Jeeves

In the stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, Reginald Jeeves is Bertie Wooster's valet and the namesake of the series of books about him and his employer. He is the quintessential "gentleman's personal gentleman" and is Wodehouse's most famous character.

Jeeves the character

As with all of Wodehouse's male domestic servants, Jeeves is always known by his surname. For more than fifty years after his appearance, Wodehouse gave him no other name, but in the late novel Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971), Bertie describes the revelation of Jeeves full monicker, '"Hullo Reggie," he said and I froze in my chair, stunned by the revelation that Jeeves first name was Reginald...'

Related Topics:
Much Obliged, Jeeves - 1971

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Jeeves is well known for his convoluted speech and for quoting from the plays of Shakespeare and famous romantic poets.

Related Topics:
Shakespeare - Romantic poets

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He has distinct opinions about certain items that Bertie adopts, such as a moustache, handkerchiefs with initials, straw boater, an alpine hat, or purple socks. Should Jeeves express his disapproval for an accessory of Bertie's, it is certain that Bertie will reluctantly dispose of it in some way or another before the end of the story.

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Jeeves is a member of the Junior Ganymede Club, a club for butlers and valets, in whose club book all members must write down all the wrongdoings of their employers; the section labeled WOOSTER B, the largest in the book, contains eleven pages.

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Only once in the Wodehouse canon does Jeeves appear without Bertie: Ring for Jeeves, in which he is on loan to the 9th Earl of Rowcester while Bertie attends a school where the idle rich learn self-sufficiency in case of social upheaval. The novel was adapted from one of Wodehouse's attempts to write a Jeeves play, and he felt that the play needed a more conventional ending, but was unwilling to marry off Bertie.

Related Topics:
Ring for Jeeves - Earl

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Jeeves's first job was as a page-boy at a girls' school, after which he had at least eleven other employers: he was with Lord Worplesdon, resigning after nearly a year because of Worplesdon's choice of evening dress; Mr Digby Thistleton (later Lord Bridgenorth), who sold hair tonic; Mr Montague Todd, a financier who was in the second year of a prison term when Jeeves mentioned him to Bertie; Lord Brancaster, who gave port-soaked seedcake to his pet parrot; and Lord Frederick Ranelagh, swindled in Monte Carlo by the reappearing character Soapy Sid, all before he came into the employ of Bertie Wooster. Later, he worked for Lord Rowcester for the length of Ring for Jeeves; Chuffy Chufnell for a week in Thank You, Jeeves, after giving notice due to Bertie's unwillingness to quit playing the banjolele; Pop Stoker for a short period; Gussie Fink-Nottle, who masqueraded as Bertie in The Mating Season; and Sir Watkyn Bassett in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, as a trick to get Bertie released from prison.

Related Topics:
Lord Worplesdon - Digby Thistleton - Montague Todd - Prison - Lord Brancaster - Port - Lord Frederick Ranelagh - Monte Carlo - Soapy Sid - Lord Rowcester - Ring for Jeeves - Chuffy Chufnell - Thank You, Jeeves - Banjolele - Pop Stoker - Gussie Fink-Nottle - The Mating Season - Watkyn Bassett - Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves

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Jeeves's propensity for wisdom and knowledge is so well known that it inspired the search website Ask Jeeves.

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