Much Obliged, Jeeves
Encyclopedia
Much 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 different endings. Wodehouse's American editor gave the US edition its title and rewrote the last page, adding Jeeves's disclosure about the eighteen pages from the Junior Ganymede club book and his expressed desire to remain permanently in Wooster's employment.
Written only a few years before his death, Much Obliged, Jeeves is the second-to-last appearance of Wodehouse's characters, Jeeves
and Bertie Wooster
(the last being Aunts Aren't Gentlemen
(1974)). It forms the fourth and final installment of the Totleigh Towers
saga, though it actually takes place at Brinkley Court
, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia
, near the town of Market Snodsbury.
in a by-election
, and Aunt Dahlia has offered the use of Brinkley as a general H. Q. for the campaign. Dahlia persuades Bertie to come down to Brinkley to assist in the canvassing.
At luncheon before departing for Brinkley, Bertie discovers that Ginger is standing in the by-election on the wishes of his fiancée. He also discovers that said fiancée has kept him out of the metropolis for several years and discourages him from partaking in alcoholic stimulants. On arriving at Brinkley he discovers that this hard-hearted mystery woman is none other than Florence Craye
, authoress of Spindrift and former fiancée of Percy Gorringe—and of Bertie himself. Bertie begins to muse on how he might save his friend from a life of encountering Florence Craye every morning over the eggs and bacon.
But before he can make progress on that front, he discovers that there are other guests in the party at Brinkley. Roderick Spode, 8th Earl of Sidcup
has come to deliver a speech or two for Ginger, and he has brought his fiancée Madeline Bassett
. Spode still believes Bertie to be a sneak-thief from the episodes of the umbrella, the silver cow-creamer, and the African curio, and has also warned Bertram that he should not expect to win Madeline back from him.
Also among the party is L. P. Runkle, a financier and collector who has visited Brinkley in order to attempt to sell a valuable silver porringer to Tom Travers (who, sensibly, has fled the premises on hearing of the invasion from Totliegh Towers). Runkle was the employer of the late father of Tuppy Glossop
, and made a pile on Tuppy's father's invention, but cutting Tuppy's father—and Tuppy—out of the action. Dahlia wants to soften up Runkle and get him to unbelt, so Tuppy can have his legacy and finally marry her daughter Angela.
Ginger's chances for election (and thus his engagement to Florence) are threatened by the spectre of Bingley, a former valet of his, who has purloined the Club Book of the Junior Ganymede Club
and is threatening to sell it, and its explosive tales of Ginger's past, to his opponent or the local newspaper. Jeeves finds this most disturbing, and during a social visit to his fellow valet, slips him a Mickey Finn
and recovers the book.
Surprisingly, this does not please Ginger. After disappointing Florence in his performance at the Council meeting, he has realized how wrong he was to have wanted to marry her, and has fallen in love with his secretary, Magnolia Glendennon. Spode, however, is entranced by the reception he is getting at his stump speeches for Ginger, and has floated the idea of renouncing his title and running for the Commons himself. This fails to delight Madeline, who sees her Countess coronet going pfut. Spode and Madeline have words, and Madeline starts muttering darkly about resigning herself to being Mrs Wooster.
Dahlia, meanwhile, failing to convince Runkle to give Tuppy his due, has purloined the silver porringer he wished to sell to Tom. Bertie tries to set this aright by returning the porringer, but is caught, and has to secrete the object in his bureau drawer. While he muses on the four problems (returning the porringer; freeing Ginger from his honorable obligation to Florence; helping Dahlia extract Tuppy's due from Runkle; and reconciling Madeline to Spode to avoid marrying her himself), Jeeves takes matters in hand. At the candidate debate, Ginger listens to his opponent's speech, then promptly endorses her and resigns the race. Havoc ensues, in which Spode is pelted with produce. Florence breaks her engagement with Ginger, and he promptly elopes to London with Magnolia Glendennon.
