Brideshead Deserted story
Bridey commissions Charles to paint four scenes of Marchmain House in London, which has been sold to rectify Lord Marchmain's financial difficulties, before it is demolished to make way for a block of flats. He meets Cordelia again; she regrets the ongoing dissolution of her family but assures Charles she continues to find strength in her faith. Cordelia recalls her mother’s reading of a Father Brown story where G. K. Chesterton's priest catches a thief "with an unseen hook and an invisible line which is long enough to let him wander to the ends of the world and still to bring him back with a twitch upon the thread". Years pass, and the story resumes with Charles spending two years in Mexico and Central America painting. He then has an awkward reunion with his wife Celia in New York City before the two sail home. On board ship, the Ryders discover Julia is a fellow passenger. Celia is bedridden with chronic seasickness prompted by extremely rough seas.
19 total · 5 major · 14 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| disintegrating romantic relationship | major | Charles and Celia's marriage was gradually coming apart. Charles had lost interest in Celia over the years, and evidently regretted marrying her. Celia, for her part, also expressed misgivings. |
| growing as a person | major | Charles and Julia explicitly discussed how they had both changed in the intervening years since they had last met at Brideshead Castle. They had both in recent years come to emotionally abandon they spouses they took when they were younger and relatively immature. |
| husband and wife | major | Charles embarked on a transatlantic crossing with his wife, Celia, who he had been away from for two years after a marital dispute. |
| painting | major | The story centers on the part of Charles' life where he comes into his own as a painter, starting with his breakthrough as an architectural painter with a set of works depicting Marchmain House in London. |
| what it is like on a passenger liner | major | The better part of the story took place aboard an ocean liner on a transatlantic crossing. Notably, the passengers and crew coped with lots of rocking about as the vessel passed through some rough seas. |
| alcohol abuse | minor | Various remarks were made about Sebastian, the now renowned dipsomaniac. |
| atheism | minor | Cordelia commented on Charles' agnosticism. |
| brother and sister | minor | Cordelia professed to love her brother, Sebastian, more than anyone else. |
| Catholicism | minor | Cordelia spoke about her faith to Charles, who nodded along politely. |
| coping with an unappealing social gathering | minor | Charles deplored having to put in an appearance at the cabin party that Celia's had in part organized to help advance his career. |