Brideshead Revisited: Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

Charles and Sebastian’s relationship follows the pattern of the seasons. It begins in spring, blossoms in summer, and begins to decline in autumn. Sebastian’s decline at school is related to death and decay because it represents the death of love in Charles’s life. Although Anthony makes Charles uncomfortable, Charles will miss him because his fearlessness made their social life exciting, suggesting that Charles, like Anthony, is bored of the stuffy, conservative culture at Oxford and longs for experiences like his exotic summer in Venice.

Charles and Sebastian cannot get their youthful enthusiasm back despite their efforts, reflecting the pattern of human life as it moves from youth to old age, and the pattern of the seasons as they move through warm and life towards coldness and death. However, although the end of the year has the outward appearance of death, it is really a phase in a repetitive cycle of death and rebirth. This reflects the novel’s underlying religious message, which suggests that death is not the end. Charles does not want to live extravagantly just for his own sake—he only enjoyed this lifestyle when it was taboo and there was some authority figure to rebel against.

Charles begins to settle into adult life after his brief, adolescent rebellion. For Sebastian, however, this rebellion represents a deeper psychological need, and he uses alcohol to avoid adult life because he is deeply unhappy.

Charles and Sebastian are still very close and do not drift apart when their lifestyles change. This shows that even innocent, youthful love can be very strong and withstand periods of unhappiness. The boys who picked on Anthony are not imaginative enough to entertain themselves now that he's gone, suggesting that they need someone to ostracize because they lack individual personality and can only function in a group which is united by the persecution of others.

Lady Marchmain interferes with Charles and Sebastian’s dynamic. She represents the outside world, which must inevitably encroach upon their solitary paradise together. Mr. Samgrass is a social climber and is always keen to ingratiate himself with people who can provide him with money, work, or prestige. He represents the shallow, ambitious aspects of British society, which Charles despises.

Charles does not realize that Sebastian expects him to take his side against Lady Marchmain. He cannot do this because she is kind to him, and he has no reason to dislike her. He does not understand that there is an emotional war between Sebastian and Lady Marchmain, much like the war that Charles’s father waged against him over the summer. As time goes on, Sebastian’s family encroach more and more on his life and he becomes less able to avoid them—another external force that threatens the stability of Charles and Sebastian’s relationships.

Unlike the Marchmains, Rex is “new money” and is not from a wealthy background. He has earned his wealth in business, rather than inherited it. This was a common life path during the 20th century, as technological progress and industry allowed people from ordinary backgrounds to rise through the ranks of business and make their own way in the world. Rex is insensitive and cannot understand that just because he did not need university to succeed, education is not necessarily a waste of time. He is more worldly and experienced than Charles and Sebastian, who have never had jobs or been independent. Julia is very confident and treats Rex like her property, which suggests they will become a couple if they aren’t already.

Charles assumes that Julia has many fashionable friends. Her life seems to be filled with glamourous social events, which Charles rejects and views as a shallow aspect of  modern society.

Charles and Sebastian are outsiders in this setting because they are not interested in the more adult pursuits which the others gravitate towards. Instead, they wish to remain isolated in their own private, innocent world.

The Old Hundredth is an area of London, and Ma Mayfield’s is a gentlemen’s club. This setting suggests that the boys will soon lose their innocence and move ever closer to the adult world, in which, if they want to belong in conventional society, women and sex must play a role.

The grisly description of the club implies that the place is morally as well as physically impure, and will corrupt the boys if they go inside. In entering the club, they move gradually away from their innocence and enter the adult world, which it is suggested is rife with temptation and low morals. The man’s claim that he has been “poisoned” refers back to the idea of the “poisoned” fruit which Adam and Eve eat in the biblical story of the Garden of Eden, which ends their time of innocence in paradise. Boy pretends that he knows the place and makes a fool of himself because he obviously does not. He wants to appear older and more experienced than he is, whereas Charles and Sebastian only want to cling to their youth.

It is clear that no one in the club recognizes Boy or thinks he is Effie’s boyfriend. The girls think that Charles and Sebastian are gay, and use a derogatory term to imply this. This suggests that Charles and Sebastian stand out and do not easily blend in with the adult clientele of the club, who are mostly there to meet women. Instead, Charles and Sebastian are set apart and give the impression that they cannot be tempted by the women, further insinuating that there is a romantic element to their close relationship, if not a sexual one.

Effie works at the club, either as a dancer or an escort. Her profession is not glamorized, and the mundane aspects of her job are emphasized instead: she gets hungry at work and her shoes hurt her feet. This suggests that things which appear glamorous or romantic, like sex (and, later, war) are not always what they seem in reality. Effie entertains a lot of men and has forgotten Boy, with whom it is implied she once spent the night. This makes Boy look naïve and foolish—he wants to appear more worldly than he is, but emotionally he still lives up to his namesake of being only a “boy.”

The women are associated with death and decay, as relationships with women are additional realities of adulthood which will inevitably come between Charles and Sebastian and spell the death of their relationship. The doorman does not want Sebastian to drive because he is drunk, and Sebastian’s insistence is further evidence of his alcohol problem and self-destructive nature, which Cara warned Charles about in Venice.

