Lady Constance Keeble
Encyclopedia
Lady Constance Keeble is a recurring fictional character
in the Blandings
stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse
, being Lord Emsworth
's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth. She has the carriage of an empress, and her large grey eyes are misleadingly genial.
, she is recently married to wealthy Joe Keeble, and acting as châtelain
e at Blandings. She has an interest in the Arts
, and frequently invites writers and such to the castle; poet
s Aileen Peavey and Ralston McTodd and tenor
Orlo Watkins are prime examples of this trait.
She endeavours in vain to persuade her brother Lord Emsworth
to dress more suitably, and to pay attention to important matters such as the family, rather than his garden and his beloved pig, Empress of Blandings
. She bullies him mercilessly, forcing him to dress up in a tight collar and top hat
for the Blandings Parva Annual School Treat, and making him act as a Justice of the Peace
and make speeches at important local events.
She also has a horror of anyone in her distinguished family marrying inappropriately, and spends much of her time trying to keep nieces and nephews away from unsavoury types. However, such matters pale in comparison to the embarrassment that could be caused by her brother Galahad Threepwood
publishing his scandalous reminiscences; to prevent this, she is willing to allow the marriage of her nephew Ronnie to a chorus-girl, in Summer Lightning
.
She is good friends with Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, with whom she conspires to prevent the publication of Galahad's memoirs, and also with Rupert Baxter
, a man she considers most capable and on whom she calls whenever she is in dire need of practical assistance. In her youth, she had a bit of a thing with Alaric, the Duke of Dunstable, with whom she was often found whispering in conservatories or being the last back from picnics, but she later questions his sanity, even calling in Sir Roderick Glossop on one occasion to have him analysed.
Having been repeatedly defeated in her efforts to keep her family from marrying inappropriately, she finds herself once more in difficulty in Service With a Smile
when she becomes chaperone to Myra Schoonmaker. Finding her attempts to keep the girl away from her impoverished lover scuppered by Uncle Fred
, and with the redoubtable Baxter no longer available, she calls in the help of the girl's father, James Schoonmaker, an American millionaire. With the assistance of his old friend Uncle Fred, Schoonmaker gets up the courage to propose to the intimidating Connie, and the two are married in New York at the start of Galahad at Blandings
.
Lady Constance is mentioned in:
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Blandings
Blandings Castle
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
, being Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth. She has the carriage of an empress, and her large grey eyes are misleadingly genial.
Life and character
When we first meet her in Leave it to PsmithLeave it to Psmith
Leave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
, she is recently married to wealthy Joe Keeble, and acting as châtelain
Châtelain
Châtelain was originally merely the French equivalent of the English castellan, i.e. the commander of a castle....
e at Blandings. She has an interest in the Arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
, and frequently invites writers and such to the castle; poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
s Aileen Peavey and Ralston McTodd and tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
Orlo Watkins are prime examples of this trait.
She endeavours in vain to persuade her brother Lord Emsworth
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth, or Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family...
to dress more suitably, and to pay attention to important matters such as the family, rather than his garden and his beloved pig, Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings
Empress of Blandings is a fictional pig, featured in many of the Blandings Castle novels and stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Owned by the doting Lord Emsworth, the Empress is an enormous black Berkshire sow, who wins many prizes in the "Fat Pigs" class at the local Shropshire Agricultural Show, and is...
. She bullies him mercilessly, forcing him to dress up in a tight collar and top hat
Top hat
A top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...
for the Blandings Parva Annual School Treat, and making him act as a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
and make speeches at important local events.
She also has a horror of anyone in her distinguished family marrying inappropriately, and spends much of her time trying to keep nieces and nephews away from unsavoury types. However, such matters pale in comparison to the embarrassment that could be caused by her brother Galahad Threepwood
Galahad Threepwood
The Honourable Galahad "Gally" Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Lord Emsworth's younger brother, a lifelong bachelor, Gally was, according to Beach, the Blandings butler, "somewhat wild as a young man"...
publishing his scandalous reminiscences; to prevent this, she is willing to allow the marriage of her nephew Ronnie to a chorus-girl, in Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning
Summer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
.
She is good friends with Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe, with whom she conspires to prevent the publication of Galahad's memoirs, and also with Rupert Baxter
Rupert Baxter
Rupert Baxter is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. Often called The Efficient Baxter , he is Lord Emsworth's secretary, and an expert on many things, including Egyptian scarabs...
