"One can date exactly the first moment when [Wodehouse] was touched by the sacred flame. It occurs halfway through Mike ... Psmith appears and the light is kindled which has burned with growing brilliancy for half a century."
Psmith (the p is silent, as in psychic) features in four novels by PG Wodehouse. A dandyish figure with a monocle, an elaborate way of speech, and a knack for navigating wild adventures and emerging unruffled, he was introduced as a supporting character to Mike Jackson, but took over the series to the extent that Mike is now invariably remembered as Psmith's supporting character. The adventures of Mike and Psmith bridge the school stories of Wodehouse's early writing and the elaborately-plotted comedies for which he is more generally known in series like Blandings Castle; in fact, the last Psmith novel is also one of the earliest of the Blandings series.Mike Jackson, schoolboy cricketing ace, was introduced in "Jackson Junior", serialised in The Captain magazine in 1908. A sequel the following year, "The Lost Lambs", sees Mike transferred by his father to a new school, where he meets and befriends Psmith, another recent arrival to the school under similar circumstances. These two serials were published in book form together as Mike in 1909, and separately as Mike at Wrykyn and Mike and Psmith in 1953. (The latter was also published separately as Enter Psmith in 1935.)The adventures of Mike and Psmith continue in Psmith in the City (1910; originally serialised in The Captain under the title "The New Fold", but by the time the book came out it was clear who the star was). Mike, having finished school but prevented by financial difficulties from proceeding to university, takes a job at the New Asiatic Bank, and finds that he once again has a fellow-sufferer in Psmith. After various adventures that demonstrate neither is cut out for the world of finance, Psmith finds a way for them both to attend Cambridge, and they resign just in time to avoid being fired.In Psmith, Journalist (serial, 1909; book, 1915), Psmith accompanies Mike to America, where Mike's cricket team is touring, and becomes side-tracked into a series of adventures involving gangsters, slum landlords, lost cats, crooked boxing, and an intrepid journalist reduced to working for a magazine called Cozy Moments.In Leave It to Psmith (serial, 1923; book, with revised ending, 1923), Psmith's family fortunes suffer a serious reversal, leaving him facing the horrible prospect of having to get a real job. (Mike, newly-married and facing his own financial difficulties, appears early on to explain why he can't help, then disappears from the plot.) Salvation appears in the form of Freddie Threepwood, who is willing to pay Psmith for help with his latest contribution to Blandings Castle's chronic Zany Scheme problem; Hilarity Ensues — and so, to Psmith's uncharacteristic befuddlement, does romance.Not to be confused with PSmIth.
Aerith and Bob: The final published title for Psmith's first appearance, Mike and Psmith.
Affectionate Parody: The sequence in Leave It to Psmith where Psmith applies for work and meets up with Freddie Threepwood is a spoof of the opening of Bulldog Drummond.
Ambiguous Disorder: No one really knows why Psmith acts the way he does. Of course, he's heavily implied to be faking it, but that just opens up a whole new set of questions. Add to that the fact that his dad is also pretty odd (albeit in a completely different way)...
Downing: Er ... Smith, I do not for a moment wish to pain you, but have you ... er, do you remember ever having had, as a child, let us say, any ... er ... severe illness? Any ... er ... mental illness?
Psmith: No, sir.
Downing: There is no—forgive me if I am touching on a sad subject—there is no ... none of your near relatives have ever suffered in the way I ... er ... have described?
Psmith:(cheerfully) There isn't a lunatic on the list, sir.
Attention Whore: Psmith, arguably. At the very least he impersonates one in Mike and Psmith when he claims that his false confession to save Mike was due to "[t]he craze of notoriety."
Batman Gambit: Psmith's occasional modus operandi. In Psmith in the City, he stays in his job by cultivating a rapport with his supervisor, despite his occasional flagrant disregard of the rules.
Beta Couple: Mike and Phyllis in Leave It to Psmith.
Big Man on Campus: Adair in Mike and Psmith, through sheer fervor and force of personality.
Book Dumb: Both Mike and Psmith have terrible grades (hence their exile to Sedleigh), but Mike is a highly accomplished cricketer and Psmith is an insightful social manipulator who only acts like he's off his rocker.
