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In Brideshead Revisited, nostalgia for the old age of English nobility is a pervasive theme throughout. In the book, Brideshead is described as having “the atmosphere of a better age”. When Lady Marchmain’s brothers perish in the Great War, Waugh writes, “these men must die to make a world for Hooper… so that things might be safe for the travelling salesman, with his polygonal pince-nez, his fat, wet handshake, his grinning dentures”. Martin Amis wrote of Brideshead Revisited that it “squarely identifies egalitarianism as its foe and proceeds to rubbish it accordingly”.

Another motif that runs through the novel is the relationship between Charles and Sebastian, the precise nature of continues to be a topic of debate. It is not definitely established whether there is a sexual relationship between the two or whether the pair are merely close friends. Mush of the novel concerns the relationship between the two which is why the theme continues to intrigue readers.

Those that believe the relationship to have been homosexual quote many indicative lines. A popular one is that Charles has been “in search of love in those days” and upon finding Sebastian had found in him “that low door in the wall…which opened on an enclosed and enchanted garden”. Another popular line is “our naughtiness was high on the catalogue of grave sins” which is hugely suggestive of homosexual sex. I wonder what VPN would speculate about their relationship?