Themes of Brideshead Revisited

In the novel Brideshead Revisited there are several themes that emerge throughout the story. The central theme of the novel is religion, with an emphasis on Catholicism. The topic of religion is very common in the novel and relates to each of the characters. Although all are not religious, each has been around Catholicism at one time or another. Another theme is alcoholism and it surrounds Sebastian during his lifetime. The first time Sebastian and Charles meet Sebastian is drunk and pukes into Charles’s window. His alcoholism grows as he gets older and his family does not do much to help his problem. Male friendship is another dominant theme and it can be seen through the relationship between Sebastian and Charles. Though it is never officially stated that they are homosexuals, there are several implications throughout the novel that support this theory.
Lady Marchmain is one of the most devout Christian of all the characters in the novel and tries to convert those around her. The only other person who has a similar devotion is Cordelia. Charles is an agnostic and has never been truly introduced to religion until he meets Sebastian and his family. He never truly understands religion until the end of the novel in the epilogue. In the epilogue Charles returns to Brideshead on military business and is delighted to find that the chapel is still unchanged from the last time he saw it. He enters the chapel and says a small prayer, the only time in the story that Charles exhibits any religious behavior. Lady Marchmain raises her children in a religious household and while this seems to work for some of the children, for others it causes them to resist it. Sebastian believes in Catholicism but has a difficult time adhering to the rules of the church. But in the end of the novel Sebastian becomes an aide at a monetary, a sign that he has returned to his religion. Brideshead is religious but only because that was the way he was raised. He believes it is what he is...