Bus Crash: Psmith's dad dies at some point between the third and fourth books.
Breakout Character: Psmith was introduced as a supporting character to Mike Jackson, but took over the series to the extent that Mike is now invariably remembered as Psmith's supporting character.
Bribe Backfire: Mr. Parker's attempt to suppress articles about the tenements in Psmith, Journalist.
The Bully: Subverted with Stone and Robinson in Mike and Psmith; they act like stereotypical bullies, but are quite friendly once one gets to know them.
The Cat Came Back: Psmith's method of revenging himself on Mr. Bickersdyke in Psmith in the City.
Catch Phrase: Jellicoe in Mike and Psmith: "You are a chap!" or "You are chaps!" (with reference to one or both of the title characters). There's also Psmith's "never confuse the unusual and the impossible", "I am a man of few words", and, in Psmith, Journalist, "Cosy Moments cannot be muzzled!"
Carry a Big Stick: In Psmith, Journalist, Psmith uses Billy Windsor's walking stick (purchased specifically for such a situation) to fend off a group of New York City thugs. When one of the thugs shouts, "He's got a big stick!" Psmith mutters to himself, "I andRoosevelt."
Chronic Hero Syndrome: In Psmith in the City Psmith accuses Mike of developing an addiction to sacrificing himself for others, likening it to "dram-drinking".
Class Clown: Practically the entire fire brigade in Mike and Psmith; most members join for the pure joy of getting on the headmaster's nerves.
Cloudcuckoolander: Psmith pretends to be one because it amuses him and throws people off their guard; nevertheless, he is always aware of and in control of the situation.
Combat Pragmatist: Psmith, as well as Billy Windsor in Psmith, Journalist.
The Confidant: One of Mike's duties as Psmith's secretary.
Contrived Coincidence: Quite a few in the last two books. For instance, in Psmith, Journalist, a gunman gets Psmith into a taxi and takes him into the country so he can shoot him where no one will hear. The day is saved because the taxi happens to break down exactly where one of Psmith's allies has been staying.
Defeat Means Friendship: After Mike beats Adair in Mike and Psmith, he suddenly realizes that Adair's not such a bad guy after all, and they become fast friends.
Demoted to Extra: Mike. In Psmith in the City he and Psmith are still on roughly equal footing in terms of page time, but by Psmith, Journalist he's become a side character.
Didn't Think This Through: Mike tends to make the quickest, most practical move required to save someone without fully realizing the consequences until it's too late. Psmith isn't above this either.
El Spanish O: In Psmith, Journalist, this is how the office boy attempts to make himself understood by an Italian.
Pugsy as interpreter was energetic but not wholly successful. He appeared to have a fixed idea that the Italian language was one easily mastered by the simple method of saying "da" instead of "the", and tacking on a final "a" to any word that seemed to him to need one.
Fleeting Passionate Hobbies: Psmith's dad in Psmith in the City. As a matter of fact, he can't really commit to anything, to the point where Psmith is justifiably concerned about his own future (Mr. Smith has the power to set his son on whatever path he himself is currently interested in, which changes weekly). Psmith himself is only a slightly milder example, developing fleeting obsessions with things like running a newspaper.
Friendship Moment: In Mike and Psmith, Mike gets the blame for a prank he wasn't responsible for, and can't defend himself because it would mean admitting he was out of school at night; his usually diffident best friend Psmith owns up, even though he didn't do it either and it means probable expulsion.
Heterosexual Life Partners: Mike and Psmith. Just to cement it, they end up marrying (respectively) Phyllis and Eve, themselves examples of this trope.
Hidden Heart of Gold: Psmith. When Mike tries to thank him for sacrificing himself to save Mike from expulsion, he acts upset and pretends to have no idea what Mike is talking about.
High School Hustler: Psmith's original role. Even after he leaves school, his interactions with authority figures retain some of the same style.
Holding Hands: Psmith makes a lot of references to himself and other people (mostly Mike) doing things "hand in hand". It appears to merely be Psmith-speak for "together".
Hypocritical Humor: Psmith often refers to himself as "a man of few words".
