisements for domestic service and child care; it also has extensive listings of holiday properties.The magazine was...
(Britain's oldest weekly women's magazine; The Lady was managed by David Freeman-Mitford
David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale
David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, , was an English landowner and was the father of the Mitford sisters, in whose various novels and memoirs he is depicted.-Ancestry:...
, whose family supplied the original for another Wodehouse character, Roderick Spode
Roderick Spode
Roderick Spode, Bt, 7th Earl of Sidcup, often known as Spode or Lord Sidcup, is a recurring fictional character from the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being an "amateur Dictator" and the leader of a fictional fascist group in London called The Black Shorts...
). Milady's Boudoir (and not "Madame's Nightshirt", as Tom Travers insists on calling it) never sold well and only stayed in business because of the reluctant largesse of Dahlia's husband. It lasted for three (according to Bertie) or four (according to Dahlia and Bertie) years before being sold to Mr Trotter.
Backstory
- In Right Ho, JeevesRight Ho, JeevesRight Ho, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, the second full-length novel featuring the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, after Thank You, Jeeves. It also features a host of other recurring Wodehouse characters, and is mostly set at Brinkley Court, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
(1934), Dahlia lost at baccaratBaccaratBaccarat is a card game, played at casinos and by gamblers. It is believed to have been introduced into France from Italy during the reign of King Charles VIII , and it is similar to Faro and Basset...
the money to pay the printers and had Bertie and Jeeves help her squeeze it out of her tax-burdened husband. - In Jeeves and the Feudal SpiritJeeves and the Feudal SpiritJeeves and the Feudal Spirit is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on October 15, 1954 by Herbert Jenkins, London and in the United States on February 23, 1955 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title Bertie Wooster Sees It Through...
(1954), Dahlia commissioned a high-priced serial from bestselling novelist Daphne Dolores Morehead in order to give instant credibility to her journal and make it an easier sell, or "salt the mine" as she put it; after being repeatedly foiled, and an attempted blackmail to make her surrender Anatole to the scheming Mrs Trotter, she eventually sold it off with Jeeves's help to newspaper owner Mr Trotter. - In Jeeves in the OffingJeeves in the OffingJeeves in the Offing is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 4 April 1960 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title How Right You Are, Jeeves, and in the United Kingdom on 12 August 1960 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
(1960), chapter XVII, the paper "had recently been sold to a mug up Liverpool way", and Dahlia underlined how most issues featured a short story where "the hero won the heroine's heart by saving her dog or her cat or her canary or whatever foul animal she happened to possess." - In "Jeeves Makes an Omelette" (1958, written later but necessarily happening before the sale) Dahlia asked Bertie to steal a painting to get a story for her magazine.
- In "Jeeves and the Greasy Bird" (1965, written later but necessarily happening before the sale), a man too timid to talk to his love is writing articles about girls for the paper.
Contributors include
- Bertie WoosterBertie WoosterBertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
once contributed an article, titled "What the Well-Dressed Man is Wearing". (Written in "Clustering Round Young Bingo", 1925, proudly mentioned in some later stories.) - Rosie M. BanksRosie M. BanksRosie M. Banks is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves and Drones Club stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a romance novelist and the wife of Bingo Little. Suggested real-life models for this character include prolific early twentieth-century female romance novelists...
(Mrs Bingo LittleBingo LittleRichard P. "Bingo" Little is a recurring fictional character from the Drones and the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club.-Overview:...
) once submitted an article, "How I Keep the Love of my Husband-Baby". Fortunately for her husband, it hasn't been published. And after Dahlia poached Rosie's chef Anatole, Rosie is unlikely to further write for Mrs Travers. (In "Clustering Round Young Bingo", 1925.) - Daphne Dolores Morehead, the famous novelist, was once commissioned a serial; it wasn't published but announced in the journal in order to make it more saleable. (In Jeeves and the Feudal SpiritJeeves and the Feudal SpiritJeeves and the Feudal Spirit is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on October 15, 1954 by Herbert Jenkins, London and in the United States on February 23, 1955 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title Bertie Wooster Sees It Through...
, 1954.) - Blair Eggleston has written a series of articles on the Modern Girl, though he is too timid around them. (In "Jeeves and the Greasy Bird", 1965.)
Stories
Aunt Dahlia is featured in many JeevesJeeves
Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
stories, across most of Wodehouse's writing career:
- "Clustering Round Young Bingo" (1925) – short story, collected in Carry on, JeevesCarry on, JeevesCarry on, Jeeves is a collection of ten short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United Kingdom on 9 October 1925 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on October 7, 1927 by George H. Doran, New York...
