EVELYN WAUGH NEWSLETTER AND STUD EVELYN WAUGH NEWSLETTER AND STUDIES Vol. 40, No.1 Spring 2009 The Three Bears (or The Third Teddy Bear) by James Morris Aloysius, Archibald, Anonymous. Aloysius was Sebastian's teddy bear as we know, Archibald John Betjeman's. Anonymous, like Harry Lime, will be revealed later, He's the Third Teddy Bear, Bear with me. He was made much later than either Aloysius or Archie; Right in the middle of the Swinging Sixties in fact, As a warning. He cost 'seven guineas', That was because he was bought 'over the West' In an expensive shop. The character that bought it-- Didn't care much for the up-market shop he bought it from, Because he had a keen sense of class difference, of 'one's station in life'. Speaking of which-- Who would be the most upper-crust of the English Catholic novelists of the last century? Waugh was certainly the crustiest but what about Graham Greene? His father the headmaster of a public school, Where does that place him--Upper Class or Upper Middle Class? My author was working-class; his father a coal-miner, his mother a seamstress. (His dreaming spires were the coal stacks around Bolton) He spent much of his working life driving a lorry. He spent his childhood in absolute poverty. When we first meet Aloysius he is in a car; 'Sebastian's Teddy-bear sat at the wheel. We put him between us--"Take care he's not sick"'. The last time we see Anonymous he is in a car too; (after an abortion) 'And for some reason best known to herself she would keep that teddy bear on her knee.' Charles and Sebastian just setting out in Hardcastle’s car, full of life, Lily going home after the abortion; her belly rent of life. file:////uol.le.ac.uk/...c144/My%20Documents/Evelyn%20Waugh/Evelyn%20Waugh%20Studies/Newsletters/Newsletters/Newsletter_40.1.htm[04/12/2013 14:44:59] EVELYN WAUGH NEWSLETTER AND STUD Anonymous is a big teddy bear in the film with Michael Caine, Which is strange--because he represents a very tiny little thing, An aborted baby; 'it don't half bring it home to you what you are and what you have done when you see a helpless little thing like that lying in front of you in your own hands' Catholic novelists of the last century: Waugh, Greene, Muriel Spark then Anthony Burgess. How does Anthony Burgess slip into this fourth position? He wasn’t thought a Catholic novelist in my days of youth. 'Anti-Catholic novelist' would seem a more appropriate epithet. Are the ideas in A Clockwork Orange and Brideshead Revisited in any way comparable? Why isn't my author on the list? 'It went flying through the air and she made a grab with her two hands held upwards as though she was catching a child'. 'Just then it let out a little squeak I'd forgot that it had this little squeak built in.' 'So Lily turns to me and puts her face right up against my chest. Pressing it into me.' 'Forgiving you might say'. Forgiving each other for what they have done. The teddy between them, Such a tender scene really. What do you think-- Are we Catholic critics remiss in our lack of appreciation of this fine author? Are we just a little lost in the fairy tale of Brideshead? Are we indulging in this fairy tale to the detriment of other real-world scenarios? Are we not just a little bit enamored of the glamour? Do we not bask in the glow? Anonymous, The teddy with no name, 'No names', 'no names' the abortionist says. How he sustains the characterization of this loveable rogue with the things he does-- Specifically procuring an abortion for a respectable woman he has made pregnant (his one concern to get the price down)--is masterful. How he manages to keep our sympathy with him is literary work of the the highest standard, achieving parity with Waugh and much greater than anything in Graham Greene. file:////uol.le.ac.uk/...c144/My%20Documents/Evelyn%20Waugh/Evelyn%20Waugh%20Studies/Newsletters/Newsletters/Newsletter_40.1.htm[04/12/2013 14:44:59] EVELYN WAUGH NEWSLETTER AND STUD My theme isn't memory-- But maybe Aloysius was the forebear of Anonymous. He must have read Waugh. He wrote many plays staged on the the West End. I cannot find one critical appraisal of him, Not one. By the way Brideshead has recently been travestied in a new film, The same with this author's work. The original film is held to be a classic. As I say, this author, this Catholic author, right, slap, bang in the middle of the Swinging Sixties, puts forth this salutary story as a warning of the consequences of a relaxation