Blog Nº 59
Lord Marshmoreton: “I wish I could get you to see my point of view.”
George Bevan: “I do see your point of view. But dimly. You see, my own takes up such a lot of the foreground.”
I was given a lovely edition of this book for Christmas and it proved to be a delightful first foray into the world of P.G. Wodehouse. The speed at which I finished reading A Damsel in Distress is testament to how good the book is, but, as with all great books, I also found myself disappointed I wouldn’t get to experience reading it for the first time again.
The novel begins with a chance encounter between Lady Maud Marsh and American composer George Bevan in London. Maud is looking for another American, Geoffrey Raymond, who she met the previous year. Grappling with her parents’ disapproval of this match, Maud’s visit is on the sly and she enlists the help of a bemused George when she spots her brother Percy, who mistakes George for Geoffrey.
What follows is an amusing set of events at Maud’s family home, Belpher Castle, wherein a complicated network of friendships, romantic entanglements and household whisperings make for a delightfully funny read.
One of my favourite comic tropes in both theatre and fiction is the use of mistaken identities. A centuries-old device often used by Shakespeare, it never fails to bring a smile and a laugh to the reader. A Damsel in Distress is littered with examples of mistaken identity, some accidental and some rooted in purposeful deception. Wodehouse amplifies this technique by juxtaposing the drama between Belpher Castle’s residents with the presumptions of the ever-watchful household staff, always keeping the reader as the only one with the full picture of knowledge.
Wodehouse is known as one of the most accomplished and widely read humourists of the twentieth century but this was my first experience of reading one of his novels. Even in non-climactic moments, his writing style and narration had me grinning with amusement throughout. The humour is so quintessentially English that I wonder whether translations into foreign languages can really do his words justice.
I can now call myself a Wodehouse fan and since reading A Damsel in Distress I have acquired two more of his books. While it might be a bit ambitious to try and read his whole catalogue (which contains over ninety books, forty plays and two hundred short stories!) I look forward to delving into many more of his comic escapades.
Happy reading,
Imo x
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