Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Brideshead Revisited, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Innocence, Experience, and Redemption
Suffering, Persecution, and Martyrdom
Authority, Rebellion, and Love
War and Peace
Globalization, Culture, and Modernity
Summary
Analysis
One night, two years into their relationship, Charles and Julia sit by the fountain outside Brideshead and reminisce about their meeting on the boat. Charles has been trying to paint her portrait and it has been a blustery summer day. They discuss the history of their relationship. Charles and Celia still pretend publicly that they are married, for the sake of the children, but live separate lives. Lord Marchmain knows that Charles and Julia are together and spent a summer with them in Naples, where they pretended to meet by accident.
Charles and Julia keep up a public façade for the sake of propriety. This suggests that British society is willing to turn a blind eye to infidelity, but thinks it is improper for an unmarried couple to live together openly. Lord Marchmain knows about the affair and does not care, since he, too, has rejected British society and lives openly with his mistress in Italy. This suggests that, although Charles and Julia try to flout social authority, they still exist within its boundaries.
Themes
As they watch the sunset on Brideshead, Julia tells Charles that she wants to marry him and to divorce Rex. Charles doesn’t want to make plans on such a beautiful evening, but Julia tells him that they must not take marriage and divorce lightly. She wants to marry him now because she thinks there will soon be a war and wants some peace beforehand. While they talk, Wilcox comes outside and calls them in for dinner. They find that an extra place is set, and Wilcox tells them that Brideshead has just arrived.
The fact that Charles does not want to detract from the beauty of the sunset to plan for the future clearly suggests that he feels the same way about his affair with Julia. He believes the beauty of their relationship will be spoiled when they make it official rather than focusing on enjoying what they have in the present moment. Going through processes like divorce and marriage will effectively make their relationship part of the real world, and it will no longer be an escape for them. The intrusion of another person upon their sanctuary at Brideshead further implies the end of their peace and solitude.
Themes
Julia and Charles have no idea how Brideshead spends his time. They have several running jokes about him. He has no job and no hobbies, except a fanatical interest in collecting matchboxes. Brideshead does not comment on Charles’s relationship with Julia and seems to like Charles and accept his presence. The group sits down to eat, and Brideshead tells them he has “some news.” Charles shows an interest, and Brideshead indicates that he must wait until the servants are finished before he can tell them.
Brideshead is a comic figure because he is so dull. He is not ashamed of his interests, however, and is clearly tolerant of other people’s quirks. He accepts Julia and Charles’s affair without comment, even though this goes against his own beliefs. Brideshead is old-fashioned because he does not want the servants to know family business. Brideshead seems to feel no pressure to adapt to modernity and does not care that his perspective is irrelevant.
Themes
While they wait, Brideshead asks Julia if his mother’s jewelry is still upstairs and Julia says it is. When they are alone, Brideshead tells them that he is engaged to a widow, named Mrs. Beryl Muspratt, who has three children. Julia begins to laugh when she hears this, and asks where Brideshead met her. He explains that her previous husband also collected matchboxes.
Brideshead intends to give some of Lady Marchmain’s jewelry to his fiancée. In a way, Brideshead (although he is old fashioned and separate from the modern world in some ways) is more current and open-minded than Charles because he is willing to marry below his own class, whereas Charles dislikes anything, or anyone, he sees as common.
Themes
Get the entire Brideshead Revisited LitChart as a printable PDF.
Julia asks why he hasn’t brought her to meet them, and Brideshead says that Beryl is a strict Catholic and he does not want her to meet Julia because of Julia’s “peculiar” situation with Rex and Charles. Julia begins to cry and storms from the room. Charles is insulted, but Brideshead says that the is only telling the truth.
Although Brideshead tolerates Julia and Charles, he does believe that their lifestyle is sinful, according to Catholicism, and feels that Beryl will be offended by it. Brideshead’s tendency to view life in strictly religious terms makes him oblivious to other people’s feelings, and he therefore does not seem to understand why Julia is upset.
Themes
Charles follows Julia outside and finds her sitting on the edge of the fountain, still in tears. He tries to comfort her, but she cries that Brideshead is quite right and that, although she has sinned in the past, she now “lives in sin” and cannot escape from it. Charles cannot understand why her mood has changed so violently because of Brideshead’s words.
Although Julia is no longer a Catholic, she feels guilty because she has broken the rules of Catholicism. “Living in sin” suggests she is a fallen woman and that she cannot be redeemed unless she gives up Charles. Even a divorce will not redeem her, as Catholics are not allowed to divorce. Charles, who has never been Catholic, does not understand the nuances of the faith and assumes that, since Julia is no longer Catholic, she no longer believes in any of its ideas.
