Suffering, Persecution, and Martyrdom Theme Analysis

The Catholic belief that suffering and persecution lead to godliness is a major aspect of Brideshead Revisited. The novel centers around the experiences of Charles Ryder and his interactions with the Marchmain family, an aristocratic family of English Catholics who view themselves as outsiders because of the historical persecution of Catholics in Britain. Brideshead Revisited suggests both that Catholics are legitimately persecuted, because they do not conform, and that they deliberately seek out suffering because this brings them closer to God. However, in the novel, it is those for whom suffering is deep, genuine and spontaneous—rather than those who try to martyr themselves—who receive God’s graces.

The members of the Marchmain family feel that they are social outsiders in Britain. Catholics were historically persecuted in Britain, which was a majority Protestant country, and anti-Catholic laws existed there until the 19th century. It is implied that, because of this historical separation from other people, the Marchmain family feel that they are different, even though this is not obvious from the outside. This is implied when Sebastian tells Charles that Catholics are “not like other people” and that “everything that is important to them is not important to other people.” British anti-Catholic sentiment is reflected when Charles’s cousin Jasper tries to advise Charles on how to “get on” socially at Oxford. Jasper warns Charles away from “English Catholics” and attaches several prejudiced stereotypes to this group. This implies that English Catholics experience a degree of social persecution in Britain, and that characters like Sebastian are not judged on their individual merit but rather on their religion and upbringing. Society persecutes those who differ from the majority. This is represented through the character of Anthony Blanche, who is a friend of Sebastian’s at university, and who is picked on because he is foreign, went to Catholic school, and, it is heavily implied, is homosexual. Anthony’s experience suggests that British society is intolerant to those who stand out and who do not conform to mainstream standards of religion and behaviour.

However, although persecution is painful, it is an important idea in Catholicism because it is associated with martyrdom and the Catholic saints.  Lady Marchmain, who is a devout Catholic, takes pride in the fact that she has suffered: her husband has left her, and two of her children, Julia and Sebastian, reject Catholicism. She feels that her suffering likens her to Catholic martyrs or saints, religious figures who were killed for their beliefs. Lady Marchmain tells Charles that, although she used to feel guilty because she was rich, and therefore had more than other people, she now realizes that it is a bigger blessing to be poor, because the poor suffer more, and therefore are closer to God. She views her wealth as a trial sent to test her faith and to make it harder for her to achieve holiness. This suggests that Lady Marchmain desires suffering and sees herself as a martyr or victim, even though, in many ways, this is not the case. Although Lady Marchmain feels persecuted, she works hard to stay within a close social circle—or “clique,” as Anthony describes it—of Catholics. This choice supports the idea that the emulation of martyrs is an important idea in Catholicism and suggests that Lady Marchmain deliberately separates herself from others because she wishes to be exceptionally holy, and she knows that to do this, one must stand apart from the crowd. The novel suggests that Catholics like Lady Marchmain strive to be exceptional, and to stand out from the majority rather than trying to blend in or conform.

However, it turns out that it is not the most devout characters (like Lady Marchmain) who are blessed with divine grace or spontaneous conversion, but rather those characters who do not seek it. Although anyone who repents and receives the sacraments can convert to Catholicism or receive God’s grace, Waugh suggests that those who are truly blessed are those who are fallen or who have sinned. This is in keeping with the Christian idea that it is repentant sinners God loves most as they are the most difficult to reach and the least likely to return to, or find, their faith. Holiness through suffering is not something which can be contrived or manufactured—as Lady Marchmain tries to do—but must instead be something spontaneous and miraculous. Sebastian’s sister Cordelia, who goes abroad to become a nun and nurse people in a warzone, supports this idea when she tells Charles that her older brother, Brideshead, wanted to be a priest but had no “mission.” Without a “mission,” Cordelia says, there is no point in striving to make oneself holy because the effort will be contrived. Both Brideshead and Cordelia wish to make sacrifices for their faith, but both are ordinary people. Although Cordelia does a great deal of good with her charity work, it is implied that she is only a practical relief worker and not a particularly spiritual or saintly nun.

The religious transformations wrought on characters like Julia, Sebastian, and Lord Marchmain, who all convert to Catholicism before the novel’s end, are portrayed as genuinely miraculous because they are all non-believers. These characters have lived sinful lives according to the Catholic faith, and they return to God after periods of intense suffering: Lord Marchmain on his deathbed, after he has wrestled with his own mortality; Julia after her divorce and split from Charles; and Sebastian after his alcoholism. Unlike Lady Marchmain, Brideshead, and Cordelia, they have not tried to be pious but, instead, are deeply flawed individuals who are reluctantly brought to God. This is most strongly affirmed through the final conversion of Charles, who has always been an agnostic and hostile to the idea of Catholicism. His experiences suggest that those who are holy or saint-like are not always the people one would expect, and that suffering and persecution in a Catholic framework are the best paths to spirituality and to God.