History Creator / PGWodehouse

%% * DistressedDamsel: ''A Damsel In Distress''.

* ReleasingFromThePromise: In a Mr. Mulliner story, he explains that a Mulliner can't break an engagement; only the woman can.

Blandings, meanwhile, a castle which "has impostors the way other places have mice", is the home of the elderly and ineffectual Clarence Threepwood, Ninth Earl of Emsworth, which is routinely used by his many domineering sisters to imprison nieces or nephews intent on an unsuitable marriage. The would-be fiance has to infiltrate the castle in disguise, often with help from the Earl's ne'er-do-well brother [[LovableRogue Galahad Threepwood]], and capable, sporting butler Sebastian Beach (who actually ''is'' a butler), or less often his good friend Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, Earl of Ickenham, who aims always to spread sweetness and light, and persuade Emsworth to overrule his sister, which will, of course, give the Earl the nudge he needs to do what it takes for his prize pig, The Empress of Blandings, to win the prize at the country fair away from their arch-rival, Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, Bart., and his Pride of Matchinghham.

Wodehouse's books have been the basis for a number of films and television series. The Blandings series has seen Clive Currie and Horace Hodges as Lord Emsworth in movie versions, and Fritz Schultz (in German), Sir Ralph Richardson, and Peter O'Toole on television, although many regard the BBC radio Lord Emsworth, Richard Vernon (who also lent his voice to [[Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Slartibartfast]]), as definitive. Arthur Treacher was well-known as the embodiment of Jeeves in the 1930s, with David Niven (!) taking the part of Bertie Wooster; in the Sixties, Ian Carmichael ([[HeAlsoDid also known]] for playing Literature/LordPeterWimsey and the BBC radio Galahad Threepwood) as Bertie and Dennis Price as Jeeves. (It is on record that Wodehouse did not care much for any of these adaptations.) Wodehouse himself appeared in the last year of his life to introduce episodes of the well-regarded ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsHGOmmO6Nc BBC Wodehouse Playhouse]]'', which brilliantly adapted many of the Mulliner and the Golf stories.

Wodehouse reacted to the criticism by emigrating to the United States, becoming an American citizen, and never coming back to England for the rest of his life. He still got a knighthood from [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen Elizabeth II]] in January 1975. He died a month later at the age of 93, saying that with his knighthood and a waxwork in Madame Tussaud's, he had achieved all of his life's ambitions. He worked right to the end; his last Jeeves novel was published in November 1974 and he was working on a Blandings novel when he passed away. (It was was published posthumously and half-finished as ''Sunset at Blandings''.)

* TakeThat: After Wodehouse had been denounced by the orders of the Minister of Information, Alfred Duff Cooper, he was lambasted in the newspapers by his fellow-author, Creator/AAMilne. In ''The Mating Season'', written while Wodehouse was being held by the Germans, Gussie Fink-Nottle on being arrested gives his name as "Duff Cooper"; in the same novel, Bertie Wooster is sickened by the prospect of reading Milne's "Christopher Robin" poems publicly. Wodehouse returned to the attack in "Rodney Has A Relapse", in which reformed ''vers libre'' poet Rodney Spelvin writes [[TastesLikeDiabetes smarmy]] poems about his toddler son, "Timothy Bobbin".

Beginning his career [[TheEdwardianEra in the earliest years of the 20th century]] as a writer of topical verse for the newspapers, he first made a name as an author mainly of boys' school stories. Wodehouse soon moved into the more lucrative field of light romance, and finally, in the late Twenties, shifted permanently to the pure comedies he preferred. He additionally wrote the book and lyrics to several long-running Broadway [[{{Musical}} musicals]], adapted some others to the stage, and co-wrote the original book for Music/ColePorter's ''Theatre/AnythingGoes''. In the 1910s he, composer Jerome Kern and co-writer Guy Bolton created a pioneering series of musical comedies (known as the "Princess" musicals after the name of the theatre where most of them played) that were hugely influential in showing how Broadway musical theatre could be used for intimate storytelling and songs [[CharacterDevelopment focused on character]] and plot; his best-known song from this period is "Bill," which became famous when Kern re-used it (with some revision by Oscar Hammerstein) in ''Theatre/ShowBoat''.