(1925) - "Jeeves and the Song of Songs" (1929) – short story, collected in Very Good, JeevesVery Good, JeevesVery Good, Jeeves is a collection of eleven short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, all featuring Jeeves and Bertie Wooster. It was first published in the United States on 20 June 1930 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on 4 July 1930 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
(1930) - "The Spot of Art" (1929) – short story, collected in Very Good, JeevesVery Good, JeevesVery Good, Jeeves is a collection of eleven short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, all featuring Jeeves and Bertie Wooster. It was first published in the United States on 20 June 1930 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on 4 July 1930 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
(1930) - "The Love That Purifies" (1929) – short story, collected in Very Good, JeevesVery Good, JeevesVery Good, Jeeves is a collection of eleven short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, all featuring Jeeves and Bertie Wooster. It was first published in the United States on 20 June 1930 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on 4 July 1930 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
(1930) - "The Ordeal of Young Tuppy" (1930) – short story, collected in Very Good, JeevesVery Good, JeevesVery Good, Jeeves is a collection of eleven short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, all featuring Jeeves and Bertie Wooster. It was first published in the United States on 20 June 1930 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on 4 July 1930 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
(1930) - Right Ho, JeevesRight Ho, JeevesRight Ho, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, the second full-length novel featuring the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, after Thank You, Jeeves. It also features a host of other recurring Wodehouse characters, and is mostly set at Brinkley Court, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
(1934) – novel - The Code of the WoostersThe Code of the WoostersThe Code of the Woosters is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 7 October 1938, in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York...
(1938) – novel - Jeeves and the Feudal SpiritJeeves and the Feudal SpiritJeeves and the Feudal Spirit is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on October 15, 1954 by Herbert Jenkins, London and in the United States on February 23, 1955 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title Bertie Wooster Sees It Through...
(1954) – novel - "Jeeves Makes an Omelette" (1958) – short story, collected in A Few Quick OnesA Few Quick OnesA Few Quick Ones is a collection of ten short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United States on 13 April 1959 by Simon & Schuster, New York, and in the United Kingdom on 26 June 1959 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
(1959) - Jeeves in the OffingJeeves in the OffingJeeves in the Offing is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 4 April 1960 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title How Right You Are, Jeeves, and in the United Kingdom on 12 August 1960 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
(1960) – novel - Stiff Upper Lip, JeevesStiff Upper Lip, JeevesStiff Upper Lip, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, published in the United States on March 22, 1963 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 16, 1963 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
(1963) – novel - "Jeeves and the Greasy Bird" (1965) – short story, collected in Plum PiePlum PiePlum Pie is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 22, 1966 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on December 1, 1967 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York....
(1967) - Much Obliged, JeevesMuch Obliged, JeevesMuch Obliged, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on October 15, 1971 by Barrie & Jenkins, London and in the United States on October 15, 1971 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the name Jeeves and the Tie that Binds.The two editions have slightly...
(1971) – novel - Aunts Aren't GentlemenAunts Aren't GentlemenAunts Aren't Gentlemen is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in Britain on October 17, 1974 by Barrie & Jenkins, London, and in the U.S. under the title The Cat-nappers on April 14, 1975 by Simon & Schuster, New York...
(1974) – novel
Aunt Dahlia or her Milady's Boudoir are mentioned in:
- "The Awful Gladness of the Mater" (1925) – short Mr MullinerMr MullinerMr. Mulliner is a fictional character from the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. Mr. Mulliner is a loquacious pub raconteur who, no matter what the topic of conversation, can find an appropriate story about a member of his family to match it....
story (mention of Milady's Boudoir), collected in Mr Mulliner SpeakingMr Mulliner SpeakingMr Mulliner Speaking is a collection of nine short stories by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United Kingdom on April 30, 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, and in the United States on February 21, 1930 by Doubleday, Doran....
(1929) - Joy in the MorningJoy in the Morning (1946 novel)Joy in the Morning is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 22, 1946 by Doubleday & Co., New York, and in the United Kingdom on June 2, 1947 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
(1946) – Jeeves novel (chap. VII, XII)
Actresses
Film and TV actresses- Eleanor SummerfieldEleanor SummerfieldEleanor Summerfield was a British actress.Summerfield was born in London in 1921. She received her acting training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In the mid-1960s, she played P. G. Wodehouse' character Aunt Dahlia in the BBC One's World of Wooster. She was a team member on BBC Radio 4's...
in the BBC OneBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
's black-and-white World of Wooster (1965–1967). - In the 1990-1993 ITV series Jeeves and WoosterJeeves and Wooster-External links:*—An episode guide to the series, including information about which episodes were adapted from which Wodehouse stories.*—Episode guides, screenshots and quotes from the four series....
, each season had a new actress:- Brenda BruceBrenda BruceBrenda Bruce was a British actress. She had a long and successful career in the theatre, radio, film, and television.-Early life:Brenda Bruce was born in Manchester...
, season 1, episodes 2, 4–5 - Vivian PicklesVivian PicklesVivian Pickles , is an English actress.She began her career as a child star after being chosen by Mary Field for a series of Saturday Morning children's films, including the lead roles in Jean's Plan and the serial The Adventures of Peter Joe...
, season 2, episode 1 - Patricia LawrencePatricia LawrencePatricia Lawrence was an English actress.She may have been best-known for playing the formidable Sister Ulrica, a Dutch prisoner of war in the BBC television drama Tenko.-Credits:Other TV credits include:* Son of Man * Softly, Softly* Van der...
, season 3, episode 6 - Jean HeywoodJean HeywoodJean Heywood is a British actress, appearing in films such as Billy Elliot and Our Day Out as well as TV series When the Boat Comes In, All Creatures Great and Small, Boys from the Blackstuff, Family Affairs, The Bill and Casualty.In 2010, Heywood made a guest appearance in the ITV series Married...
, season 4, episode 4
- Brenda Bruce
Radio actresses
Audiobook actresses