Thank You, Jeeves

This article is about the novel. For the film, see Thank You, Jeeves!

Thank You, Jeeves

First US edition
Author	P. G. Wodehouse
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Series	Jeeves
Genre	Comic novel
Publisher	Herbert Jenkins
Publication date	16 March 1934
Media type	Print
Preceded by	Very Good, Jeeves
Followed by	Right Ho, Jeeves

Thank You, Jeeves is a Jeeves novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on 16 March 1934 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on 23 April 1934 by Little, Brown and Company, New York.

The story had previously been serialised, in the Strand Magazine in the UK from August 1933 to February 1934, and in the US in Cosmopolitan Magazine from January to June 1934. It would later appear in the American Family Herald & Evening Star, between 24 March and 11 August 1937.

Plot

"Obviously, the fellow must be shoved over the brink."
"I do not quite follow you, sir."
"Of course you do. The thing's perfectly clear. Here's old Chuffy, for the nonce just hanging dumbly round the girl. What he needs is a jolt. If he thought there was grave danger of some other bloke scooping her up, wouldn't that make him forget these dashed silly ideas of his and charge in, breathing fire through the nostrils?"

Bertie tells Jeeves his plan to spur Chuffy to propose

After a falling-out concerning Bertie's relentless playing of the banjolele, Jeeves leaves his master's service and finds work with Bertie's old friend, "Chuffy" Chuffnell. Bertie travels to one of Chuffy's cottages in Somersetshire to practise the banjolele without complaints from neighbours. Chuffy hopes to sell his dilapidated manor to the rich J. Washburn Stoker. Mr. Stoker plans to rent out the property to the famous "nerve specialist" (or, as Bertie prefers, "loony doctor") Sir Roderick Glossop, who intends to marry Chuffy's Aunt Myrtle. Chuffy has also fallen in love with Mr. Stoker's daughter, Pauline Stoker, a former fiancée of Bertie, but feels unable to propose to her until his finances improve.

Bertie plans to kiss Pauline in front of Chuffy to spur Chuffy to propose. However, it is Mr. Stoker who sees the kiss. A fight between Mr. Stoker's son Dwight and Chuffy's cousin Seabury divides the Chuffnells and Stokers. Mr. Stoker returns to the yacht in which he and his family are staying. Thinking Bertie and Pauline are still in love, Stoker keeps Pauline on board to keep her from him. Chuffy writes a love letter to Pauline, which Jeeves smuggles aboard the yacht by briefly entering Mr. Stoker's employ; Pauline is so moved that she swims ashore to Bertie's house, planning to visit Chuffnell Hall in the morning. Bertie lets her sleep in his bed while he tries to sleep in the garage. Unfortunately, he is seen by Police Sergeant Voules, who informs Lord Chuffnell. Chuffy, thinking Bertie is intoxicated, takes him back up to his bedroom. Seeing Pauline there, Chuffy assumes she and Bertie have resumed their romantic relationship. Chuffy and Pauline argue, and return to their respective homes.

The next day, Mr. Stoker invites Bertie to his yacht, but locks him in one of the rooms. Stoker found out about Pauline's visit to Bertie, and plans to force them to marry. Jeeves helps Bertie escape: Mr. Stoker has hired some blackface minstrels for his son's party, and Bertie disguises himself by blacking his face with boot polish to go ashore with them. Bertie returns to his cottage. His new valet, Brinkley, is drunk and chases Bertie with a carving knife, then sets the cottage on fire, destroying Bertie's banjolele. Searching for butter to remove the boot polish from his face, Bertie goes to Chuffnell Hall. Chuffy, thinking that Pauline loves Bertie and that Bertie should not try to abandon Pauline, refuses to give him butter.

