Psmith - Life and Character

Life and Character

We first meet Psmith shortly after he has been expelled from Eton, and sent to Sedleigh, where he meets Mike, and their long friendship begins. As tall and thin a boy as he will later be a man, he is even then immaculately dressed, and sports his trademark monocle; his speech is fluid and flowery.

Psmith is the only major character taken from real life. Galahad is a sort of grown-up Psmith.

The “Psmith” name, he admits from the start, is one he has adopted that morning, as there are too many “Smiths”. His father, Mr Smith, is a fairly wealthy man, although a little eccentric, who lives at Corfby Hall, Lower Benford, in Shropshire, not far from Crofton where his friend Mike grew up; he later moves to Ilsworth Hall, in a "neighbouring county", mostly to find better cricket.

Not the most active of youths, Psmith spends much of his time at Sedleigh lounging in deck chairs. His most notable talent, even at this age, is a remarkable verbal dexterity, which he uses to confound and confuse boys and masters alike; with his sombre, still face, it is often impossible to tell if he is being serious or mocking. This skill frequently comes in handy, to get himself and his friends out of difficulty. In such circumstances, he is even known to move fairly quickly too.

While at Eton, he was a competent cricketer, on the verge of the first team - a slow left-arm bowler with a swerve, his enormous reach also makes him handy with a bat when some fast hitting is required, such as in the match between Sedleigh and Wrykyn at the climax of Mike and Psmith.

After Sedleigh, Psmith goes to work at the New Asiatic Bank, having annoyed his father's schoolfriend John Bickersdyke. After a time there, he persuades his father he should study to become a lawyer, and goes to Cambridge, accompanied as ever by his friend and companion Mike.

During the summer after their first year, Psmith travels to New York, accompanying Mike, who is on a cricketing tour with the M.C.C. There, he gets involved with the magazine Cosy Moments, befriending its temporary editor Billy Windsor and helping in its crusade against slum housing, which involves clashes with violent gangsters. We discover in the last chapter, when the head editor returns, that Psmith has persuaded his father to let him invest some money he has inherited from an uncle and now, in fact, owns the magazine.

After university, his father dies, having made some unsound investments. As a result, Psmith must work for a time for an uncle in the fish business, something which repels him. He leaves the job shortly before meeting and falling for Eve Halliday, whom he follows to Blandings Castle. Despite having entered the castle claiming to be Canadian poet Ralston McTodd, he is eventually hired as secretary to Lord Emsworth, who knew his father by reputation.

In a preface to the 1953 version of Mike and Psmith, Wodehouse informs us that Psmith went on to become a successful defence lawyer, in the style of Perry Mason.

Psmith is a somewhat selfish young man; however, he is generous towards those he likes. In a typical example from Leave it to Psmith, he perceives Eve, trapped by the rain under an awning, and decides, chivalrous gentleman that he is, to get her an umbrella. Unfortunately for Psmith, he does not, in point of fact, possess an umbrella. He solves this problem by appropriating another man's umbrella; when confronted by the umbrella's owner, Psmith attempts to comfort him by saying it is for a good cause, and, later, when relating the story, says, "Merely practical Socialism. Other people are content to talk about the Redistribution of Property. I go out and do it." (Another of Psmith's quirks is his penchant for nominal socialism, observed mostly in his casual use of "Comrade" as a substitute for "Mister.")