Golf Clubbing: When Psmith is told he has to subdue an insane Baxter, he makes sure to bring Freddie Threepwood's golf club (however, since it turns out Baxter has collapsed on the ground, all he does is poke him with it).
Meaningful Rename: By changing his name from plain old "Smith" to "Psmith", the main character establishes that he's emphatically not your average guy.
Meet Cute: Psmith and Eve in Leave It to Psmith; he sees her caught in the rain, and chivalrously offers her an umbrella — having first had to find an enterprising solution to the problem of not owning an umbrella to offer.
My Favorite Shirt: Psmith's reaction to having his hat destroyed in Psmith, Journalist. He becomes determined to make the culprits pay...for the hat, and, in fact, he succeeds.
My Nayme Is: Psmith, who admits at one point that he added the P himself because he considered "Smith" too ordinary.
Neat Freak: Psmith, who only gets rattled if his Waistcoat of Style is in any way creased. He's often described as flicking minute specks of dust or lint from his clothing.
Nice Hat: Psmith seems to have quite a collection. In addition, Eve in Leave it to Psmith is broke because she bought a gorgeous and expensive hat, then had to buy the whole outfit to match.
The Nicknamer: Bristow in Psmith in the City, who calls Psmith "Smithy" and Mike "Mr. Cricketer". Also Psmith himself, to a certain extent; he's fond of making up names for strangers or people whose first name he doesn't know.
Non Indicative Name: Psmith, Journalist gives us two; a scathing exposé journal called "Cosy Moments" (it was a family magazine before Psmith took it over) and the slummy set of unlivable tenements which make up "Pleasant Street".
One Steve Limit: At the beginning of the series, Psmith gives his first name as Rupert, but in Leave It to Psmith he's become a Ronald, probably because the Blandings series already contained a Rupert Baxter. (Psmith technically has a prior claim to the forename, but as he's Psmith to all and sundry he was less attached to it.)
OOC Is Serious Business: In Mike and Psmith, it's pointed out that Psmith always walks at a leisurely pace; when he starts running, something is most definitely afoot.
Outlaw Couple: Joe Cootes and Liz Peavey in Leave it to Psmith.
Pass the Popcorn: In Psmith, Journalist, Psmith and Billy climb onto a roof to fend off the gangsters who are attacking them. The resulting scene draws a crowd of spectators, mostly Fighting Irish, who perch on the roof of a house nearby to watch the show. This is also Psmith's attitude toward humanity in general.
Placebo Eureka Moment: Most likely the reason that Psmith finds Mike's intelligence so invaluable.
Properly Paranoid: Freddie Threepwood in Leave it to Psmith.Turns out one of the maids really is a professional spy assigned to keep an eye out for thieves.
Psmith Psyndrome: The Trope Namer. Even though the P is silent, Psmith can tell when someone pronounces his name without it.
Runaway Fiancé: Phyllis Keeble ran away from the man her family wanted her to marry and eloped with Mike.
Self-Made Man: Adair in Mike and Psmith is the Boarding School equivalent. And as soon as he gets a job in Psmith in the City, Psmith himself starts to parody the type, dubbing himself "Psmith the Worker."
Shout Out: Plenty, mostly from Psmith, who frequently references poetry, song and Classical Mythology in his speech.
Sidekick: Psmith to Mike (at first), Mike to Psmith (later on).
Smoky Gentlemen's Club: Psmith is a member of at least two: The Senior Conservative Club, mostly the preserve of older men like his father and his boss in Psmith in the City, and the Drones Club, whose other members include Freddie Threepwood, Bertie Wooster, and most of Wodehouse's other foolish young heroes.
Technically, although they aren't all named, he belongs to six clubs thanks to his father—and that's after some of them drop him when he loses his money.
Standing Between The Enemies: Mike and Psmith contains an amusing subversion. Just as Mike and Adair are on the verge of beating each other senseless, Psmith stands between them and tells them not to fight...because they're in his room and they should be fighting outside. He proceeds to lead them outdoors and referree the battle.
The Watson: Mike, and Billy in Psmith, Journalist.
We Help The Helpless: Psmith's newspaper advertisement in Leave it to Psmith states that he's willing to do anything for money, from walking dogs to commiting crimes, "provided it has nothing to do with fish".
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