Back at Brinkley, Bingley (in Runkle's employ) discovers the purloined porringer in Bertie's drawer, and Runkle accuses Bertie of the crime. On the one hand, Bertram faces an unjust stretch in durance vile; but, on the other hand, Florence quickly reverses her previous intent to renew her engagement to him, and he feels that taken all in all he has ended up the better for it. Spode realizes that he prefers the rarefied atmosphere of the House of Lords to the rough-and-tumble of the Commons and abandons his plans to renounce his title, and he and Madeline are reconciled.
Finally, Jeeves nullifies Runkle as a force by revealing secrets written about him by Bingley in the Club Book. This not only prevents him from pressing charges against Bertie, but also forces him to give Tuppy his legacy. The story ends with Jeeves revealing to Bertie that he has also destroyed the nineteen pages that he had written about him, their relevance rendered nil by Jeeves' expressed presumption (confirmed by Bertie) that he may remain permanently in Bertie's service.
) apparently because of the confusion of setting this story at Brinkley Court. This novel is significant as it is the first time in the Wooster canon that Jeeves' first name (Reginald) is finally revealed
.
In the TV series Jeeves and Wooster
, the book was dramatized as Season IV, Episode 6: The Ties That Bind. This was the last episode in the series.
Some changes were made in the TV version. While the section of the plot involving Harold "Ginger" Winship is left unchanged, and the seedy ex-butler who stole the Ganymede Club Book is still called Brinkley, and Runkle and Aunt Dahlia are absent from the plot (the latter is replaced with Aunt Agatha, who plays no major role). Tuppy Glossop used all his money to buy a huge drain pumper called Plumbo Jumbo, and has to come in disguise when the drains at Totleigh plug up because Tuppy had previously antagonized the notoriously beefy and choleric Spode. When Ginger threw the election to elope with Magnolia, he caused Bertie to become engaged to both Florence Craye and Madeline Bassett simultaneously as Spode renounced his title to stand for the election in Ginger's place. Bertie broke off with Florence by informing her that he was about to marry Madeline, and Jeeves finds a damaging secret about Spode (involving a kangaroo called Celia) which forced him to reclaim his title and marry Madeline, leaving Bertie free. However, there is a twist ending: because Tuppy was discovered by Spode, he was chased off the premises, leaving the Plumbo Jumbo running and Bertie to try and fix it before the wedding, but he only succeeds in making it worse. During the wedding, the pipes in the chapel start spewing out sewage, spraying the guests and ruining Totleigh Towers; Bertie is blamed and the guests chase both Bertie and Jeeves around the chapel in the final scene, with the duo narrowly escaping to safety.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by 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...
, first published in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on October 15, 1971 by Barrie & Jenkins
Barrie & Jenkins
Barrie & Jenkins was a small British publishing house that was formed in 1964 from the merger of "Herbert Jenkins" and "Barrie & Rockcliffe". One of their most notable authors was P. G...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 15, 1971 by Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster, Inc., a division of CBS Corporation, is a publisher founded in New York City in 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. It is one of the four largest English-language publishers, alongside Random House, Penguin and HarperCollins...
, Inc., New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
under the name Jeeves and the Tie that Binds.
The two editions have slightly different endings. Wodehouse's American editor gave the US edition its title and rewrote the last page, adding Jeeves's disclosure about the eighteen pages from the Junior Ganymede club book and his expressed desire to remain permanently in Wooster's employment.
Written only a few years before his death, Much Obliged, Jeeves is the second-to-last appearance of Wodehouse's characters, 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...
and 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...
(the last being Aunts Aren't Gentlemen
Aunts Aren't Gentlemen
Aunts 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)). It forms the fourth and final installment of the Totleigh Towers
Totleigh Towers
Totleigh Towers is a recurring fictional location in the stories of English humorist P. G. Wodehouse. A country house, it is the home of widower Sir Watkyn Bassett, his ward Stephanie Byng, and his daughter Madeline Bassett...
saga, though it actually takes place at Brinkley Court
Brinkley 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...
, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia
Aunt Dahlia
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...
, near the town of Market Snodsbury.
Plot summary
A heretofore unknown old school chum of Bertie's, Ginger Winship, is standing for the House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
, and Aunt Dahlia has offered the use of Brinkley as a general H. Q. for the campaign. Dahlia persuades Bertie to come down to Brinkley to assist in the canvassing.
At luncheon before departing for Brinkley, Bertie discovers that Ginger is standing in the by-election on the wishes of his fiancée. He also discovers that said fiancée has kept him out of the metropolis for several years and discourages him from partaking in alcoholic stimulants. On arriving at Brinkley he discovers that this hard-hearted mystery woman is none other than Florence Craye
Florence Craye
Lady Florence Craye is a fictional character who appears in P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories and novels. Lady Florence, the daughter of Percy Craye, Earl of Worplesdon and elder sister to Edwin, a nasty little runtish type of lad, is the sometime fiancee of Bertie Wooster...
, authoress of Spindrift and former fiancée of Percy Gorringe—and of Bertie himself. Bertie begins to muse on how he might save his friend from a life of encountering Florence Craye every morning over the eggs and bacon.
But before he can make progress on that front, he discovers that there are other guests in the party at Brinkley. Roderick Spode, 8th Earl of Sidcup
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...
has come to deliver a speech or two for Ginger, and he has brought his fiancée Madeline Bassett
Madeline Bassett
Madeline Bassett is a recurring character in the Jeeves stories by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being one of the young women to whom Bertie Wooster periodically finds himself threateningly engaged.-Overview:...
. Spode still believes Bertie to be a sneak-thief from the episodes of the umbrella, the silver cow-creamer, and the African curio, and has also warned Bertram that he should not expect to win Madeline back from him.
Also among the party is L. P. Runkle, a financier and collector who has visited Brinkley in order to attempt to sell a valuable silver porringer to Tom Travers (who, sensibly, has fled the premises on hearing of the invasion from Totliegh Towers). Runkle was the employer of the late father of Tuppy Glossop
Tuppy Glossop
Hildebrand "Tuppy" Glossop is a fictional character appearing in some of P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves books. He is a member of the Drones Club and a good friend of Bertie Wooster. In Right Ho, Jeeves, we learn that Tuppy is of Scottish origin.-Relationships:...
, and made a pile on Tuppy's father's invention, but cutting Tuppy's father—and Tuppy—out of the action. Dahlia wants to soften up Runkle and get him to unbelt, so Tuppy can have his legacy and finally marry her daughter Angela.
Ginger's chances for election (and thus his engagement to Florence) are threatened by the spectre of Bingley, a former valet of his, who has purloined the Club Book of the Junior Ganymede Club
Junior Ganymede Club
The Junior Ganymede Club is a recurring fictional location in the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a London club for "gentlemen's gentlemen", i.e. valets, especially for those whose employers are members of the Drones Club. Bertie Wooster's valet Jeeves is a member of...
and is threatening to sell it, and its explosive tales of Ginger's past, to his opponent or the local newspaper. Jeeves finds this most disturbing, and during a social visit to his fellow valet, slips him a Mickey Finn
Mickey Finn (drugs)
A Mickey Finn, is a slang term for a drink laced with a drug given to someone without his knowledge in order to incapacitate him...
and recovers the book.
Surprisingly, this does not please Ginger. After disappointing Florence in his performance at the Council meeting, he has realized how wrong he was to have wanted to marry her, and has fallen in love with his secretary, Magnolia Glendennon. Spode, however, is entranced by the reception he is getting at his stump speeches for Ginger, and has floated the idea of renouncing his title and running for the Commons himself. This fails to delight Madeline, who sees her Countess coronet going pfut. Spode and Madeline have words, and Madeline starts muttering darkly about resigning herself to being Mrs Wooster.
