BEYOND SINS AND SYMPTOMS: SUFFERING IN EVELYN WAUGH’S BRIDESHEAD REVISITED Thesis Submitted to The College of Arts and Sciences of the UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree of Master of Arts in English By Sarah Elizabeth Miller UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON Dayton, Ohio May 2021 BEYOND SINS AND SYMPTOMS: SUFFERING IN EVELYN WAUGH’S BRIDESHEAD REVISITED Name: Miller, Sarah Elizabeth APPROVED BY: David J. Fine, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor Assistant Professor, Department of English Susan Trollinger, Ph.D. Faculty Reader Professor, Department of English Bro. Thomas A. Wendorf, S.M., Ph.D. Faculty Reader Associate Professor, Department of English ii ABSTRACT BEYOND SINS AND SYMPTOMS: SUFFERING IN EVELYN WAUGH’S BRIDESHEAD REVISITED Name: Miller, Sarah Elizabeth University of Dayton Advisor: Dr. David J. Fine This work interrogates the ongoing popularity of Catholic Modern novelist Evelyn Waugh's 1945 classic Brideshead Revisited as a novel that depicts the modern struggle to find hope and meaning in the midst of suffering after the widespread onset of modernity and decline of Christianity in the wake of World Wars I and II. I argue that Waugh's characterization of Sebastian Flyte, a lapsed Catholic aristocrat struggling with familial dysfunction and subsequent alcoholism, confounds both traditional models of sin as well as psychological frameworks of diagnosis. Employing close readings from the novel as well as historical and theological context, I demonstrate that Sebastian's suffering falls into the no-mans-land between modernity and spirituality, highlighting the failures of each to support healing and the importance of embracing suffering with compassion. iii Dedicated to Emma Vansuch, who knows what it means to love those who suffer iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My humble thanks are due to my advisor Dr. David Fine for his patient and enthusiastic guidance over the duration of this project and to my readers Dr. Trollinger and Bro. Wendorf for their sharp, expert insights during the revision process. My writing is stronger and my ideas are clearer because of their generous engagement with this work. I would also like to thank my fellow graduate students Alexis Gallion, Jennifer Ryan, and Mary Kate Caserta for their companionship and encouragement which have formed my time in the English program here at the University of Dayton. I admire their hard work and their kind hearts and I am privileged to have them as part of my UD community. Finally, my parents Mark and Nancy and my fiancé Kyle have cheerfully sacrificed their time, energy, and resources to carry me through to graduation. For their steadfast support, they have my love and gratitude forever. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………...iii DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………………………….v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………..1 CHAPTER II CONDEMNING SEBASTIAN…………………………………………….5 CHAPTER III DIAGNOSING SEBASTIAN……………………………………............12 CHAPTER IV LOVING SEBASTIAN………………………………………………….23 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………..34 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Evelyn Waugh’s classic 1945 novel Brideshead Revisited presents a modern justification for Catholic spiritual belief, yet it remains an immersive work of fiction that continues to attract secular readers, as well as viewers of its various screen adaptations. While popular audiences certainly appreciate the aesthetic appeal of a period drama, as evidenced by the overwhelming success of such television shows as Downton Abbey and Bridgerton, their continued interest in Brideshead Revisited may run deeper than the historical fiction craze. At the center of Waugh’s masterpiece is the dilemma of the modern subject searching for meaning after the collective loss of faith philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche characterizes as the death of God (104). Essentially, modern developments in areas such as science and psychology, as well as modern warfare during Word Wars I and II undermined popular confidence in a benevolent God who imposes moral order on the universe. These events leave the modern subject unmoored, struggling inwardly for a way of understanding the world. Particularly riveting to Catholic and secular audiences of Brideshead Revisited alike is Sebastian Flyte, a character who highlights the fragile struggle between belief and modern development. Sebastian is a lapsed Catholic aristocrat and the narrator Charles’ first love. The novel aptly describes Sebastian as “arresting” (Waugh 29) “charming” (58) and “loved…wherever he goes” (349). In fact, the only person who does not perceive Sebastian’s charm is Sebastian himself. Sebastian is volatile, vacillating throughout