Jeeves, again in Chuffy's employ, informs Bertie that Sir Roderick had blackened his face with boot polish to entertain Seabury; unappreciative, Seabury made a butter-slide using all the Hall's butter to make Sir Roderick fall, resulting in an altercation and Sir Roderick leaving the hall. Jeeves suggests that Bertie sleep in the Dower House, where Jeeves will bring him butter the next day. However, Brinkley is occupying the Dower House. Bertie sees Sir Roderick, whom he now feels friendly towards, since Bertie dislikes Seabury. Sir Roderick goes to Bertie's garage to find petrol, which he says can remove boot polish; Bertie, wishing to avoid Sergeant Voules, does not join him. Berte sleeps in a summer-house.

In the morning, Bertie meets with Jeeves in Chuffy's office. Mr. Stoker is looking for Bertie; Jeeves tells him that Bertie is in the Dower House. Pauline appears, and Bertie reveals himself suddenly to her. Startled, Pauline shrieks, bringing Chuffy running to her. The couple reconciles. After Mr. Stoker returns from a run-in with Brinkley, Jeeves delivers a cable saying that Mr. Stoker's relatives are contesting the will of his late uncle, who left him fifty million dollars, on the grounds that the deceased was insane. Stoker is confident that Sir Roderick will testify against this. However, Sir Roderick has been arrested trying to break into Bertie's garage; his testimony will not have much weight if he is imprisoned. Jeeves suggests that Bertie switch places with Sir Roderick, as he could hardly be charged with breaking into his own garage. The plan succeeds. Stoker will buy the Hall, and Chuffy and Pauline are to be wed. Jeeves reveals that he was responsible for the cable. Stating that it has never been his policy to serve a married gentleman, Jeeves returns to Bertie's employ. Very surprised and grateful, Bertie has difficulty finding words, and simply says, "Thank you, Jeeves."

Background

The book uses the dated and now offensive term "nigger minstrels" which was once a common term for white performers in blackface. Blackface minstrels were a staple of British seaside resorts until World War II. The term "nigger minstrels" was historically used to differentiate blackface minstrels from "colored minstrels" who were actually black performers.

Adaptations

Film

Thank You, Jeeves! is also the name of a theatrical film from 1936, starring Arthur Treacher as Jeeves and David Niven as Bertie Wooster, and directed by Arthur Greville Collins; aside from the presence of Bertie and Jeeves, however, none of the characters or plot elements are taken from the novel.

Television

This novel was adapted into the television series Jeeves and Wooster episodes "Chuffy" and "Kidnapped!", which first aired 5 May 1991 and 12 May 1991, respectively. There are several differences in plot:

• In the television series, the banjolele was replaced by a trombone.
• Sir Roderick Glossop does not appear in the first episode. Instead, Stoker originally wants to make the Hall a hotel.
• In the television series, instead of being Chuffy's aunt Lady Chuffnell, Myrtle is his sister, Mrs. Pongleton. Sir Roderick Glossop is still married to Lady Glossop, and is never engaged to Myrtle.
• In the first episode, Bertie's cottage catches fire when Chuffy tries to return Bertie to bed. Chuffy saves Pauline from the fire. Jeeves had intended for Stoker to discover Pauline in Bertie's room, so he would look more kindly on Chuffy. Jeeves returns to Bertie's employment and they go home.
• In the second episode, members of the Drones Club form the blackface minstrel troupe; in the original story, Bertie does not know the minstrels.
• In the television series, Stoker locks both Bertie and Jeeves inside a room on his yacht.

Radio

Thank You, Jeeves was adapted into a radio drama in 1975 as part of the series What Ho! Jeeves starring Michael Hordern as Jeeves and Richard Briers as Bertie Wooster.

Sources

• Cawthorne, Nigel (2013). A Brief Guide to Jeeves and Wooster. Constable & Robinson. ISBN 978-1-78033-824-8.
• Wodehouse, P. G. (2008) [1934]. Thank You, Jeeves (Reprinted ed.). Arrow Books. ISBN 978-0099513735.

External links

• The Russian Wodehouse Society's page, with a list of characters