Wodehouse, and hilariously portrayed in the 1990s TV adaptation starring Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. : 21: The Plot Thickens", "Classic Serial: The Code of The Woosters", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roderick_Spode&oldid=1150150913, Fascist politician and designer of ladies' lingerie, later Earl of Sidcup, This page was last edited on 16 April 2023, at 16:01. The entire caricature was a humiliation for the fascists of the period because it spoke truth. The book would be worth treasuring for such writing alone. In real life, Mosley in the UK and Rockwell in the US were a serious menace, as much as the establishments they opposed. A violent man, he threatens to tear Bertie's head off and make him eat it. It was at least understandable, and particularly in the decade or two after the war, that successive British governments should have been reluctant to honour a man who, however innocently, had allowed himself to be used by the Germans. However, the blackmail plan is unsuccessful, because, as Spode tells Aunt Dahlia, he has sold Eulalie Soeurs. in the UK, or more well-known statesmen in interwar Europe. Talk:Roderick Spode - Wikipedia The Code of the Woosters: PG Wodehouse's guide to fighting fascism You agreee with me that the situation is a lulu? Madeline, who wanted to gain the title Lady Sidcup, breaks their engagement, and says she will marry Bertie instead. When Bertie Wooster rebukes Spode in The Code of the Woosters (1938), he mocks Spode's black shorts, calling them "footer bags" (football shorts): "It is about time", I proceeded, "that some public-spirited person came along and told you where you got off. Roderick Spode - 8th Earl of Sidcup : He knows why. I no longer think so. My first encounter with Wodehouse was as a teen-ager, as my hard-of-hearing father stood two feet away from the television, the volume turned up to maximum. Bertie then hits Spode with a vase, but gets grabbed by Spode; Bertie frees himself by burning Spode with a cigarette. Wodehouse was a fool but not, by most definitions, a traitor. The Saviours of Britain, nicknamed the Black Shorts, is a fictional fascist group led by Roderick Spode. 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. What the Voice of the People is saying is: 'Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags! A handful of people take him seriously but mostly he and his "brownshort" followers are merely a source of . Their plans for economic life are ridiculous. The proposal was rejected, it now emerges, after it had been put to Sir Patrick Dean, who was then the British ambassador in Washington. . There are lots of political fools. He admitted as much himself, writing in May 1945: "I made an ass of myself and must pay the penalty." In his other life, he is the owner, by virtue of family inheritance, of a shop that designs intimate clothing for women. We could argue all day about the shades of grey, but when the question is as black and white as the fight against fascism, I would be mighty glad to link arms with someone with such a strong sense of fair play, such generous kindness, and so much warm feeling for his fellow humans. Civilian men were normally released at the age of sixty. 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. 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. In 1938, Wodehouse published the third of the Jeeves-and-Wooster novels, The Code of the Woosters. It came out serially in The Saturday Evening Post, and was the last of the books issued before his internment. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. What a dream! But when I say 'cow', don't 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. As Spode's fiance, Madeline goes with him. Not aunts., Its an extraordinary thingevery time I see you, you appear to be recovering from some debauch. Nobody could honestly call Wodehouse a fascist sympathiser. [2] Bertie immediately thinks of Spode as "the Dictator" even before he learns of Spode's political ambitions. The books are cozier than cozy mysteries, and, like a mystery, they help take ones mind off real calamities. There were angry letters to the BBC, calling the broadcast slanderous. They are still engaged at the end of the novel. Which book would that be? [5] While the leader of the Black Shorts, he is also secretly a designer of ladies' underclothing, being the proprietor of Eulalie Soeurs of Bond Street. The trouble with you, Spode, is that just because you have succeeded in inducing a handful of half-wits to disfigure the London scene by going about in black shorts, you think you're someone. Its a question of how best to deal with them. Welcome back. A wonderful day! Wodehouse wrote in his diary while in an internment camp. The proposal for the broadcasts was part of a German plan. The distance of time makes it difficult for students to imagine how the innocuous and honest Wodehouse voice of the broadcasts could get him into so much trouble. I dont necessarily read them front to back, but pick them up more as someone would a whiskey-and-soda, or a hymnal. I seem to remember that the new Lord Sidcup strongly considered disclaiming the title (under the Peerage Act 1963) in order to stand for the Commons, but his Countess wouldn't stand for it. The moment I had set eyes on Spode, if you remember, I had said to myself What ho! Im reading Wodehouse novels every evening now, not because my own life is difficultIm eating a lot of peanut butter, and am healthybut because whenever the impersonal or personal news cycle becomes overwhelming I find that its easier to transition into a night of sleep after a character is described as looking like a bewildered halibut. Straight out of Wodehouse: could Boris Johnson be a Roderick Spode