My Tryst with Wodehouse - A Damsel in Distress

The Setting

P.G Wodehouse’s A Damsel in Distress is a romantic comedy set in rural England and London.

The Characters

The heroine of the story is Lady Patricia Maud Marsh, a resident of Belpher Castle. Mr. Wodehouse portrays her as an impressionable 20-year old who gets infatuated with a certain Geoffrey Raymond during a trip to Wales. Her attempt to meet up with him again in London triggers the main events of the story, when she is chanced upon by George Bevan, the hero. Wodehouse introduces George Bevan as an American composer visiting London for work.

The other important characters in the story are Belpher Castle’s Lord Marshmoreton and Lady Caroline Byng, the heroine’s father and aunt, respectively. Also residing in the same castle are Reginald Byng, her step-cousin; Percy Wilbraham Marsh, her brother; Albert, the page-boy; Keggs, the butler; and Alice Faraday, Lord Marshmoreton’s secretary.

Summary

In Belpher Castle's garden, Lady Caroline Byng is droning on about the potential engagement of her stepson Reginald “Reggie” Byng to Lady Patricia Maud Marsh. On the other end of the conversation is Maud's father - Lord Marshmoreton. At the same time, Reggie and Maud are walking on the terrace and talking about golf. However, Lady Caroline doesn’t know this and hopes that Reggie is proposing to Maud.

Later, through Reggie, Lady Caroline learns that he was only talking about golf, not proposing. During the same encounter, she suggests that he take Maud for a car drive. Maud wants to meet someone she met in Wales. Maud requests Reggie to take her to London secretively. This is because she is not allowed to leave Belpher Castle.

In Piccadilly, Maud notices her brother Percy trailing her. She doesn’t want to get into trouble, so she jumps into a cab. That cab happens to be already occupied by the 27-year-old American composer George Bevan, who is going to his lodge to get some funds. George immediately falls in love with Maud.

Percy hails another cab and follows George and Maud. The former catches up to the latter's cab and stops it.

Percy inquires about the girl in George's cab. Because of this question, George shoves off Percy’s hat. A cop sees this and comes over. Percy does not want to get in trouble, and so strikes the policeman in the stomach, so he is taken to the police station. Maud thanks George for hiding her. He promises to give her some money for a ticket back to Belpher Castle. However, she leaves before George can come back with the money.

George manages to find out where she lives. He decides to go to Belpher, the nearest village. There, he rents an old cottage on the outskirts of the village. George concocts a plan with Albert, the page-boy. On the night of Lord Belpher’s (Percy’s) twenty-first birthday, he sneaks in as a waiter, pretending to be Albert’s cousin.

The next day is bright and sunny, like most people George meets that morning. Reggie Byng drives up to Bevan's cottage and asks George to be the best man for his (Reggie’s) wedding. George agrees reluctantly. Reggie and George drive to London. Then, Reggie is married to Alice Faraday at the registrar’s office.

After the wedding, George, Reggie, and Alice are sitting at a restaurant eating lunch when Lord Marshmoreton enters the building with George’s friend Billie Dore. George, at the urging of Alice and Reggie, goes to tell Lord Marshmoreton about the marriage. But to George’s surprise, Lord Marshmoreton seems relieved. According to Lord Marshmoreton, Alice was always nagging him to work on a book he was writing. When George leaves, Lord Marshmoreton elucidates to Billie, “Girls in my daughter’s unfortunate position have got to marry position or money.” Billie replies that George makes a lot of money as a composer.

Back at Belpher Castle, Keggs persuades Lord Belpher and Lord Marshmoreton to invite George to a banquet. However, Maud is not notified. During the banquet, Lord Marshmoreton announces his decision that Maud and George are engaged. Later, Maud meets Geoffrey Raymond (the man in Wales) and is shocked to find that he is plump.

Maud and George realize that they love each other. Maud rings up George and asks him some questions. During their talk on the phone, they decide to get married.

My Thoughts

One of the key ingredients in the plot of A Damsel in Distress is 'confusion'. When Percy sees George, the former thinks that the latter is Geoffrey Raymond. During Lord Belpher's twenty-first birthday, Keggs, the butler who hired the temporary waiters, seemed to have assumed that George - masquerading as a waiter - was the page-boy Albert's cousin. Wodehouse puts in just the right amount of confusion, without overwhelming the reader. Also scattered throughout the pages is Wodehouse's signature style of humor - long sentences replete with figurative language that never fail to evoke a chuckle.

All said, I think the book is intriguing. The characters are interesting, and I liked how the book improved my vocabulary. I learned many new phrases and words thanks to this book. These are some of the key reasons why I think everyone needs to read P.G. Wodehouse's 1919 book, A Damsel In Distress.