Editing Lord Peter Wimsey (section)

==Social satire==
Many episodes in the Wimsey books express a mild satire on the British [[class system]], in particular in depicting the relationship between Wimsey and Bunter. The two of them seem to be the best and closest of friends, yet Sayers states in the narration of ''[[The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club]]'' that Charles Parker is "in some ways [Peter's] only intimate friend." 

Bunter is invariably punctilious in using "my lord" even when they are alone, and "his lordship" in company. In a brief passage written from Bunter's point of view in ''[[Busman's Honeymoon]]'', Bunter is seen, even in the privacy of his own mind, to think of his employer as "His Lordship". However, in the first book, ''[[Whose Body?]]'', when Wimsey experiences a severe First World War flashback, Bunter takes care of him and, once Wimsey is asleep, affectionately calls him a "bloody little fool."<ref>Whose Body?, ch. 8</ref>

In "The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran", the staunchly democratic Dr. Hartman invites Bunter to sit down to eat together with himself and Wimsey, at the doctor's modest apartment. Wimsey does not object, but Bunter strongly does: "If I may state my own preference, sir, it would be to wait upon you and his lordship in the usual manner". Whereupon Wimsey remarks: "Bunter likes me to know my place".<ref>Quoted in Frederick B. Gowan, "The Decline and Transformation of the British Class System", pp. 45, 73</ref>

At the conclusion of ''[[Strong Poison]]'', Inspector Parker asks "What would one naturally do if one found one's water-bottle empty?" (a point of crucial importance in solving the book's mystery). Wimsey promptly answers, "Ring the bell", whereupon Miss Murchison, the indefatigable investigator employed by Wimsey for much of this book, comments "Or, if one wasn't accustomed to be waited on, one might use the water from the bedroom jug."

[[George Orwell]] was highly critical of this aspect of the Wimsey books: "...&nbsp;Even she [Sayers] is not so far removed from ''[[List of women's magazines|Peg's Paper]]'' as might appear at a casual glance. It is, after all, a very ancient trick to write novels with a lord for a hero. Where Miss Sayers has shown more astuteness than most is in perceiving that you can carry that kind of thing off a great deal better if you pretend to treat it as a joke. By being, on the surface, a little ironical about Lord Peter Wimsey and his noble ancestors, she is enabled to lay on the snobbishness ('his lordship' etc.) much thicker than any overt snob would dare to do".<ref>Orwell's review of ''[[Gaudy Night]]'' in the [[New English Weekly]], 23 January 1936, reprinted in The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, [[Penguin Books]], London, 1970, Vol.1, P.186</ref>