Premium
Architecture and Environment in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited
Author(s) -
Schönberg Ulf
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0730.1990.tb01955.x
Subject(s) - metaphor , character (mathematics) , chapel , architecture , plot (graphics) , faith , aesthetics , fountain , art , function (biology) , art history , sociology , philosophy , literature , epistemology , visual arts , theology , statistics , geometry , mathematics , evolutionary biology , biology
This essay's aim is to direct attention to and analyse Evelyn Waugh's often overlooked use of symbolism, here examined in the novel Brideshead Revisited , where environment in general and architecture in particular plays a prominent role. The essay examines the function of several environmental features in the novel, concentrating on the castle with its chapel and fountain. These features are shown to emphasize the themes of the novel and to help carry forward the plot. Eventually the architectural metaphor analysed is shown to pursue and complete the novel's ambition to “transcend nostalgia” to reach the values of the catholic faith finally accepted by the main character, Charles Ryder.