Editing Bertie Wooster (section)

===The stories===
The Jeeves canon is set in a [[floating timeline]] (with each story being set at the time when it was written though the characters do not age), in an idealized world where wars are downplayed or not mentioned. Certain [[Edwardian era]] elements, such as traditional gentlemen's clubs like the [[Drones Club]], continue to be prevalent throughout the stories.

With a few exceptions, the short stories were written first, followed by the novels. The saga begins chronologically in the short story "[[Jeeves Takes Charge]]", in which Bertie Wooster first hires Jeeves. Bertie and Jeeves usually live at [[P. G. Wodehouse locations#Berkeley Mansions|Berkeley Mansions]], though they also go to New York and numerous English country houses. Throughout the short stories and novels, Bertie tries to help his friends and relatives, but ends up becoming entangled in trouble himself, and is ultimately rescued by Jeeves. Typically, Bertie has a new piece of clothing or item that Jeeves disapproves of, though Bertie agrees to relinquish it at the end of the story.

Almost always narrating the story, Bertie becomes involved in many complex and absurd situations. He appears in the one short story he does not narrate, "[[Bertie Changes His Mind]]", and does not make an appearance in ''[[Ring for Jeeves]]'', though he is mentioned. An important story for Bertie is "[[Clustering Round Young Bingo]]", in which Bertie writes an article titled "What the Well-Dressed Man is Wearing" for his Aunt Dahlia's weekly magazine, ''[[Milady's Boudoir]]''. For his article, Aunt Dahlia paid Bertie a packet of cigarettes.<ref name=garrison219>Garrison (1991), pp. 219–221.</ref> As with his prize for scripture knowledge, Bertie is proud of this article and mentions it many times. Two other events that are particularly significant for Bertie are his short-lived interest in living with his nieces in "[[Bertie Changes His Mind]]" and his temporary separation from Jeeves when Bertie refused to stop playing his [[banjolele]] in ''[[Thank You, Jeeves]]''.

On several occasions, Bertie assumes an alias. After being arrested on Boat Race night, he calls himself Eustace H. Plimsoll when appearing in court (in ''Thank You, Jeeves'' and ''[[Right Ho, Jeeves]]''). He is also brought to court after tripping a policeman in ''[[Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit]]'', and calls himself Ephraim Gadsby. In one scene in ''[[Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves]]'', he is said to be a thief named Alpine Joe, which is mentioned again in ''[[Aunts Aren't Gentlemen]]''. He also impersonates three other people in different stories, namely [[Rosie M. Banks]] in "[[Jeeves in the Springtime]]" and "[[Bingo and the Little Woman]]", [[List of Jeeves characters#Oliver "Sippy" Sipperley|Oliver "Sippy" Sipperley]] in "[[Without the Option]]", and [[Gussie Fink-Nottle]] in ''[[The Mating Season (novel)|The Mating Season]]''.<ref>Ring & Jaggard (1999), p. 129.</ref>

In ''[[Ring for Jeeves]]'', set in post-WWII England, Bertie attends a school that teaches the aristocracy basic skills, including boot-cleaning, sock-darning, bed-making and primary-grade cooking. This school does not allow its students to employ valets, so Jeeves cannot follow Bertie there and instead works as a butler for [[List of Jeeves characters#Bill Belfry, 9th Earl of Rowcester|Lord Rowcester]].<ref>Wodehouse (2008) [1953], ''Ring for Jeeves'', chapter 5, p. 61.</ref> However, Bertie is eventually expelled for cheating after he pays a woman to do his sock darning, and Jeeves returns to his side.