P.G. Wodehouse and Drama
Theatrical Elements in the Works of the Comic Novelist
P.G. Wodehouse was an active member of the theatrical world: alongside his novels, he wrote, or collaborated on more than twenty plays and a similar number of musicals. According to Lee Davis’s book on the stage of the 1920s and 30s, Wodehouse was one of the three Men Who Made Musical Comedy. This experience of the theatre made an impact on the style, as well as the content, of his novels.
Wodehouse used a theatrical setting for several of his novels, such as The Little Warrior, and the Jeeves and Wooster stories are full of actors and dramatists. He occasionally used the Bohemian reputation which still lingered around “theatrical people” to engineer a plot involving a theatrical suitor for a girl whose father disapproved of the profession. Amateur theatricals also appear as plot devices, such as Drones Club smoking concerts and church benefits. Bertie Wooster’s particular turn at such events is to don a brightly-coloured beard, put on an Irish accent, and take part in a knockabout cross-talk act.
Drama had an impact on Wodehouse’s method as well as his settings; he said that his writing technique was to take real life and “make a kind of musical comedy” from it. It is easy to see this tendency in his novels, which contrasts with the Modernists writing at the same time, such as Virginia Wolf or James Joyce. Their novels concentrated on achieving high levels of interiority and psychological depth, making the protagonists as specific and complex individuals. Wodehouse is far more prone to take a set of recognisable characters, and polish their words to an unrealistically amusing and entertaining level.
This influence from the theatre also show itself in the mechanics by which Wodehouse advances his plots. Mistaken identity, disguise, overhearing and kicks to the seat of the trousers (or “a juicy one on the spot indicated”, as Wodehouse would call it) are present in abundance. These are not just comic events, but specifically theatrical ones. A short story such as The Crimewave at Blandings shows Wodehouse instinctively setting the majority of the action within one room, with characters rapidly entering and leaving to tell Lord Emsworth of what has been happening elsewhere in Blandings Castle.
The rapid-fire dialogue which Wodehouse is fond of producing also has its roots in the theatre. This passage from the beginning of Uncle Fred Flits By provides a good example:
“That’s Pongo Twistleton. He’s all broken up about his Uncle Fred.”
“Dead?”
“No such luck. Coming up to London again tomorrow. Pongo had a wire this morning.”
“And that upsets him?”
“Naturally, after what happened last time.”
“What was that?”
“Ah!” said the Crumpet
“What happened last time?”
“You may well ask.”
“I do ask.”
“Ah!” said the Crumpet.
That isn’t prose, it’s a cross-talk act written down on paper! It’s no wonder that Wodehouse’s prose works provided such tempting material for adaptation for the stage and screen.
