Brideshead Revisited: Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Brideshead is a retreat from the outside world and other people, which are depicted as monstrous. This suggests that Charles and Sebastian (as well as their relationship) are innocent, while the rest of the world is corrupt. While they remain at Brideshead, they are safe from this corruption. This draws a parallel between Brideshead and the Garden of Eden from the biblical story of Genesis. The Garden of Eden was a paradise which God created for Adam and Eve, the first humans. They were forced out of this paradise when they disobeyed God. Their dismissal from the Garden also meant that death and sin entered the world. Charles and Sebastian are metaphorically protected from these things for a time because they are young, happy, and in love—but this parallel suggests that their bliss cannot last forever.

The boys are not only literally young, but emotionally young and immature. They are innocent, like children, and are not experienced in the ways of the world. Charles is open minded and longs for new experience. Given Brideshead’s symbolic representation of the Catholic Church, Charles’s amazement and fascination with the house suggests that he may similarly be drawn into Catholicism in the future.

The fountain symbolizes Catholic religion, which has been exported from Rome to England by families like the Marchmains. Nanny has raised Sebastian and, although Lady Marchmain is his mother, he clearly has a closer bond with Nanny. Baroque architecture was famously lavish and extravagant. Modern architecture, which Charles grows to dislike, tended to favor efficiency and austerity over these more luxuriant elements.

Artistic inspiration is linked to divine inspiration in the novel. When Charles paints, it is implied that he receives God’s grace. Charles is agnostic and does not understand at the time that it is God’s influence that he feels. It is implied, that because he is in love this summer, he is blessed and receives inspiration as a result. This further connects the power of romantic love to the power of God. Sebastian’s attempt to inspire Charles is forced and does not surrender to inspiration but tries to control it; it is dissimilar to God’s gentle authority in this way, which is why it does not work out.

Lady Marchmain is a devout Catholic and views drunkenness as sinful. Waugh suggests that pleasure is not sinful. Rather, God is interested in love (like the love between Charles and Sebastian which inspires them to drink and enjoy their happiness), not in prohibitive rules and unnecessary authority like those which Lady Marchmain exerts over her family.

Charles underestimates the influence that religion has on Sebastian and the guilt which he feels because he has left the church. Charles’s mother died like a  martyr, on a religious mission for the sake of her spiritual beliefs. This could explain Charles’s dismissal and resent of religion, since he may blame it for his mother’s death.

Although Sebastian is no longer a Catholic, he has been raised as one, and his early experience of religion informs his perspective on life. Charles cannot understand this, and feels that religion is only a negative thing. As a result, he feels that Sebastian is gullible rather than enlightened.

Brideshead has embraced the family’s Catholicism, whereas Sebastian has rejected it. Brideshead’s suffering, due to his father leaving home, has caused him to become more religious and to side with his mother, who is very pious. It is implied that Sebastian’s education at Eton has made him different to Brideshead: he has experienced something of the world outside of Catholic circles and, therefore, is not as innocent and sheltered as Brideshead. This also suggests that there are inherent social differences between Catholics and other members of British society, which may not be obvious at first glance.

Sebastian clearly prefers his father to his mother, whereas Cordelia is too young to remember Lord Marchmain at home and was not affected by his departure. Lady Marchmain wants people to think that she is very good and saintly, so she cannot admit that she wants her children to hate Lord Marchmain, as this would seem bitter and spiteful. This concern for public appearances suggests that she may be more invested in the social propriety necessitated by Catholicism than in the faith itself.

Happiness is not important in Catholicism because suffering is considered holy. Catholics are different from the rest of British society in this period, because Britain was predominantly Protestant. Therefore, Catholics feel ostracized and that they are not like everybody else.

Cordelia is an open-hearted and naturally loving child. She adores Sebastian, even though she does not see much of him, and even though he keeps himself separate from the rest of the family. This again highlights the power of love in overcoming interpersonal conflicts. Despite the fact that Sebastian does not conform with the rest of the family, Cordelia’s her love for him is unconditional and does not depend on his obedience to certain rules the way that Lady Marchmain’s approval does.

Brideshead seems old-fashioned and out of touch with the modern world, which further highlights the rift between Catholic families like the Marchmains and modern British society. Cordelia is very religious but does not believe that piety is about following arbitrary rules. Instead, Cordelia’s faith is based in love. Brideshead, on the other hand, is pedantic and theological in the way he approaches his faith. By portraying Cordelia as a sweet and lovable to Brideshead’s strange, cold behavior, Waugh thus suggests that Cordelia’s faith in God’s love and forgiveness is the correct approach to spirituality.

Catholicism is not popular in England, and there are not many Catholics in the community nearby, suggesting that the Marchmain’s are both physically and socially isolated in their country setting. Charles understands that perceptions of art and culture are subjective and change over time, whereas Brideshead cannot comprehend this. This suggests that Brideshead views things in totalizing, moral terms and thinks that things can only be “good” or “bad”—a common critique of religions like Catholicism. 

