English 333 - Evelyn Waugh

Douglas Patey

TTh 3-4:50

The Great Curmudgeon; the odious Mr. Waugh, who affects an ear-trumpet; a reactionary Catholic blasting the follies of the modern world. In this seminar we’ll read and discuss all the novels of the twentieth century’s greatest satirist (and, many would argue, prose stylist), along with some examples of the other literary kinds in which he excelled: blasé travel-writing and acid-tongued journalism. We’ll also look at some more recent satires on subjects of Waugh’s interest (Tom Wolfe’s From Bauhaus to Our House), and midway through the term we’ll watch episodes from the Grenada Television dramatization of Brideshead Revisited.

It would be extremely helpful for members of the seminar to have some knowledge of the earlier tradition of the English novel: of works like Fielding’s Joseph Andrews, Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Dickens’ Bleak House, Eliot’s Middlemarch, Hardy’s Tess. If anyone wants to do some advance reading for our course, start with Waugh’s first novel, Decline and Fall, and take a look at a biography: the new one by Selina Hastings is perhaps the best.

Online booksellers such as Amazon are offering especially good discounts on two of our texts: Waugh Abroad: Collected Travel Writing, ed. Anne Pasternak Slater, and Waugh, Black Mischief, Scoop, The Loved One, The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold, ed. Nicholas Shakespeare (both published by Everyman's Library).

Twice during the term, each student will pair up with another from the class to lead a discussion of one of our novels (or travel books). Writing will include one shorter (6-8 pp.) and one longer paper (20 pp.).

Warning: Waugh’s satire is violent and deliberately shocking; it makes a point of offending modern sensibilities. Students should not elect this course unless they have strong stomachs and are willing to entertain viewpoints perhaps far distant from their own.