Brideshead Revisited Evelyna Waugh (Próba analizy)

Abstract

EVELYN WAUGH’S BRIDESHEAD REVISITED

This is an attempt at a formal analysis of Waugh’s novel Brideshead Revisited. Muir’s classification of novels is accepted and Waugh’s pre-war novels are termed ’’the novels of action” while Brideshead Revisited is included among the dramatic novels.

To point out the central problem of the novel Waugh’s own words are quoted: Brideshead Revisited is ”an attempt to trace the workings of the divine purpose in a pagan world”. Then the long time covered by the novel is discussed together with the devices for shifting the narration from one period to another,

A slow movement of the story is the next item taken up and it is regarded as a necessary means for keeping up the convention of recollections. Various means of characterization are enumerated and the romantic character of the novel is shown by Waugh’s use of description, metaphor and symbol.

The conclusion reached is that: Brideshead Revisited is Waugh’s great artistic achievement as it shows his powers of presenting characters in action and depicting admirably their social background but it is not wholly successful in fulfilling the author’s purpose, as its central problem is not sufficiently distinct in the body of the novel.