Madeline Bassett
Encyclopedia
Madeline Bassett is a recurring character in the Jeeves
stories by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse
, being one of the young women to whom Bertie Wooster
periodically finds himself threateningly engaged.
as " a pretty enough girl in a droopy, blonde, saucer-eyed way, but not the sort of breath-taker that takes the breath ", though elsewhere he describes her as "physically in the pin-up class". These moderate charms must be considered in balance with her personality, which is that of the soppiest, mushiest, sentimentalest young gawd-help-us that ever was; even the devotion of Gussie Fink-Nottle
wanes with each new injunction to take up vegetarianism or recite Christopher Robin
poems at the village concert.
To illustrate her unique outlook on early 20th century life, it may help to mention that Madeline is allegedly fond of remarking in casual conversation that "the stars are God's daisy chain", or that "every time a fairy blows its wee nose a baby is born". Such comments would be in keeping with her general conversational style, which is all too apt to revolve around elves, gnomes, flowers, and small furry creatures. This excessive soppiness is wedded to an impressive degree of self-centered idealism, which for nearly the entire course of the saga keeps her from being wedded to anyone else; at the end of Jeeves and the Tie that Binds she is re-engaged to Roderick Spode
and may be presumed to be on her way to becoming the next Countess of Sidcup, as long as he does not make the error of relinquishing his title or speaking ill of Winnie the Pooh.
When not visiting some country house or other as the plots of the books demand, Madeline is generally to be found at Totleigh Towers
where she lives with her father, ill-tempered magistrate and silver collector Sir Watkyn Bassett, and her father's ward Stiffy Byng. The two girls seem to be on good terms, Madeline supporting Stiffy's secret engagement to Stinker Pinker, but Stiffy has little trouble in perceiving Bertie's unwillingness to be leg-shackled to La Belle Bassett and makes extensive use of said unwillingness with blackmail.
This threatened matrimony comes about originally due to Madeline being a friend of Bertie's cousin Angela, the daughter of his Aunt Dahlia Travers. In Right Ho, Jeeves
, they meet on a trip to Cannes during which she believes that he is gazing at her with long, dumb, searching looks. What for Bertie is mere terrified longing for his warm safe apartment and the comforting presence of Jeeves and a nice cocktail, Madeline mistakes for pining love; and when he pleads in the third person the cause of Gussie Fink-Nottle
who adores Madeline from afar, Madeline of course mistakes his plea for a proposal from Bertie. She gently rejects his proposal, as she has been infatuated with Gussie since their first meeting; however she assures a relieved Wooster that, if ever she felt the need to return Fink-Nottle to the store, Bertie is the first person she'd look to as a replacement fiancé. The health of her various engagements forever thereafter hangs over Bertie's head as a sort of Sword of Damocles.
Madeline typically thinks that Bertie comes to where she is to display his pining, everlasting adoration, when he's actually either there for reasons having nothing to do with her, or to try to save her current relationship.
. When he elopes with Emerald Stoker, she renews her engagement with Bertie, before becoming affianced to Sir Roderick Spode
, later 7th Earl of Sidcup.
In the ITV television series versions of the P.G. Wodehouse stories, Madeline almost marries Spode, but the attempted wedding is ruined by Tuppy Glossop
's pipe clearing rust-bucket "Plumbo-Jumbo", in the series finale "The Ties That Bind".
In the third and fourth seasons of the ITV series Jeeves & Wooster, 1992–1993, Madeline Bassett was played by Elizabeth Morton, having been played in the first two series by Francesca Folan and Diana Blackburn respectively.
Jeeves
Reginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
stories by English 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 one of the young women to whom Bertie Wooster
Bertie Wooster
Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British author P. G. Wodehouse. An English gentleman, one of the "idle rich" and a member of the Drones Club, he appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of...
periodically finds himself threateningly engaged.
Overview
Wooster describes her in Right Ho, JeevesRight Ho, Jeeves
Right Ho, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, the second full-length novel featuring the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, after Thank You, Jeeves. It also features a host of other recurring Wodehouse characters, and is mostly set at Brinkley Court, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
as " a pretty enough girl in a droopy, blonde, saucer-eyed way, but not the sort of breath-taker that takes the breath ", though elsewhere he describes her as "physically in the pin-up class". These moderate charms must be considered in balance with her personality, which is that of the soppiest, mushiest, sentimentalest young gawd-help-us that ever was; even the devotion of Gussie Fink-Nottle
Gussie Fink-Nottle
Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle is a fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a lifelong friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a possible member of the Drones Club...
wanes with each new injunction to take up vegetarianism or recite Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin
Christopher Robin is a character created by A. A. Milne, appearing in his popular books of poetry and stories about Winnie-the-Pooh. He has subsequently appeared in Disney cartoons....
poems at the village concert.