Cordelia assumes that, because Charles does not believe in God, he needs religious redemption. Although this is presumptuous, it demonstrates Cordelia’s optimistic nature, as she believes that even an agnostic might receive divine grace and be converted. This supports the Catholic idea that anyone, especially someone who has sinned, can be redeemed at any time, so long as they repent for their sins. Sebastian says that Cordelia also prays for her pig, though animals are not traditionally believed to have souls in Catholicism.

Charles feels that Sebastian has hidden his real life from him. This description of their relationship suggests that it does not feel connected to reality, or to everyday life. They have so far lived separately from the rest of society and avoided the pressures, rules, and temptations of the outside world, and having to confront these things may eventually threaten their relationship.

Sebastian looks up to his father and wants Charles to meet him. This is contrasted with the way that Sebastian tries to keep Charles away from his mother, and suggests that Sebastian feels as though he has more in common with the “Byronic” and scandalous Lord Marchmain than with the strict, religiously devout Lady Marchmain. Although Lady Marchmain wants to be seen as a martyr who has been mistreated by her husband, Sebastian seems to believe that his father is the one who has been treated unfairly and metaphorically martyred through social ostracization.

Lord Marchmain’s house and lifestyle are clearly more rustic than the rest of the family at Brideshead. This suggests that Lord Marchmain wished to escape from comfort and to experience life instead. This supports the idea that he has been martyred and has been cast out of the comfort and security of the Catholic community because of his behavior.

“Byronic” heroes are associated with characters created by the poet Lord Byron. These characters were often wild, intense, passionate, and disdainful of the world and other people. Lord Marchmain has hidden these traits to blend in with English society, and to conceal his pain and disappointment with life. It was unconventional in Britain to live with a woman who was not one’s wife—Charles is shocked by their mundane dynamic because he has assumed that affairs are very secretive and romantic. Charles views forbidden love as exciting because it is prohibited by mainstream society. As with his later experience of war, Charles learns that the reality of something is often very banal compared with the fantasy.

Lord Marchmain is a conservative but does not maintain his political seat in the district. The Socialist party opposed the conservatives and hoped to overthrow them. Lord Marchmain feels he does this job for them because he has no interest in English politics. Lord Marchmain thinks it ironic that anarchists support a society with no rules but do not want a woman to publicly show her shoulders. This suggests that, despite the apparent lawlessness of their philosophy, they still comply to certain outdated social rules, such as the idea that women should be strictly modest.

Charles expects Cara to be dangerous and glamorous, because she has engaged in taboo and the forbidden behavior of having an affair with a married man. Instead, he finds her very ordinary. This suggests that Charles has a romantic view of relationships and does not understand their more mundane elements. This is like his approach to war later in life, which also leaves him disillusioned when it does not live up to its heroic depictions in art and literature. It is ironic that Cara wants to introduce Charles and Sebastian to girls, as they are clearly only interested in each other.

It is ironic that Sebastian thinks they will never fight in a war, since World War II will break out 20 years later and Charles will have to fight. Like Charles, Sebastian is naïve about warfare and thinks that it is glorious and heroic, rather than frightening and unpleasant.

Cara implies that Charles and Sebastian’s relationship should not develop into anything long-term or explicitly homosexual. Homosexual relationships were socially unacceptable in this period, and homosexuality was illegal in Britain. This suggests that to live openly as a gay person would lead to persecution in this period. Cara predicts that they will be disillusioned and fall out of love with each other. She thinks it is better for this to happen in a relationship which can have no future (as they cannot legally marry) because it will not have repercussions later in life.

Cara recognizes that it is much easier for a man to retain his reputation in British society, than for a woman—people are more likely to believe Lord Marchmain than Lady Marchmain. Lord Marchmain has destroyed his own reputation because he is self-destructive. Lord Marchmain has not loved her unconditionally, and this has caused him to become disillusioned, and to hate her unfairly when she cannot live up to his unrealistic standards. This suggests that Lord Marchmain idealized his love for Lady Marchmain, just as Charles idealizes his love for Sebastian. Thus, Cara implies that, at some point, Charles too will lose his innocence and become disillusioned with Sebastian.

Cara observes that Sebastian is afraid of adult responsibility and wishes to escape from it by prolonging his childhood. She can see that Charles drinks for fun, but that, for Sebastian, it satisfies a deeper psychological need. Cara is much older than Charles and much more experienced: she has seen many of these things happen before. The fact that she has seen the same behavior in Lord Marchmain suggests that Sebastian indeed takes after his brooding, self-destructive father, and will likely struggle with alcohol dependency himself in the future.

The excitement of the summer evaporates, and Charles and Sebastian are brought back down to Earth and to their everyday lives, to which they must return. This foreshadows the gradual decline of their relationship, as outside forces begin to encroach upon the perfectly sheltered, insular, idealistic life they led together in the summer.