Some of the family finance (on the Mitford side rather than Mosley's) came from the ownership of 'The Lady', a publication which continues to this day. In the television series Endeavour (series five episode four "Colours"), there is a reference to "Spode and Webley" being shot as fascists. He was speaking of the forty-eight weeks between 1940 and 1941 that he spent in a series of German-run civil-internment camps. Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (Jeeves, #11). We meet Spode at an antique shop; he accuses Wooster first of stealing an umbrella, then of stealing a precious antique. That innocent people are being attacked on our streets and our politicians have been threatened and murdered. A fellow standing around says, I say, Ive never quite thought of it that way.. Please do not edit the piece, ensure that you attribute the author and mention that this article was originally published on FEE.org. I no longer think so. He wanted everyones knees compulsorily measured: Not for the true-born Englishman the bony angular knee of the so-called intellectual, not for him the puffy knee of the criminal classes. They are so offensive to peoples ideals that they inspire massive opposition, and that opposition in turn creates public scenes that gain a greater following for the demagogue. And, if he should ask why? Spode, who does not want his followers to learn about his career as a designer of ladies' lingerie, is forced not to bother Bertie or Gussie. I had described Roderick Spode to the butler as a man with an eye that could open an oyster at sixty paces, and it was an eye of this nature that he was directing at me now, Wooster narrates. Spode is a friend of Sir Watkyn Bassett, being the nephew of Sir Watkyn's fiance Mrs. Wintergreen in The Code of the Woosters, though she is not mentioned again. [15] In other novels, Spode is knocked out three times: he is hit with a cosh by Bertie's Aunt Dahlia in Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, he is punched by Harold Pinker in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, and Emerald Stoker smashes a china basin on his head in the same book. That is where you make your bloomer. ", Well, you certainly are the most wonderfully woolly baa-lamb that ever stepped., It was a silver cow. by P.G. Within days, he was asked by the German Foreign Office if he would record some radio broadcasts for American audiences. Madeline, who wanted to gain the title Lady Sidcup, breaks their engagement, and says she will marry Bertie instead. Spode soon wakes up, but is knocked out again, by Emerald. Spoke perfectly captures the bluster, blather, and preposterous intellectual conceit of the interwar aspiring dictator. [2] Bertie immediately thinks of Spode as "the Dictator" even before he learns of Spode's political ambitions. Lurking about is Roderick Spode, a disturbingly large and ill-tempered man, friend to Sir Watkyn and an admirer of Madeline's who is deeply jealous of Gussie. Poison Pen - The Atlantic So the required eugenic theory of his group naturally surrounded knees. Forget about the authors wartime mistakes, the way Bertie tackles Mosley-esque thug Roderick Spode is a great lesson in sending up would-be despots. Their eugenic theories are pseudo-science. Dont you ever stop drinking? Sign up for the Books & Fiction newsletter. What the Voice of the People is saying is: 'Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags! Their plans for economic life are ridiculous. How about when you are asleep?, But when I say 'cow', dont go running away with the idea of some decent, self-respecting cudster such as you may observe loading grass into itself in the nearest meadow., I dont mind people talking rot in my presence, but it must not be utter rot., She was standing by the barometer, which, if it had had an ounce of sense in its head, would have been pointing to 'Stormy' instead of 'Set Fair, a chap who's supposed to stop chaps pinching things from chaps having a chap come along and pinch something from him., Scotties are smelly, even the best of them. What a dream! That is what makes his work timeless, and why it will endure long after the Swinging Sixties and Cool Britannia are forgotten. Aunt Dahlia ends up using a cosh she found on the ground to knock out Spode, which allows her to retrieve her fake necklace from a safe in order to hide it so it cannot be appraised. Spode shares a few insights on the subjects of bicycles and umbrellas with the ihabitants of Totley on the Wold. Jeffrey