Themes
Julia continues to cry and confesses all her secret pain. She confesses that she has tried to be a good wife to Rex and that she tried to be good when she was a child, when words like “sin” meant something to her. She cries for her mother, who she says died like Christ or like a martyr. She describes a dead body in a cave, wrapped in a sheet, and says that there is “no way back.” Charles feels cut off from her as he listens and is unable to understand.
Although Julia puts a brave face on things, she feels guilty and worries that she is a bad person. She feels that the renunciation of her faith proves she is sinful, and she compares herself to her mother, who was extremely pious. She also feels guilty because she upset her mother before her death. The dead body refers to Christ and his burial in a tomb after his crucifixion—Julia feels that, for her, Christ stays dead and does not rise again because she has forsaken her faith. This suggests that she has no hope of life after death without her faith, and that she may convert back to Catholicism.
Themes
Suddenly, Julia recovers. She gets up, says that Brideshead’s news is a shock, and walks back into the house. She fixes her make-up and then says that they must go back downstairs to celebrate Brideshead’s engagement. Charles watches, amazed, as Julia and Brideshead coolly discuss living arrangements for after his marriage: he and Beryl will take Brideshead, and Julia and Rex will move out. Charles feels that Rex will be disappointed and cannot understand how Julia could be so upset one minute and so composed the next.
Julia’s behavior is erratic and strange to Charles. She is used to hiding her true feelings, and this makes Charles feel cut off from her. Rex does not appreciate the house aesthetically or emotionally in the way that Charles does. Charles views Brideshead as a symbol of a better time, both in his life and in society, whereas, for Rex, it represents social advancement and nothing more. Rex, who symbolizes modernity, represents a threat to everything that Charles feels Brideshead represents.
Themes
After their talk with Brideshead, Charles and Julia go outside again. Charles tries to ask Julia about her outburst: he wonders whether she believes what she says about sin. Julia says that she wishes she didn’t. Charles says that Sebastian once said the same thing, and Julia says that Sebastian is very religious now.
Although Julia is no longer a Catholic, she still believes that Catholicism is true and that it is she who is in the wrong. This suggests that even if one leaves the Church, one cannot simply forget one’s faith.
Themes
Julia and Charles walk around the house, and Julia pulls a strip of stiff grass out of a hedge. They stop again by the fountain, and Charles thinks this is funny and that the fountain is like a prop in a play. Julia is agitated and asks Charles why everything “must be second-hand” with him.
Julia finds Charles detached and cold. He does not view things in a personal way and sees everything as though it is art or literature: like it is happening to someone else. Julia is frustrated by this because she wants something tangible from their relationship (a second marriage and children), and she can tell that Charles does not. This suggests that, although Charles believes that he is in the present with Julia and is happy with her, in reality he loves her because she represents a period from his past (his first love with Sebastian).
Themes
Charles shrugs at this, and Julia whips him hard across the face with the piece of grass. She realizes suddenly what she has done and is shocked. Again, she begins to cry, and Charles comforts her but holds her at arms-length. Charles takes Julia inside to bed, and she asks him if she is going mad. She is very tired and falls asleep almost immediately. He sees her whisper something to herself as she drifts off, and thinks it is a prayer.
Charles does not realize the extent of Julia’s frustration. Julia is surprised, too, at the force of her emotions. Charles can see that Julia wants to return to the Catholic church, although she does not know it yet. She regrets her loss of faith and has not found a satisfactory replacement for it, even in her love affair with Charles.
Themes
The next night, Rex arrives with his friends and they talk about the possibility of war. They have many competing theories about whether it will go ahead or not. Rex wants to get into politics. Julia and Charles go outside, bored of this conversation. Charles thinks that, in the moonlight, the garden looks like the “Trojan camp.” Julia thinks there is not much time left before “the dark.”
Rex is an opportunist and seeks to benefit from the war. He aspires to be a politician and thinks that war will make people more likely to vote for someone radical, like himself. This attitude was reflected in this period in Europe through the rise of extreme political movements, such as fascism and communism. For Charles, these represent quintessentially modern problems. The “Trojan camp” is a reference to the Trojan War in Greek mythology. This demonstrates that Charles thinks of the war as something heroic rather than realistic. Julia has a much more ominous feeling about it: the war is associated with darkness and death for her.
Themes