To illustrate her unique outlook on early 20th century life, it may help to mention that Madeline is allegedly fond of remarking in casual conversation that "the stars are God's daisy chain", or that "every time a fairy blows its wee nose a baby is born". Such comments would be in keeping with her general conversational style, which is all too apt to revolve around elves, gnomes, flowers, and small furry creatures. This excessive soppiness is wedded to an impressive degree of self-centered idealism, which for nearly the entire course of the saga keeps her from being wedded to anyone else; at the end of Jeeves and the Tie that Binds she is re-engaged to Roderick Spode
Roderick Spode
Roderick Spode, Bt, 7th Earl of Sidcup, often known as Spode or Lord Sidcup, is a recurring fictional character from the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being an "amateur Dictator" and the leader of a fictional fascist group in London called The Black Shorts...
and may be presumed to be on her way to becoming the next Countess of Sidcup, as long as he does not make the error of relinquishing his title or speaking ill of Winnie the Pooh.
When not visiting some country house or other as the plots of the books demand, Madeline is generally to be found at Totleigh Towers
Totleigh Towers
Totleigh Towers is a recurring fictional location in the stories of English humorist P. G. Wodehouse. A country house, it is the home of widower Sir Watkyn Bassett, his ward Stephanie Byng, and his daughter Madeline Bassett...
where she lives with her father, ill-tempered magistrate and silver collector Sir Watkyn Bassett, and her father's ward Stiffy Byng. The two girls seem to be on good terms, Madeline supporting Stiffy's secret engagement to Stinker Pinker, but Stiffy has little trouble in perceiving Bertie's unwillingness to be leg-shackled to La Belle Bassett and makes extensive use of said unwillingness with blackmail.
This threatened matrimony comes about originally due to Madeline being a friend of Bertie's cousin Angela, the daughter of his Aunt Dahlia Travers. In Right Ho, Jeeves
Right Ho, Jeeves
Right Ho, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, the second full-length novel featuring the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, after Thank You, Jeeves. It also features a host of other recurring Wodehouse characters, and is mostly set at Brinkley Court, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
, they meet on a trip to Cannes during which she believes that he is gazing at her with long, dumb, searching looks. What for Bertie is mere terrified longing for his warm safe apartment and the comforting presence of Jeeves and a nice cocktail, Madeline mistakes for pining love; and when he pleads in the third person the cause of Gussie Fink-Nottle
Gussie Fink-Nottle
Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle is a fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a lifelong friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a possible member of the Drones Club...
who adores Madeline from afar, Madeline of course mistakes his plea for a proposal from Bertie. She gently rejects his proposal, as she has been infatuated with Gussie since their first meeting; however she assures a relieved Wooster that, if ever she felt the need to return Fink-Nottle to the store, Bertie is the first person she'd look to as a replacement fiancé. The health of her various engagements forever thereafter hangs over Bertie's head as a sort of Sword of Damocles.
Madeline typically thinks that Bertie comes to where she is to display his pining, everlasting adoration, when he's actually either there for reasons having nothing to do with her, or to try to save her current relationship.
Appearances
- Right Ho, JeevesRight Ho, JeevesRight Ho, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, the second full-length novel featuring the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, after Thank You, Jeeves. It also features a host of other recurring Wodehouse characters, and is mostly set at Brinkley Court, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
- The Code of the WoostersThe Code of the WoostersThe Code of the Woosters is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 7 October 1938, in the United Kingdom by Herbert Jenkins, London, and in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York...
- The Mating Season
- Stiff Upper Lip, JeevesStiff Upper Lip, JeevesStiff Upper Lip, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, published in the United States on March 22, 1963 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on August 16, 1963 by Herbert Jenkins, London...
- Much Obliged, JeevesMuch Obliged, JeevesMuch Obliged, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on October 15, 1971 by Barrie & Jenkins, London and in the United States on October 15, 1971 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the name Jeeves and the Tie that Binds.The two editions have slightly...
Stories
Through an unfortunate misunderstanding, Madeline comes to believe that Bertie is in love with her, but (fortunately for Bertie), she becomes engaged to his friend Gussie Fink-NottleGussie Fink-Nottle
Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle is a fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a lifelong friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a possible member of the Drones Club...
. When he elopes with Emerald Stoker, she renews her engagement with Bertie, before becoming affianced to Sir Roderick Spode
Roderick Spode
Roderick Spode, Bt, 7th Earl of Sidcup, often known as Spode or Lord Sidcup, is a recurring fictional character from the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being an "amateur Dictator" and the leader of a fictional fascist group in London called The Black Shorts...
, later 7th Earl of Sidcup.
In the ITV television series versions of the P.G. Wodehouse stories, Madeline almost marries Spode, but the attempted wedding is ruined by Tuppy Glossop
Tuppy Glossop
Hildebrand "Tuppy" Glossop is a fictional character appearing in some of P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves books. He is a member of the Drones Club and a good friend of Bertie Wooster. In Right Ho, Jeeves, we learn that Tuppy is of Scottish origin.-Relationships:...
's pipe clearing rust-bucket "Plumbo-Jumbo", in the series finale "The Ties That Bind".
In the third and fourth seasons of the ITV series Jeeves & Wooster, 1992–1993, Madeline Bassett was played by Elizabeth Morton, having been played in the first two series by Francesca Folan and Diana Blackburn respectively.