Art in Brideshead
Still not complete, more thought than coherent essay but I'm posting anyway, and hopefully will refine later. At the very least I have pictures to add! Check back if you can.
I don't know why I am having so much trouble getting this post written. I have so much to say (or at least so much in my head) about the way that art is used in Brideshead Revisited. I mean, it's almost obvious, in the way that Waugh has his main character actually be an artist, but it's subtle too. The title of the first part of the book "Et in Arcadia ego" (translation- 'And in Arcadia am I"). This, I immediately thought of as a reference to the painting by Poussain - of the Shepherds gathered around a tomb. I wasn't at all clear on what this had to do with anything, particularly because I didn't know the English translation, but as I researched (just read through the entire Wikipedia page and you get tremendous insight) it turns out that Arcadia is basically classical short hand for a more idyllic time, or a youthful time, a time before things get more serious. Looking further into it, the phrase is often used as a momento mori (remember your death), a particularly Catholic mindset - remember you will die and live your life in that light. Knowing that, it becomes quite clear what Waugh is doing there right from the very beginning of the novel.
I also found the choice of literature mentioned in the novel interesting, particularly "Father Brown" by GK Chesterton. Just mentioning Chesterton is shorthand for ORTHODOX CATHOLIC ALERT 😂 He literally wrote the Book "Orthodoxy" - which I also highly recommend. But at any rate, as Lady Marchmain reads from "Father Brown" anyone who has read the book sees where it is going. It is all about catching out the sinner and drawing him back. And then Waugh underscores the point even more by naming another part of the book "A Twitch Upon the Thread" which is a reference to "Father Brown."
Later, in Julia's meltdown scene, Charles references Holman Hunt's painting, "The Awakening Conscience" and if you look it up it is revealing to exactly what is happening to Julia. I was not familiar with this painting so I did go and look it up but then I went down the rabbit hole of Hunt's work and realized this was another reference similar to Chesterton - Hunt is a specifically Christian painter but also a realist. Again, tackling humanity in it's reality not in idealism.
All of these artistic/literary references are pointing towards exactly what Waugh is saying - being human is messy, conversion is messy, our path to redemption is rocky, but we must move steadily on and grace is here to help us. I tend to think this is a more Catholic perspective then a Protestant one, which again, is the point I suppose that is being made.
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