The women are afraid that Sebastian will crash the car,  and they do not want to be caught be the police because they may be arrested for being prostitutes. The policemen are willing to cooperate with the women, who have clearly been in this situation before, but Boy, who is naïve and arrogant, offends the policeman with his offer of bribery. Sebastian is afraid of being trapped or confined once he's in his jail cell, which, in a sense, reflects the way in which he feels trapped by his looming adult responsibilities. His desire to get out further emphasizes his general dislike of authority and responsibility.

Rex is good at getting his own way and is confident and persuasive because of this. He is used to dealing with legal situations (it is implied that Rex has links to organized crime) and knows how to handle the court and the press. The ease with which Rex navigates the world implies that he represents modernity itself, which Charles views as seedy, vulgar, and corrupt. Despite Rex’s efforts, the fact that Sebastian is from a prestigious family may mean that his arrest will cause a scandal.

Sebastian does not want to face the consequences of his actions, and wants to run away instead. He is afraid of responsibility and of disappointing his family, who make him feel guilty and increase his self-hatred. Julia sees her brother as an adult for the first time because she thinks that he has solicited an escort, suggesting that sexual experience with women is linked to people’s perceptions of manhood.

Lady Marchmain makes Sebastian feel guilty, but pretends that this is not her doing. Instead, she blames her family, who she says will be disappointed. However, to Sebastian it is all the same: he has caused trouble for his mother and she has let him know this, which makes him feel guilty and ashamed. This could be why Sebastian has gravitated away from religion in young adulthood: he likely associates the guilt and judgment he feels from his devoutly-Catholic mother as a representation of Catholicism itself.

It is ironic that the newspapers use this headline, as Sebastian’s regular drinking habit is what got him in this situation, not his unfamiliarity with alcohol. Mr. Samgrass lies for Lady Marchmain so that Sebastian can stay at Oxford, suggesting that Lady Marchmain’s morals are not as strict as they appear, as she is willing to let someone else be dishonest on her behalf in order to save face. This makes Sebastian feel obliged to, or reliant on, Mr. Samgrass: something which he hates because he wishes to escape from all authority and obligation. Mr. Samgrass’s surveillance of Charles and Sebastian for Lady Marchmain shows that she has an oppressive authority over her son. Sebastian’s erratic behavior and desire for freedom, then, makes even more sense in this context.

Mr. Samgrass has made himself indispensable to Lady Marchmain because she is a fashionable figure and because she funds his research. He is a greedy, parasitic figure, who is associated with modern social climbing and takes advantage of the Marchmain’s hospitality.

Sebastian does not attend chapel because he is not a practicing Catholic, much to the disdain of his religiously-devout family. Yet, despite the rift between Lady Marchmain and Sebastian over his loose adherence to Catholicism, Lady Marchmain is not morally superior to Sebastian in practice. She is essentially taking advantage of Mr. Samgrass, only keeping him around to spy on Sebastian, which suggests that she is not above using others or being dishonest—certainly not Christlike qualities.

Lady Marchmain tries to bring Charles around to her point of view. Her modest room is different because it is her own, and under her influence, whereas the rest of the house belonged to Lord Marchmain and represents his lavish, sensual personality. Lady Marchmain is neat and austere rather than extravagant, and the room’s parallel to her demonstrates the way in which architecture can outwardly reflect people’s personalities and emotional states. Lady Marchmain wants to feel like a victim or a martyr, and views her wealth as a form of suffering because it keeps her at a distance from God—her comparatively minimal room, then, is an outward representation of her desire to reject her own good fortune.

Sebastian wants to be independent from his family, and feels that he must stand alone against them. He used to feel that Charles was his companion, but now feels that Charles will side against him. Charles is not emotionally mature enough to understand this, and only realizes later, after the events. Sebastian is extremely lovable, and even the curmudgeonly, passive-aggressive Mr. Ryder warms to him. This supports the idea that Sebastian is blessed, or angelic, and that his suffering does not detract from this.

Again, Cara’s warning to Charles proves correct: Sebastian uses alcohol as an escape. It likely allows him to hide from the outside world and helps him forget the things that make him unhappy. Sebastian is in danger of doing something foolish and self-destructive, which may threaten his future and encourage his family to remove him from Oxford.

This incident blurs the line between Sebastian’s university life, in which he drinks and acts as he likes, and his family life, in which he feels that he must control himself and suppress who he really is. This suggests that Sebastian is losing control of his life and can no longer keep these two sides separate or use one (his university life) as an escape from the other (his home life).

Sebastian no longer takes Charles into his confidence and locks him out, both literally and emotionally. This suggests that Sebastian feels  alone and that Charles is now his enemy, as though they are on different sides in a war. Julia does not want to show that she is concerned about Sebastian, using her cool bravado to brush the idea off.