Tucker is a former Director of Content for the Foundation for Economic Education. "[10] With help from Jeeves and the Junior Ganymede club book, Bertie learns the word "Eulalie", and tells Spode that he knows all about it. for future readers?it was a very convincing one. Fortunately Spode soon encounters a hostile meeting, and a shower of vegetables hurled at his head in enough to convince him that the non-elected Lords remains the better option. It is a matter of the nicest adjustment.Like that?Admirable, sir.I sighed.There are moments, Jeeves, when one asks oneself Do trousers matter?The mood will pass, sir.. The accounts of his brilliance can be credibly told only by the dimmer lightthe mild Watson, the affably ineffective Wooster. I couldnt have made a better shot, if I had been one of those detectives who see a chap walking along the street and deduce that he is a retired manufacturer of poppet valves named Robinson with rheumatism in one arm, living at Clapham. A wonderful day! Wodehouse wrote in his diary while in an internment camp. Harold Pinker steps forward to protect Gussie, and after Spode hits Pinker on the nose, Pinker, an expert boxer, knocks him out. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [8] Despite Spode becoming Lord Sidcup, Bertie usually thinks of him as Spode, at one point addressing him as "Lord Spodecup". Hayek emphasized in Road to Serfdom, that the fascists and communists are really two sides of a split within the same movement, each of which aspires to control the population with a version of a central plan. His general idea, if he doesn't get knocked on the head with a bottle in one of the frequent brawls in which he and his followers indulge, is to make himself a Dictator.' 'Well, I'm blowed!' . In The Code of the Woosters, when Spode advances to attack Gussie, Gussie manages to hit him on the head with an oil painting. Wodehouses most enduring literary creation is the duo of Jeeves and Wooster. In the first novel in which he appears, he is an "amateur dictator" and the leader of a fictional fascist group in London called the Saviours of Britain, also known as the Black Shorts. He was nearly sixty when he was released. Wodehouse had a rarer trait, too: a capacity for remaining interested and curious, even in a setting of deprivation. At one point, Wooster tells Sir Roderick: "The trouble with you, Spode, is that because you have succeeded in inducing a handful of halfwits to disfigure the London scene by going about in black shorts, you think you're someone. At one point, Wooster tells Sir Roderick: "The trouble . He said he could have made it more by adding water, which would have spoiled it.. He describes having ten minutes to pack a suitcase while a German soldier stands behind him telling him to hurry up; his wife thinks he should pack a pound of butter; he declines, saying he prefers his Shakespeare unbuttered. He also forgets his passport. Spode, who is clearly based on Oswald Mosley, is the leader of a militaristic fascist group called the Blackshorts (shorts because all the shirt colours had already been taken) and is inordinately fond of throwing his considerable weight around: Here he laid a hand on my shoulder, and I cant remember when I have experienced anything more unpleasant. It was a point of honor with us not to whine. Wodehouse failed to understand how even a childrens bedtime story broadcast on Nazi radio could be a form of propaganda. In fact, before I hit you with the serious political material, lets just enjoy a few: I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled., Its an extraordinary thing every time I see you, you appear to be recovering from some debauch. Wodehouse had to write. A violent man, he threatens to tear Bertie's head off and make him eat it. I thought that people, hearing the talks, would admire me for having kept cheerful under difficult conditions but I think I can say that what chiefly led me to make the talks was gratitude. Later, Wodehouse wrote to the editor of The Saturday Evening Post that he didnt understand why the broadcasts were seen to be callous: Mine simply flippant cheerful attitude of all British prisoners. Nobody could honestly call Wodehouse a fascist sympathiser. One favorite plot hinges on a banjolele. At Tost, in what is now Poland, the fourth of four camps, Wodehouse was offered his own room, on account of his fame, and maybe his age. Aunt Dahlia ends up using a cosh she found on the ground to knock out Spode, which allows her to retrieve her fake necklace from a safe in order to hide it so it cannot be appraised. Like that of many comfortable teen-agers, my reading taste was more for the moody, or the extreme. He admitted as much himself, writing in May 1945: "I made an ass of myself and must pay the penalty." However, the blackmail plan is unsuccessful, because, as Spode tells Aunt Dahlia, he has sold Eulalie Soeurs. Which book would that be? and you imagine it is the Voice of the People. And isnt it beautiful to see fascists being treated with exactly the contempt they deserve? There's a brilliant scene (not in the book) where he outlines his five-year plan. One of my favorite characters from 20th century pop fiction is Roderick Spode, also known as Lord Sidcup, from the 1930s series Jeeves and Wooster by P.G. [18] This alludes to various radical groups: Mussolini's Blackshirts, Hitler's Brownshirts, the French Blueshirts and Greenshirts, the Irish Blueshirts and Greenshirts, the South African Greyshirts, Mexico's Gold shirts, and the American Silver Shirts. [9], In The Code of the Woosters, most of which takes place at Sir Watkyn's country house, Totleigh Towers, Spode is the leader of the Black Shorts. Its like Holmes and Watson, but no one ever gets murdered; no one even goes hungry. What the Voice of the People is saying is: "Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags! True defenders of liberty. In the TV series Jeeves and Wooster, the Black Shorts are portrayed as a tiny group of around a dozen teenage-boys and men. Fictional character in P. G. Wodehouse stories, Roderick Spode, as played by John Turner in the television series, List of P. G. Wodehouse characters in the Jeeves stories, "Jeeves, Lyrics To The 'Lost' Songs: Eulalie", "Jeeves, Lyrics To The 'Lost' Songs: SPODE", "What Ho, Jeeves! Declining the offer, he shared a cell with sixty-three others. 19:21, 19 November 2005 (UTC)Reply[reply], Spode is a star in the TV series 'Jeeves & Wooster' & a shining exception to the general miscasting (Jeeves isn't old enough, Bertie isn't young enough, Madeline Bassett isn't silly enough & Sir Watkyn isn't nasty enough). Spode threatens to beat Bertie to a jelly if he steals the cow-creamer from Sir Watkyn. Bertie : Break his neck, right. It is often maintained that what divides present-day political parties is a basic opposition in their ultimate philosophical commitments that cannot be settled by rational argument. [2] When he first sees Spode, Bertie describes him: About seven feet in height, and swathed in a plaid ulster which made him look about six feet across, he caught the eye and arrested it. Jeeves & Wooster: Roderick Spode 6 - YouTube and you imagine it is the Voice of the People. The only privilege of which he availed himself was paying eighteen marks a month for a typewriter. How about when you are asleep?, She laughed a bit louder than I could have wished in my frail state of health, but then she is always a woman who tends to bring plaster falling from the ceiling when amused.. Spode, who does not want his followers to learn about his career as a designer of ladies' lingerie, is forced not to bother Bertie or Gussie. Rather than a tedious denunciation, Wodehouse gives us something more effective. When an M.I.5 officer and former barrister, Major Edward Cussen, interviewed Wodehouse, he said that he had wanted to reach out to his Americanpublic, who had written to him and senthim parcels while he was interned. You hear them shouting 'Heil, Spode!' By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. [14], Although Spode regularly threatens to harm others, he is generally the one who gets injured. Its tail was arched, so that the tip touched the spinethus, I suppose, affording a handle for the cream-lover to grasp. Roderick Spode of Totleigh Towers, head of the Black Shorts in The Code of the Woosters, secretly designs ladies' underclothing under the trade name of Eulalie Soeurs, of Bond Streetknowledge of which renders him harmless to Bertie, whom he despises, distrusts, and often threatens with violence. Cf. [14], Although Spode regularly threatens to harm others, he is generally the one who gets injured. People need to understand, as F.A. At the same time, we are mistaken to think they are not a threat to civilized life. But the Code of the Woosters has a message for us here, too. Bertie says in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves that before Spode succeeded to his title, he had been "one of those Dictators who were fairly common at one time in the metropolis", but "he gave it up when he became Lord Sidcup". One aims at the carelessly graceful break over the instep. Roderick Spode - The Black Shorts - LiquiSearch Confronted by Roderick Spode, tyrannical leader of the Black Shorts, Bertie Wooster lets rip: "The trouble with you, Spode, is that just because you have succeeded in inducing a handful of. One thinksif one has been reading a lot of Wodehouseof those ducks elegantly moving across the water, as their duck feet paddle furiously, unseen below the surface. After two years, he decided that he could make a living by his pen alone. Spode, we learn, is the head of the Black Shorts, a group clearly kin to Mussolinis Blackshirts, but hampered by a shortage of shirts. It is available from the Guardian bookshop for 7.37. Jeeves gets Wooster out of tangles. [15] In other novels, Spode is knocked out three times: he is hit with a cosh by Bertie's Aunt Dahlia in Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit, he is punched by Harold Pinker in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, and Emerald Stoker smashes a china basin on his head in the same book. Many take place in country houses, and often turn on such events as the hope of extracting an allowance increase from a difficult uncle. That these are all mirthless, absurd nincompoops. In The Code of the Woosters, Spode is an "amateur dictator" who leads a farcical group of fascists called the Saviours of Britain, better known as the Black Shorts. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. In the television series Endeavour (series five episode four "Colours"), there is a reference to "Spode and Webley" being shot as fascists. If you will recollect, we are now in Autumn season of mists and mellow fruitfulness., I couldn't have made a better shot, if I had been one of those detectives who see a chap walking along the street and deduce that he is a retired manufacturer of poppet valves named Robinson with rheumatism in one arm, living at Clapham., You cant fling the hands up in a passionate gesture when you are driving a car at fifty miles an hour. Opposition blocked Wodehouses being knighted in 1967, but sentiment was shifting. Spode, based on Mosley, was exposed for his ownership of Eulallie Souers, ladies' underwear makers. Though, as in the twist of one of his plots, not in the way one might have expected. [12], In Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, which takes place at Totleigh Towers, Spode is as protective of Madeline as ever and threatens to break Bertie's neck when he thinks that he has caused Madeline to cry (she was shedding a tear because she thought Bertie was lovesick and could not stay away from her). . "[4], Like Bertie, Spode had been educated at Oxford; during his time there, he once stole a policeman's helmet. Spode is a star in the TV series 'Jeeves & Wooster' & a shining exception to the general miscasting (Jeeves isn't old enough, Bertie isn't young enough, Madeline Bassett isn't silly enough & Sir Watkyn isn't nasty enough). Roderick Spode, 7th Earl of Sidcup, often known as Spode or Lord Sidcup, is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. 174.91.4.148 (talk) 00:49, 10 October 2011 (UTC)Reply[reply]. Roderick Spode of Totleigh Towers, head of the Black Shorts in The Code of the Woosters, secretly designs ladies' underclothing under the trade name of Eulalie Soeurs, of Bond Streetknowledge of which renders him harmless to Bertie, whom he despises, distrusts, and often threatens with violence. Our problem isnt just post-truth, its post-irony. He has crossed a line that has to be held. He is also hit in the eye with a potato at a candidate debate in Much Obliged, Jeeves.[16]. He lost nearly sixty pounds. Like everyone else, I had assumed that it was because of his behaviour during the war that P G Wodehouse was kept waiting for his knighthood until a month before his death in 1975, at the age of 93. Wodehouse, and hilariously portrayed in the 1990s TV adaptation starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. Did you ever in your puff see such a perfect perisher?, There is a fog, sir. Sir Oswald Mosley, 1930's leader of the British Union of Fascists. He lost nearly sixty pounds. Apart from anything else, Sir Patrick's memo was extraordinarily insulting to Americans. Bertie then hits Spode with a vase, but gets grabbed by Spode; Bertie frees himself by burning Spode with a cigarette.
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