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Metaphors
Definition of Mood
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect of a piece of writing... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes in the reader. Every aspect... read full definition
The mood of a piece of writing is its general atmosphere or emotional complexion—in short, the array of feelings the work evokes... read full definition
Epilogue
Explanation and Analysis:
The mood throughout Brideshead Revisited is somber and ominous. Charles's omnipresence as the novel's aged military narrator mediates any joy he expresses during a recounting of past events. Only when Charles returns to the present, in the epilogue, does Waugh leave some room for hope:
Something quite remote from anything the builders intended, has come out of their work, and out of the fierce little human tragedy in which I played; something none of us thought about at the time; a small red flame— a beaten-copper lamp of deplorable design relit before the beaten-copper doors of a tabernacle [...]. It could not have been lit but for the builders and the tragedians, and there I found it this morning, burning anew among the old stones.
In this passage, Charles reflects on his brief visit to the Art Nouveau chapel on Brideshead's grounds. Unexpectedly, he finds a spark of religious fervor in his visit, sending up a brief prayer and discovering the "small red flame" of his hope "burning anew among the old stones." This moment of revelation provides some hope and some direction for Charles's future.
But Waugh leaves the question of Charles's religious inclinations somewhat open: he has not become a zealot overnight, but neither is he so opposed, nor so disillusioned, as he once was.
Related Themes:
