Editing Jeeves (section)

== Jeeves series {{anchor|Stories|The Jeeves books|Jeeves canon}} ==
===List of stories===
The Jeeves canon is a series of [[comedic]] stories following Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves, consisting of 35 short stories and 11 novels.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cawthorne|first=Nigel|title=A Brief Guide to Jeeves and Wooster|publisher=Running Press|year=2013|isbn=978-1-78033-825-5|location=Philadelphia|pages=42–151}}</ref> With minor exceptions, the short stories were written and published first (between 1915 and 1930); the novels later (between 1934 and 1974). While the series of stories featuring the character of Jeeves are often referred to as the "Jeeves" stories, the series is also called by other names such as the "Jeeves and Wooster" or "Jeeves and Bertie" stories.

Bertie Wooster narrates (in the [[First-person narrative|first person]]) all the stories but two, "[[Bertie Changes His Mind]]" (which Jeeves himself narrates in the [[First-person narrative|first person]]), and ''[[Ring for Jeeves]]'' (which features Jeeves but not Bertie Wooster and is written in the [[Third-person narrative#Third-person|third person]]).

Jeeves and Bertie first appeared in "[[Extricating Young Gussie]]", a short story published in the US in September 1915, though it was not seen in the UK until 1916. In the story, Jeeves's character is minor and not fully developed, and Bertie's surname appears to be Mannering-Phipps. The first fully recognisable Jeeves and Wooster story was "Leave It to Jeeves", published in early 1916.  As the series progressed, Jeeves assumed the role of Bertie Wooster's co-protagonist. Most of the Jeeves stories were originally published as magazine pieces before being collected into books, although 11 of the short stories were reworked and divided into 18 chapters to make an episodic semi-novel called ''The Inimitable Jeeves''.  

* ''[[The Man with Two Left Feet]]'' (1917) – One story in a book of thirteen
** "[[Extricating Young Gussie]]" – The first appearances of Jeeves and Bertie, originally published 1915-09-18 in the ''[[Saturday Evening Post]].''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wodehouse.ru/bibssty.htm |title= Bibliography of short stories |author= The Russian Wodehouse Society  |access-date=2017-03-08}}</ref>
* ''[[My Man Jeeves]]'' (1919) – Four stories in a book of eight, all four reprinted (in slightly rewritten forms) in the 1925 collection ''Carry On, Jeeves''.  The non-Jeeves stories feature [[Reggie Pepper]].
** "Leave It to Jeeves", rewritten and retitled "The Artistic Career of Corky" in ''Carry On, Jeeves'', originally published 1916-02-05 in the ''Saturday Evening Post''.
** "The Aunt and the Sluggard", slightly rewritten for ''Carry On, Jeeves'', originally published 1916-04-22 in the ''Saturday Evening Post''.
** "Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest", slightly rewritten for ''Carry On, Jeeves'', originally published 1916-12-09 in the ''Saturday Evening Post.''
** "Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg", slightly rewritten for ''Carry On, Jeeves'', originally published 1917-03-03 in the ''Saturday Evening Post.''
* ''[[The Inimitable Jeeves]]'' (1923) – A semi-novel consisting of eighteen chapters, originally published as eleven short stories (some of which were split for the book):
** "Jeeves Exerts the Old Cerebellum" with "No Wedding Bells for Bingo" (together "[[Jeeves in the Springtime]]", originally published December 1921 in the ''Strand'' and ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]].'')
** "Aunt Agatha Speaks Her Mind" with "Pearls Mean Tears" (together "[[Aunt Agatha Takes the Count]]", originally published April 1922 in the ''Strand'', revised for ''TIJ''.)
** "The Pride of the Woosters Is Wounded" with "The Hero's Reward" (together "[[Scoring off Jeeves]]", originally published February 1922 in the ''Strand''.)
** "Introducing Claude and Eustace" with "Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch" (together "[[Sir Roderick Comes to Lunch]]", originally published March 1922 in the ''Strand''.)
** "A Letter of Introduction" with "Startling Dressiness of a Lift Attendant" (together "[[Jeeves and the Chump Cyril]]", originally published 1918-04-03 in the ''Saturday Evening Post.'')
** "Comrade Bingo" with "Bingo Has a Bad Goodwood" (together "[[Comrade Bingo]]", originally published May 1922 in the ''Strand''.)
** "[[The Great Sermon Handicap]]", originally published June 1922 in the ''Strand''.
** "[[The Purity of the Turf (short story)|The Purity of the Turf]]", originally published July 1922 in the ''Strand''.
** "[[The Metropolitan Touch]]", originally published September 1922 in the ''Strand''.
** "[[The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace]]", originally published October 1922 in the ''Strand''.
** "Bingo and the Little Woman" with "All's Well" (together "[[Bingo and the Little Woman]]", originally published November 1922 in the ''Strand''.)
* ''[[Carry On, Jeeves]]'' (1925) – Ten stories:
** "[[Jeeves Takes Charge]]" – Recounts the first meeting of Jeeves and Wooster, originally published 1916-11-18 in the ''Saturday Evening Post.''
** "[[The Artistic Career of Corky]]", a rewrite of "Leave It to Jeeves", originally published in ''My Man Jeeves''
** "[[Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest]]", originally published in ''My Man Jeeves''
** "[[Jeeves and the Hard-boiled Egg]]", originally published in ''My Man Jeeves''
** "[[The Aunt and the Sluggard]]", originally published in ''My Man Jeeves''
** "[[The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy]]", originally published 1924.
** "[[Without the Option]]", originally published 1925.
** "[[Fixing it for Freddie]]", a rewrite of a Reggie Pepper story, "Helping Freddie", originally published in ''My Man Jeeves''
** "[[Clustering Round Young Bingo]]", originally published 1925-02-21 in the ''Saturday Evening Post.''
** "[[Bertie Changes His Mind]]" – The only story in the canon narrated by Jeeves, originally published August 1922 in the ''Strand'' and ''[[Cosmopolitan (magazine)|Cosmopolitan]]''.
* ''[[Very Good, Jeeves]]'' (1930) – Eleven stories:
** "[[Jeeves and the Impending Doom]]", originally published 1926.
** "[[The Inferiority Complex of Old Sippy]]", originally published 1926.
** "[[Jeeves and the Yule-tide Spirit]]" (US title: ''Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit''), originally published 1927.
** "[[Jeeves and the Song of Songs]]", originally published 1929.
** "[[Episode of the Dog McIntosh]]" (alternate title: ''Jeeves and the Dog McIntosh'', US title: ''The Borrowed Dog''), originally published 1929.
** "[[The Spot of Art]]" (US title: ''Jeeves and the Spot of Art''), originally published 1929.
** "[[Jeeves and the Kid Clementina]]", originally published 1930.
** "[[The Love That Purifies]]" (US title: ''Jeeves and the Love That Purifies''), originally published 1929.
** "[[Jeeves and the Old School Chum]]", originally published 1930.
** "[[Indian Summer of an Uncle]]", originally published 1930.
** "[[The Ordeal of Young Tuppy]]" (US title: ''Tuppy Changes His Mind''), originally published 1930.
* ''[[Thank You, Jeeves]]'' (1934) – The first full-length Jeeves novel
* ''[[Right Ho, Jeeves]]'' (1934) (US title: ''Brinkley Manor'')
* ''[[The Code of the Woosters]]'' (1938)
* ''[[Joy in the Morning (1946 novel)|Joy in the Morning]]'' (1946) (US title: ''Jeeves in the Morning'')
* ''[[The Mating Season (novel)|The Mating Season]]'' (1949)
* (''[[Come On, Jeeves]]'' – 1952 play with Guy Bolton, adapted 1953 into ''Ring for Jeeves'', produced 1954, published 1956)
* ''[[Ring for Jeeves]]'' (1953) – Only Jeeves novel without Bertie Wooster (US title: ''The Return of Jeeves''), adapting the play ''Come On, Jeeves''
* ''[[Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit]]'' (1954) (US title: ''Bertie Wooster Sees It Through'')
* ''[[A Few Quick Ones]]'' (1959) – One short story in a book of ten
** "[[Jeeves Makes an Omelette]]", a rewrite of a Reggie Pepper story originally published in ''My Man Jeeves''
* ''[[Jeeves in the Offing]]'' (1960) (US title: ''How Right You Are, Jeeves'')
* ''[[Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves]]'' (1963)
* ''[[Plum Pie]]'' (1966) – One short story in a book of nine
** "[[Jeeves and the Greasy Bird]]"
* ''[[Much Obliged, Jeeves]]'' (1971) (US title: ''Jeeves and the Tie That Binds'')
* ''[[Aunts Aren't Gentlemen]]'' (1974) (US title: ''The Cat-nappers'')

The collection ''The World of Jeeves'' (first published in 1967, reprinted in 1988) contains all of the Jeeves short stories (with the exception of "Extricating Young Gussie") presented more or less in narrative chronological order, with a new introduction by Wodehouse.  This collection includes the original versions of the eleven stories that were somewhat altered by Wodehouse to create the episodic novel ''The Inimitable Jeeves''.

===Setting and timeline===

The short stories are set primarily in London, where Bertie Wooster has a flat and is a member of the raucous [[Drones Club]], or in [[New York City]], though some short stories are set around various stately homes in the English countryside. The novels all take place at or near an English country house, most commonly [[Brinkley Court]], [[Worcestershire]] (in four novels) and [[Totleigh Towers]], [[Gloucestershire]] (in two novels).

The Jeeves stories are described as occurring within a few years of each other. For example, Bertie states in ''[[Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit]]'' (1954) that his Aunt Dahlia has been running her paper ''Milady's Boudoir'', first introduced in "[[Clustering Round Young Bingo]]" (1925), for about three years.<ref>''Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit'', chapter 5, p. 45.</ref> However, there are inconsistencies between the stories that make it difficult to construct a timeline. For instance, it is stated in ''[[Jeeves in the Offing]]'' that Aunt Dahlia ran her paper for four years, and not three, as is shown in ''Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit''. Nonetheless, some scholars have attempted to create a rough timeline. [[J. H. C. Morris]] suggested that the Jeeves canon spanned approximately five years, stating that four Christmases are accounted for, and another must have passed during Bertie's time in America in the early stories, making five in all.<ref>Morris (1981), p. 4.</ref> [[Kristin Thompson]] also suggested that approximately five years passed during the stories, though Thompson instead relied on explicit references to time passed between events in the series.<ref>Thompson (1992), pp. 340–341.</ref>

The stories follow a [[floating timeline]], with each story being set at the time it was written, while the characters do not change and past events are referred to as happening recently. This results in the stories following "two kinds of time", as the characters hardly age but are seen against the background of a changing world.<ref>French (1966), p. 95.</ref> This floating timeline allows for comedic references to films, songs, and politicians that would have been well known to readers when the stories were written. For example, in ''Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit'' (1954), when Bertie is surprised to hear that his Aunt Dahlia wants to sell her weekly paper, he remarks, "It was like hearing that Rodgers had decided to sell Hammerstein."<ref>Thompson (1992), pp. 343–344. "Dozens of references to contemporary events and personalities give the series its second kind of time, with the world changing around the unaging characters."</ref> (This is a reference to [[Rodgers and Hammerstein]], who created popular Broadway musicals in the 1940s and 1950s.) 
Similarly, ''[[Aunts Aren't Gentlemen]]'' (1974) mentions evangelist [[Billy Graham]], who did not become a public figure until the late 1940s.  However, certain [[Edwardian era]] elements, such as aristocratic country houses and traditional gentlemen's clubs like the Drones Club, continue to be prevalent throughout the series, despite becoming less common in the real world.<ref>French (1966), p. 73.</ref> Several writers have described the Jeeves series as being set in the [[Interwar Britain|interwar period]] (1918–1939).<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/26438951|author=Watson, George |title=The Birth of Jeeves|year=1997|journal=The Virginia Quarterly Review|volume=73|issue=4|pages=641–652|jstor=26438951}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/13/bertie-wooster-returns-as-a-spy-in-jeeves-sequel-by-schotts-miscellany-author|title=Bertie Wooster returns as a spy in Jeeves sequel by Schott's Miscellany author|date=13 October 2017|website=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lady.co.uk/what-ho-jeeves%E2%80%A6-we%E2%80%99re-back|title=What ho, Jeeves… we're back! &#124; lady.co.uk|website=lady.co.uk}}</ref>

The setting is generally an idealised version of the world, with international conflicts being downplayed or ignored. Illness and injuries cause negligible harm, similar to downplayed injuries in stage comedy.<ref>Hall (1974), p. 45.</ref>

===Comic style===
The plots and dialogue of the Jeeves stories were strongly influenced by Wodehouse's experience writing for the stage, and the playlike quality of the stories is often comically exaggerated. For example, many stage comedies involve two sundered couples, and this number is increased to five for the plot of the Jeeves novel ''[[The Mating Season (novel)|The Mating Season]]''. Bertie frequently uses theatrical terminology to describe characters and settings. For instance, in ''[[Joy in the Morning (Wodehouse novel)|Joy in the Morning]]'', Bertie says that Lord Worplesdon's study "proved to be what they call on the stage a 'rich interior', liberally equipped with desks, chairs, tables, carpets and all the usual fixings." Later in the same scene, when Worplesdon sends his butler to fetch Jeeves, Bertie says, "During the stage wait, which was not of long duration, the old relative filled in with some ''ad lib'' stuff about Boko, mostly about how much he disliked his face" (chapter 22).<ref>Thompson (1992), pp. 102–103.</ref> The dialogue is sometimes written like in a script. For example, several lines of text in the first chapter of ''[[Right Ho, Jeeves]]'' are rendered in script format.<ref>Thompson (1992), p. 104.</ref>

Wodehouse uses a number of what [[Kristin Thompson]] terms "delaying devices" to keep the competent Jeeves from solving problems too quickly. For example, Bertie sometimes cannot get help from Jeeves initially because Jeeves is away on vacation. In multiple stories, Jeeves delays solving Bertie's problem because he disapproves of an object Bertie has acquired.<ref>Thompson (1992), pp. 125–127.</ref> Jeeves is shown to be a "thoroughly pragmatic, occasionally Machiavellian figure" who is willing to delay solving problems until it is advantageous for him to do so.<ref>Thompson (1992), p. 129.</ref> In some stories, Bertie insists on trying to handle problems himself. Jeeves, planning in the background, can estimate the extent of Bertie's mistakes in advance and incorporate them into his own plan in the end.<ref name="auto1"/>

Wodehouse has Jeeves consistently use a very formal manner of speaking, while Bertie's speech mixes formal and informal language. These different styles are frequently used to create humour in the stories, such as when Bertie has to translate Jeeves's erudite speech for one of his pals who is not familiar with Jeeves. An example of this occurs in "[[The Artistic Career of Corky]]", when Jeeves comes up with a plan to help Bertie's friend Corky. Jeeves says his plan "cannot fail of success" but has a drawback in that it "requires a certain financial outlay". Bertie explains to Corky that Jeeves means "he has got a pippin of an idea, but it's going to cost a bit".<ref>Hall (1974), pp. 91–94.</ref>

Jeeves often tells Bertie about his machinations at the end of the stories, but does not always reveal everything to Bertie. This can be seen in the only story narrated by Jeeves, "[[Bertie Changes His Mind]]", in which Jeeves manipulates events without telling Bertie. The reader can infer some of Jeeves's offstage activity from subtle clues in Bertie's narrative. For example, in "[[Jeeves and the Kid Clementina]]", Bertie ends up in a tree while trespassing as part of a task outlined by the mischievous [[Bobbie Wickham]], and is confronted by a policeman. The only information given to the reader about how the policeman got there is when he says, "We had a telephone call at the station saying there was somebody in Miss Mapleton's garden." After reading the story, the reader can look back and infer that Jeeves called the police himself or got someone else to do it, knowing the incident would ultimately make Bertie seem heroic to Miss Mapleton and would make Bertie realize the dangers of Bobbie's scheming.<ref>Thompson (1992), p. 155.</ref>