Friendship and Family in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. In this essay I explore the two characters Charles Ryder and Lord Sebastian Flyte, their families and their friendship: what is the driving force and why is it not everlasting? I have found many differences between the two young men regarding background, families and within the composition of the characters. But despite these differences they are attracted to seek each other’s company and they share a desire for a joyful time with no demands or intervening families. Even though their family situations are different they both feel as if they do not belong. I have found that this feeling is crucial for their wish to escape reality and to experience a happy time. The inhibited Charles becomes more carefree in Sebastian’s company and also aware of his artistic skills: he leaves his predictable life in order to become a painter. There is no corresponding change in Sebastian when he meets Charles: he is emotional and naïve. But in Charles, he gets a counterbalance to his family and this means that he can escape the demands that are being forced upon him, for example to be a good Catholic and to act like the lord he is. This friendship is not everlasting and the results of my study show that the reasons are to be found within the characters and also within Sebastian’s family. My conclusion is that Charles’s ability to emancipate himself from his habits and his father is what changes him into a responsible adult, while Sebastian’s inability to do the same makes it impossible for them to continue as before.

Friendship and Family in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited In this essay I explore the two characters Charles Ryder and Lord Sebastian Flyte, their families and their friendship: what is the driving force and why is it not everlasting? I have found many differences between the two young men regarding background, families and within the composition of the characters. But despite these differences they are attracted to seek each other’s company and they share a desire for a joyful time with no demands or intervening families. Even though their family situations are different they both feel as if they do not belong. I have found that this feeling is crucial for their wish to escape reality and to experience a happy time. The inhibited Charles becomes more carefree in Sebastian’s company and also aware of his artistic skills: he leaves his predictable life in order to become a painter. There is no corresponding change in Sebastian when he meets Charles: he is emotional and naïve. But in Charles, he gets a counterbalance to his family and this means that he can escape the demands that are being forced upon him, for example to be a good Catholic and to act like the lord he is. This friendship is not everlasting and the results of my study show that the reasons are to be found within the characters and also within Sebastian’s family. My conclusion is that Charles’s ability to emancipate himself from his habits and his father is what changes him into a responsible adult, while Sebastian’s inability to do the same makes it impossible for them to continue as before.