of sexual mores. He took the central Catholic issue of abortion and put it at the centre of his book. He challenged the whole of England to take another look; 'I'm your Dad', 'This is my son, and I'm one of them that has done this to him', ‘Christ, help me', 'You know what you did, Alfie, you murdered him' ‘Yes, mate, you set it all up and for thirty nicker and you had him done to death' It is now time to speak of Archie. Aloysius wrote to him; 'All this about "waiting in God's good time" is intolerably wet' 'The true Church is unique, indivisible and there is nothing remotely like it' Aloysius was bald in his statements, Archie was bald but wooly-headed. A cruel blow for Archie was when Lady Penelope converted, Archie remained an Anglican bear, Stubbornly so. A lot of teddy bears were made in Germany, Archie was probably made in Germany, He so wanted to be English. Aloysius was neglected at the end-- 'just thrown there'. Archie was neglected until Philip Larkin rehabilitated him. He looked terrible in his last television appearances; Frayed at the edges, Falling apart. On second thought maybe I’m being too harsh. He stood alone against Modernism in Architecture and Poetry in the 1940s, 1950s. He should be held in high esteem for that. file:////uol.le.ac.uk/...c144/My%20Documents/Evelyn%20Waugh/Evelyn%20Waugh%20Studies/Newsletters/Newsletters/Newsletter_40.1.htm[04/12/2013 14:44:59] EVELYN WAUGH NEWSLETTER AND STUD My brother met Peter Bull (the owner of Delicatessen). He also met Auberon Waugh on a trip to Lourdes. More of him later. Waugh pictured himself as a Teddy Boy in a response to a Priestley attack. Yes, I can seen him--brothel creepers on, bicycle chain in hand, Hair swept back. Alfie is similar to Sebastian; attractive, funny, charming. There is a fundamental difference though; Sebastian--'all I want to be is happy'. Alfie; 'I just want to see everybody happy'. He is really more like Lady Celia-- 'Why miss an opportunity to give pleasure' Incidentally, Lady Celia was played by Jane Asher in the television series. She played Annie in the classic film version. She seems only to do cookery programmes now. Her farewell words to Alfie--'don’t let your custard spoil'. Julia Foster was in the film. She made her name in Half-a-Sixpence, Gilda? Ruby was played by Shelley Winters. She played Lolita's mum. Her final words to him--'he's younger than you are'. So many connections; Eleanor Bron the doctor. Bron Waugh, Evelyn's son. So much to remember-- His handling of sequential time is as sure-footed as Evelyn Waugh, The whole book moves towards the abortion scene climax. The development of Alfie's understanding (his learning curve) is beautifully obviated to keep his character intact. It never falters. It is more perfect than Brideshead actually. It's a masterpiece of story-telling, And plain truth-telling of Shakespearean intensity. It is now time to speak of my own family. Like the Flyte family we were; equally spaced (two elder boys, two younger girls) the same traits. John 1) Such a difficult relationship with my father. file:////uol.le.ac.uk/...c144/My%20Documents/Evelyn%20Waugh/Evelyn%20Waugh%20Studies/Newsletters/Newsletters/Newsletter_40.1.htm[04/12/2013 14:44:59] EVELYN WAUGH NEWSLETTER AND STUD 2) He was a collector of Superman comics (Bridey's matchboxes?) 3) 'There was no spark of contemporary life about him', his fashion sense nil. 4) A preternatural understanding of the Faith from day one. Sebastian? That would be me of course. Not the 'arresting beauty' I hasten to add. But certainly 'in love with his own childhood' and the running away. I said; 'I suffered a happy childhood in a close family' 'Suffered?' 'Yes' Bemused like Hooper. Lady Julia; no that doesn't work because Mary's gone against the Church. Or rather--'I'm on my own spiritual journey' I once asked her--'but when are you going to arrive?' No, Barbara, for her beauty and the sadness in her eyes 'the completion of her beauty' and the clinging to the Faith in crisis. Mary's Cordelia instead, Practical like her (she's a nurse) I am waiting for a twitch upon the tread. They write similarly; 'Sip, sip, sip, like a dowager all day long' 'I watched Annie scrub, scrub, scrub.' Alfie opines; 'I do believe anything too cold paralyses the taste buds' Charles--'is the soda iced too?' Gilda is like Lady Marchmain-- 'She had a funny way of smiling, and you could never tell if she was taking the mickey' See, it's the same sensibility.