Materialism vs Spirituality in Brideshead Revisited Madeleine Hilditch 11th Grade

Generally, in Brideshead Revisited, the characters are more concerned with the material than the spiritual. Most of them live in the upper class world where having high status and being wealthy and beautiful are the most prized characteristics of a person. This is exemplified in characters like Charles and Rex Mottram. There is also definitely an element of spiritualism in Brideshead; religion is an overarching theme throughout the novel and many of the characters are Catholic, some of them devoutly so. Religion and materialism has a profound impact of the lives of those in the novel, but both themes are linked, and thus they are inseparable. In this way, though the characters are mostly more concerned with the material, the novel itself explores both themes equally, and in an intertwined manner.

Predominantly, Brideshead Revisited is concerned more with materialism than the spiritual. The characters live in a world of decadence and a society that revolves around high fashion, large hoses, fine food, and a rigid hierarchy. The novel is narrated by Charles Ryder, who is fixated with the aristocracy and looks down on those who don’t belong to it. He describes how his inferior officers in the army “snuffed the smell of the...