Sebastian develops traits associated with alcoholism: he becomes secretive and gets aggressive when Charles tries to take his drink away. Sebastian assumes that if Charles likes his family then he is Sebastian’s enemy and must work against him. Charles, however, is still prepared to lie for Sebastian. Although their love is strong, it is human, they therefore cannot avoid problems entirely because conflict and warlike behavior are pervasive human traits.

Lady Marchmain exercises a great deal of control and authority over the family: they will not discuss something that will upset her or that she will find improper. This suggests that Lady Marchmain keeps up a façade, even when things are not alright. Everyone is, of course, preoccupied with Sebastian, but must not mention it. Their avoidance of the problem likely contributes to Sebastian’s feelings of shame, which lead him to drink in the first place.

Sebastian drinks because he is unhappy, yet his drinking only exacerbates his unhappiness. This vicious cycle suggests that Sebastian will only descend deeper into his dependency, since he now requires alcohol to regulate his emotions. He still loves Charles , but he thinks that Charles has formed an alliance with his family against him. He dislikes himself, and therefore rejects and tries to escape from those who love him and want to help.

Sebastian sees Charles’s desire to say goodbye to Lady Marchmain as evidence that Charles takes his family’s side and not his. Charles does not understand Sebastian’s point of view and does not realize that it may be better to humor Sebastian so that he does not feel alone. Charles does not realize that Sebastian sees his family as his enemies and that, if Charles sides with them, he will see Charles in this way too.

Charles tries to explain to Lady Marchmain that, when they are in Oxford, Sebastian drinks because he is happy rather than as an escape. Lady Marchmain does not believe this. Lady Marchmain keeps up appearances and maintains a façade of being pious and grateful. As a Catholic woman, she views it as her duty to be grateful, even for her suffering, as she believes that God sends obstacles to test her and make her better. This makes Sebastian feel worse because, like his father, he is unable to be happy and please his mother.

Lady Marchmain implies that her brothers were better men than her husband. However, her brothers died in World War I ,and Lady Marchmain does not know how they would have changed in the aftermath of the war. Lady Marchmain can see that Charles and Sebastian have a strong bond, but she does not understand or respect it. She asks Charles to use it against Sebastian so that he can spy on Sebastian for her. Although she does not say this explicitly, she implies that, if Charles reads about Ned, he will see the type of man that Sebastian should aspire to be, and will help Lady Marchmain achieve that. In contrast to her mother, Cordelia genuinely loves Sebastian for who he is.

Lady Marchmain views her brothers as martyrs because she believes they died heroically, for a good cause. Martyrdom is an important concept in Catholicism because Jesus died for humanity’s sins, and Catholics are supposed to emulate this. Charles now realizes that Lady Marchmain wants to change Sebastian and that she holds him to an unfair standard. He sees that they are on different sides and commits to being Sebastian’s accomplice.

Lady Marchmain uses Mr. Samgrass to spy on Charles and Sebastian, wanting to increase her influence over Sebastian. Lady Marchmain expected Charles to write to her and confirm that he would spy on Sebastian for her after reading the book about Ned. However, Charles was adamant in his allegiance with Sebastian. Lady Marchmain wants to separate Charles and Sebastian because she views Charles as an outsider who will lead Sebastian further away from Catholicism and from her control—in reality, it is likely her own overbearing behavior that is pushing Sebastian away.

Sebastian is better when he is with Charles and does not feel the need to drink heavily all the time. When he is around his family, however, he feels trapped and this encourages him to drink as a means of escape. Charles knows that Sebastian has sabotaged their chance to live together. He later realizes that he has done the wrong thing because Sebastian’s depression is worse when he feels alone.

Charles has been truthful with Lady Marchmain, but she assumes the worst and does not listen to him. She assumes that Sebastian drinks all the time when he is with Charles, even though this is not true. Charles understands Sebastian better than Lady Marchmain does, but Lady Marchmain believes that Charles’s concern comes from a place of prejudice. This suggests that she feels persecuted, like a martyr, even when she is not.

The worst has already happened for Charles and Sebastian (they will not be allowed to live together), so they naïvely seem to think getting drunk will do no harm despite Sebastian’s former mishaps. Brideshead has no empathy and cannot understand Charles or Sebastian’s position. Much like Lady Marchmain, Brideshead is extremely set in his ways Catholic and sees no value in anything which does not relate to his religion.

Charles has nowhere to live now that his arrangement with Sebastian has fallen through. He is too proud to ask Collins for help because he abandoned Collins for Sebastian. Without Sebastian, Oxford loses all allure for Charles. It no longer seems like a lively place where love is possible because Charles and Sebastian have lost their innocence and freedom. They have been metaphorically cast out of the place which they once considered a paradise on Earth, reflecting the difficult truth that even the most innocent, genuine, and joyful experiences must eventually come to an end.

Charles knows that Sebastian will never agree to live with Mgr. Bell and will never return to Oxford. Being forced to stay with his family will make Sebastian unhappy because he will feel trapped at Brideshead and want to escape. Lady Marchmain is genuinely sorry and wishes to help Sebastian, but her close-mindedness and unwillingness to let him makes his own choices make her efforts backfire.