Brideshead Revisited Essay

In Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, marriage is a prevalent theme that Waugh utilizes to convey the different roles marriage serves in the past and the present. The protagonist Charles Ryder becomes acquainted with the Flytes, a family of wealthy Catholics, and he eventually forms a relationship with Julia, despite both being married. Therefore, they plan to divorce their respective spouses to marry each other.. Charles and Julia’s affair displays how marriage serves to pursue personal interests and how religious views can unwillingly impact of a relationship in Brideshead Revisited.

Marriage in Brideshead Revisited is forged with greedy intentions to fulfill self-interests. In Charles and Julia’s respective marriages, it is apparent that

the marriages are dull. Charles is married to an overly-feminine and overly-enthusiastic woman. His wife, Celia, “had married [him] six years ago. . .she had firm faith in [his] genius and ‘artistic temperament’” (Waugh, 265). Charles admits that Celia had helped him launch his artistic career. However, he is unappreciative of the barn Celia turned into his art studio, and he even forgot about their second child. This implies that Charles does not care about his wife and children, but his marriage helps him as an artist because of Celia’s efforts. Similarly, Julia marries Rex because she is sexually active with him before marriage, which is immoral in Catholic beliefs. At first, the Flytes had opposed the relationship between the two because Rex is a non-Catholic and from a different social class. However, when Julia admits that “‘[she’ve] been Rex’s mistress for some time now, and [she] shall go on being, married or not” (Waugh, 227), it ultimately persuades her mother to allow the marriage. It is much respectable for Julia to have sex with Rex as his wife rather than as his mistress. As shown, Julia’s marriage is also a way to regain the honor in the Flytes. Eventually, Julia’s marriage becomes lackluster, much like Charles’s. This similarity initiates the blooming of their relationship, but over time, Charles and Julia begin to face a downturn in their relationship.
Charles claims himself as an agnostic while Julia slowly returns to Catholicism even though she tries to avert from it.

This difference in beliefs leads to the lack of success in Charles and Julia’s relationship. As Charles and Julia’s affair progresses, Julia advises that they get married because of “’War . . . this year, next year, sometime soon’” (Waugh, 320). Although Julia is literally talking about the impending World War II, this “war” is also a metaphor for each other’s struggle to view Catholicism under the same light. Julia’s suggestion also foreshadows a growing gap, which eventually happens when Julia expresses her guilt about constantly living in sin. Charles, who is watching Julia throughout the rant, feels as if “[he] was adrift in a strange sea and…[he] was as far from her in spirit” (Waugh, 331). Though Charles attempts to understand Catholicism throughout the book, his shortcomings to understand is shown through his incapability to connect when Julia brings up religion. This lack of understanding makes it difficult for Charles to sympathize with her when she was crying. Charles later comforts her by calling religion “bosh,” but Julia says, “’How I wish it was’” (Waugh, 333). While Charles thinks that religion is preposterous, Julia strongly praises her beliefs. This difference in religious views causes the downfall of the two’s relationship, showing that successful marriages depend on similar religious

views.
Waugh’s portrayal of marriage in Brideshead Revisited suggests that religion is a way to socially benefit oneself and demonstrates that religion plays a large role in determining the success of the marriage. In the 1920s, marriages to climb up the economic and aristocratic level and a mutual understanding of religion is essential to keeping relationships stable, as shown in Charles and Julia’s affairs. Waugh’s portrayal contrasts sharply to present day, where marriages are built from a foundation of caring and respecting each other. Most importantly, today, love has no boundaries.