, a man she considers most capable and on whom she calls whenever she is in dire need of practical assistance. In her youth, she had a bit of a thing with Alaric, the Duke of Dunstable, with whom she was often found whispering in conservatories or being the last back from picnics, but she later questions his sanity, even calling in Sir Roderick Glossop on one occasion to have him analysed.
Having been repeatedly defeated in her efforts to keep her family from marrying inappropriately, she finds herself once more in difficulty in Service With a Smile
Service With a Smile
Service with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
when she becomes chaperone to Myra Schoonmaker. Finding her attempts to keep the girl away from her impoverished lover scuppered by Uncle Fred
Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961...
, and with the redoubtable Baxter no longer available, she calls in the help of the girl's father, James Schoonmaker, an American millionaire. With the assistance of his old friend Uncle Fred, Schoonmaker gets up the courage to propose to the intimidating Connie, and the two are married in New York at the start of Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings
Galahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
.
Stories
Lady Constance is featured in:- Leave it to PsmithLeave it to PsmithLeave it to Psmith is a comic novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on November 30, 1923 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on March 14, 1924 by George H. Doran, New York. It had previously been serialised, in the Saturday Evening Post in the U.S...
(1923), in which Joe Keeble features - "Pig-hoo-o-o-o-eyPig-hoo-o-o-o-ey"Pig-Hoo-o-o-o-ey" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 9 July 1927 issue of Liberty, and in the United Kingdom in the August 1927 Strand...
" (1927) - "Lord Emsworth and the Girl FriendLord Emsworth and the Girl Friend"Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in the 23 January 1926 issue of Liberty, and in the United Kingdom in the February 1926 Strand...
" (1928) - Summer LightningSummer LightningSummer Lightning is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on 1 July 1929 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, under the title Fish Preferred, and in the United Kingdom on 19 July 1929 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
(1929), in which she calls on Baxter's aid - Heavy WeatherHeavy Weather (novel)Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
(1933), in which she conspires with Parsloe-Parsloe - "The Crime Wave at BlandingsThe Crime Wave at Blandings"The Crime Wave at Blandings" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared in the United States in two parts, in the October 10 and October 17, 1936 editions of the Saturday Evening Post, and in the United Kingdom in the January 1937 issue of the Strand. It was included in the...
" (1936) - Uncle Fred in the SpringtimeUncle Fred in the SpringtimeUncle Fred in the Springtime is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on August 18, 1939 by Doubleday, Doran, New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1939 by Herbert Jenkins, London....
(1939), in which her past with Dunstable is revealed - Pigs Have WingsPigs Have WingsPigs Have Wings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared as a serial in Collier's Weekly between August 16 and September 20, 1952. It was first published as a book in the United States on October 16, 1952 by Doubleday & Company, New York, and in the United Kingdom on October 31, 1952 by...
(1952), in which she is a widow - Service With a SmileService With a SmileService with a Smile is a novel by P.G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on October 15, 1961 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 17, 1962 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
(1961), in which James Schoonmaker first appears - "Sticky Wicket at BlandingsSticky Wicket at Blandings"Sticky Wicket at Blandings" is a short story by P. G. Wodehouse, which first appeared, under the title "First Aid for Freddie", in the United States in the October 1966 issue of Playboy magazine, and in the United Kingdom in the April 1967 issue of Argosy...
" (1966) - A Pelican at BlandingsA Pelican at BlandingsA Pelican at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on September 25, 1969 by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States on February 11, 1970 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, under the title No Nudes Is Good Nudes.It is the tenth full-length novel...
(1969)
Lady Constance is mentioned in:
- Galahad at BlandingsGalahad at BlandingsGalahad at Blandings is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on January 13, 1965 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the title The Brinkmanship of Galahad Threepwood, and in the United Kingdom on August 26 the same year by Herbert Jenkins, London.It forms part of...
(1963) in which she marries James Schoonmaker
Actors
TV- Judy ParfittJudy ParfittJudy Parfitt is a BAFTA-nominated English theatre, film and television actress who began her career on stage in 1954.-Life and work:...
played Lady Constance in a 1995 adaptation of Heavy WeatherHeavy Weather (novel)Heavy Weather is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United States on July 28, 1933 by Little, Brown and Company, Boston, and in the United Kingdom on August 10, 1933 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
, made by the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and partners and broadcast in the U.S.United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by PBSPublic Broadcasting ServiceThe Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
.