the novel from playful innocence to despairing self-condemnation that 1 ultimately leads to alcoholism. The roots of these violent shifts become apparent as Waugh reveals how Sebastian’s childhood nostalgia and lingering Catholic faith are at odds with his parents’ separation and the hastening onset of modernity around him in the wake of World War I. Sebastian is soon caught in the no-man’s-land between two systems of meaning- making; his pious Catholic mother Lady Marchmain seeks to remedy his alcoholism through moralistic religious correction, while his worldly future brother-in-law Rex Mottram hopes to use psychological treatment to cure him. Despite the attempted interventions of both parties, Sebastian remains so tortured that his continued suffering calls both their religious and psychological approaches to his condition into question. Sebastian’s trajectory provides a window into the shortcomings of religious and secular approaches to modern suffering. The two disparate attitudes toward Sebastian help to reveal the central issue at stake in the novel, so that the character of Sebastian in his suffering embodies the conflict between spirituality and secularism. He illustrates Waugh’s awareness of the failures of the practices of both Catholicism and Modernism to confront the wounds of modernity, as the former retreats in fear of sin and the latter dismisses its existence. Like Sebastian, modern readers are in earnest need of a remedy, a middle way between the extremes of fear and dismissal. I argue that, through its depiction of Sebastian, Brideshead Revisited reckons with the failures of both moral condemnation and secular diagnosis as ways to respond to human frailty. Instead, the novel illustrates the sacred power of love that is willing to enter into suffering with the beloved. The novel neither clings to a traditional model of sin that insists on blame and punishment nor dismisses the concept of spiritual 2 brokenness in favor of exclusively psychological healing, but gestures toward a notion of human brokenness that makes gentle allowance for psychological frailty while preserving the possibility of spiritual healing and wholeness. Whether Sebastian’s pain is the result of mental illness or of voluntary sin, Brideshead Revisited suggests to modern readers that compassion is the only response capable of restoring hope for those who suffer. My approach in this essay to Sebastian’s suffering mirrors the chronological progression of Waugh’s novel as it confronts the twentieth century’s unfolding crisis of faith. Waugh guides readers through Europe’s fading religious nostalgia into the iconoclasm of modernity, searching along the way for a means of reconciling Catholic tradition and secular development. Likewise, I entertain orthodox religious interpretations of Sebastian and then secular psychological ones before proposing a reading that reckons with the tension between them. In Chapter II, Condemning Sebastian, I consider critics and characters who apply a Catholic theological worldview to the circumstances of Brideshead Revisited and who thus ultimately condemn Sebastian as sinful. I identify Sebastian’s mother Lady Marchmain as a tragic illustration of modern spirituality devoid of compassion for the mystery of suffering and explore why her ardent piety is insufficient to remedy her son’s worsening faith or health. Chapter III, Diagnosing Sebastian, is devoted to psychological methods of evaluating Sebastian’s scrupulous behavior and addiction. Waugh’s champion of modernity Rex Mottram illustrates the danger of an exclusively psychological perspective, which also proves ineffective in healing Sebastian’s suffering. Thus, I explore the limitations of modernity devoid of spirituality. Chapter IV, Loving Sebastian, considers Charles’ enduring love for Sebastian as a powerful refuge in the midst of his suffering. Just as Waugh’s characters eventually 3 revisit Christ’s Bride, the Catholic Church, in this section I revisit the possibility of a usable theology grounded in compassion for the modern subject. Both religious and secular approaches to suffering can temper one another’s weaknesses and together bring about healing when they prioritize love for those who suffer. 4 CHAPTER II CONDEMNING SEBASTIAN Orthodox Catholic readings of Brideshead Revisited often exhibit a preoccupation with the themes of sin and conversion in the novel. This emphasis casts Waugh’s characters as faithful representations of Catholic belief in redemption through ultimate adherence to Catholic moral law. One such reading by Douglas Patey argues that Charles’ development demonstrates “genuine love is possible only for those whose spiritual house is in order” (Patey 20). According to this reading, Charles’ indulgent relationships with Sebastian and later Julia are unsustainable and “inadequate” (20)