Dahlia, meanwhile, failing to convince Runkle to give Tuppy his due, has purloined the silver porringer he wished to sell to Tom. Bertie tries to set this aright by returning the porringer, but is caught, and has to secrete the object in his bureau drawer. While he muses on the four problems (returning the porringer; freeing Ginger from his honorable obligation to Florence; helping Dahlia extract Tuppy's due from Runkle; and reconciling Madeline to Spode to avoid marrying her himself), Jeeves takes matters in hand. At the candidate debate, Ginger listens to his opponent's speech, then promptly endorses her and resigns the race. Havoc ensues, in which Spode is pelted with produce. Florence breaks her engagement with Ginger, and he promptly elopes to London with Magnolia Glendennon.
Back at Brinkley, Bingley (in Runkle's employ) discovers the purloined porringer in Bertie's drawer, and Runkle accuses Bertie of the crime. On the one hand, Bertram faces an unjust stretch in durance vile; but, on the other hand, Florence quickly reverses her previous intent to renew her engagement to him, and he feels that taken all in all he has ended up the better for it. Spode realizes that he prefers the rarefied atmosphere of the House of Lords to the rough-and-tumble of the Commons and abandons his plans to renounce his title, and he and Madeline are reconciled.
Finally, Jeeves nullifies Runkle as a force by revealing secrets written about him by Bingley in the Club Book. This not only prevents him from pressing charges against Bertie, but also forces him to give Tuppy his legacy. The story ends with Jeeves revealing to Bertie that he has also destroyed the nineteen pages that he had written about him, their relevance rendered nil by Jeeves' expressed presumption (confirmed by Bertie) that he may remain permanently in Bertie's service.
Version changes from the novel to the TV version
Bingley has been renamed from Brinkley (the name under which he was introduced in Thank You, JeevesThank You, Jeeves
Thank You, Jeeves is a Jeeves novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on March 16, 1934 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on April 23, 1934 by Little, Brown and Company, New York....
) apparently because of the confusion of setting this story at Brinkley Court. This novel is significant as it is the first time in the Wooster canon that Jeeves' first name (Reginald) is finally revealed
.
In the TV series Jeeves and Wooster
Jeeves 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....
, the book was dramatized as Season IV, Episode 6: The Ties That Bind. This was the last episode in the series.
Some changes were made in the TV version. While the section of the plot involving Harold "Ginger" Winship is left unchanged, and the seedy ex-butler who stole the Ganymede Club Book is still called Brinkley, and Runkle and Aunt Dahlia are absent from the plot (the latter is replaced with Aunt Agatha, who plays no major role). Tuppy Glossop used all his money to buy a huge drain pumper called Plumbo Jumbo, and has to come in disguise when the drains at Totleigh plug up because Tuppy had previously antagonized the notoriously beefy and choleric Spode. When Ginger threw the election to elope with Magnolia, he caused Bertie to become engaged to both Florence Craye and Madeline Bassett simultaneously as Spode renounced his title to stand for the election in Ginger's place. Bertie broke off with Florence by informing her that he was about to marry Madeline, and Jeeves finds a damaging secret about Spode (involving a kangaroo called Celia) which forced him to reclaim his title and marry Madeline, leaving Bertie free. However, there is a twist ending: because Tuppy was discovered by Spode, he was chased off the premises, leaving the Plumbo Jumbo running and Bertie to try and fix it before the wedding, but he only succeeds in making it worse. During the wedding, the pipes in the chapel start spewing out sewage, spraying the guests and ruining Totleigh Towers; Bertie is blamed and the guests chase both Bertie and Jeeves around the chapel in the final scene, with the duo narrowly escaping to safety.
External links
- The Russian Wodehouse Society's page, with a list of characters
- Summaries of most of P.G. Wodehouses books, information on characters