Plot of Brideshead Revisited
January 9, 2012 12:51pm
In Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh, the drifting away of Sebastian leads to his friend Charles’s own estrangement from Sebastian’s family, the aristocratic Marchmains. Charles marries before fathering two children yet he becomes cold towards his wife who is subsequently unfaithful to him. Charles eventually forms a relationship with Sebastian’s youngest sister, Julia, who had been previously married to the Canadian business man, Rex Mottram. The marriage of Julia to Rex Mottram had been a sore spot for Julia’s mother as it had been a Church of England marriage.

Julia and Charles together plan to divorce their spouses in order to marry each other. Lord Marchmain returns to Brideshead however, throwing a spanner in the works. Terminally ill, Lord Marchmain has returned to his ancestral home in order to die there and receives his sacraments there. Lord Marchmain’s return to faith on his deathbed leads Julia to realize she must not enter into a sinful marriage with Charles. The book does indeed have a sad ending as the couple never get together in the end, they do not enjoy a union such as PCI/DSS does.