Beginning his career [[TheEdwardianEra in the earliest years of the 20th century]] as a writer of topical verse for the newspapers, he first made a name as an author mainly of boys' school stories. Wodehouse soon moved into the more lucrative field of light romance, and finally, in the late Twenties, shifted permanently to the pure comedies he preferred. He additionally wrote the book and lyrics to several long-running Broadway [[{{Musical}} musicals]], adapted some others to the stage, and co-wrote the original book for Music/ColePorter's ''Theatre/AnythingGoes''. In the 1910s he, composer Jerome Kern and co-writer Guy Bolton created a pioneering series of musical comedies (known as the "Princess" musical after the name of the theatre where most of them played) that were hugely influential in showing how musical theatre could be used for intimate storytelling and songs [[CharacterDevelopment focused on character]] and plot; his best-known song from this period is "Bill," which became famous when Kern re-used it (with some revision by Oscar Hammerstein) in ''Theatre/ShowBoat''.

Beginning his career [[TheEdwardianEra in the earliest years of the 20th century]] as a writer of topical verse for the newspapers, he first made a name as an author mainly of boys' school stories. Wodehouse soon moved into the more lucrative field of light romance, and finally, in the late Twenties, shifted permanently to the pure comedies he preferred. He additionally wrote the book to several long-running Broadway [[{{Musical}} musicals]], adapted some others to the stage, and rewrote Music/ColePorter's ''Theatre/AnythingGoes''.

Ineffectual gentry, cunning servants, horrendous aunts--all these were contributed to the GenteelInterbellumSetting by Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse KBE ("Plum" to friends--and the last name is prounounced "Woodhouse," not "[[Film/RoadHouse Woad]][[ElmuhFuddSyndwome house]]") (5 October 1881 – 14 February 1975), a prolific writer of light comedies, who was also responsible for many early Broadway musicals.

** Even more so with the golfer stories, as the younger players have learned to dread when The Oldest Member starts an unavoidable story. (Mr. Mulliner's audience tends to be more receptive, for most part.) TurnedUpToEleven when a golfer (who clearly have been scarred by The Oldest Member in the past) finds his way to The Angler's Rest, and finds out the hard way that ''there is another...''

%% * RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic: Makes adapting Wodehouse's work to TV or film no easy task.

%% * ObnoxiousInLaws: In ''Indiscretions of Archie''.

* ParalysisByAnalysis: In "The Heart of a Goof", this turns out to be the main problem that Ferdinand Dribble, the titular 'goof', has when playing golf. He overthinks things by reading all the books and trying to follow their instructions exactly, to the point where he keeps tensing up and second guessing himself, leading him to choke. Conversely, when he thinks that the woman he loves is in love with someone else, he ends up so miserable and dejected that he can't be bothered thinking about his game, and plays excellently.

%% * ProperLady: Pops up now and then, often [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship best friends]] with the [[SpiritedYoungLady heroine]] and/or part of the BetaCouple.

%% * CupidHatesOddCouples: If two best friends fall for the same girl, it's likely that they'll both forswear her by the end.

%% * GoldDigger: Claire in ''Uneasy Money'', though played somewhat sympathetically.

%% * UnableToSupportAWife: A frequent complication.

%% * UpperClassTwit: Could be considered the TropeCodifier.

** The members of various the clubs are only identified by their drinks or their meals.

%% * ParentalMarriageVeto: A regularly-appearing plot development.

%% * IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy:

%% ** George in ''A Damsel in Distress''.

** Bertie is shocked to discover his uncle's middle name: "Portarlington".

* IdleRich: The majority of his characters. Bertie Wooster could be the trope namer.

%% * TheJeeves: And [[Literature/JeevesAndWooster Jeeves]] [[TropeNamer himself]] isn't the only example.

* LiquidCourage: Wodehouse ''loves'' this trope. Several of his books feature timid young men having a slug of brandy or the like when nerving themselves up to propose to their dream girls. A particularly notable incident involving Gussie Fink-Nottle and some spiked orange juice appears in ''Right Ho, [[Literature/JeevesAndWooster Jeeves]].''

** There is also the Bingo Little short story, "Bingo Bans The Bomb." Wodehouse never intended his novels to be read as period pieces, and would update them from time to time, adjusting dates, commodity prices, and so on. The novels only ''seem'' Edwardian because Wodehouse himself ''was'' -- an Edwardian gentleman who survived well into the late Twentieth century.

%% * IdleRich: The majority of his characters.

Ineffectual gentry, cunning servants, horrendous aunts--all these were contributed to the GenteelInterbellumSetting by Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ("Plum" to friends--and the last name is prounounced "Woodhouse," not "[[Film/RoadHouse Woad]][[ElmuhFuddSyndwome house]]") (5 October 1881 – 14 February 1975), a prolific writer of light comedies, who was also responsible for many early Broadway musicals.