The novel Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh, explores the meaning of love and the many incarnations it can take; love of family and friends, romantic love and love of God. The novel follows Charles Ryder throughout his youth and into adulthood focusing on his relationships with Sebastian, Celia, Julia, and God. Waugh also contrasts Charles's relationship with Julia with Bridey's relationship with his wife, Beryl. Through these relationships, Waugh's idea of ​​the construction of love becomes apparent; we learn to love by loving and in this way the love of a parent or friend can be a precursor to romantic love. Waugh also believes that the love of God is the basis and precursor of all love and that without it no other love can be sanctified. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Sebastian is Charles' first love in his young life. Charles received no love through his macabre relationship with his father, and Charles' friends at Oxford before Sebastian are presented as intellectual but boring. We define ourselves by our relationships with others and because Charles neither loves nor receives love, as we are aware, he is vulnerable to Sebastian's promise of friendship and with it a sense of belonging. He truly falls in love with Sebastian when Sebastian flips through an art theory book and reads: "Does anyone feel the same kind of emotion for a butterfly or a flower as they do for a cathedral or a painting? ? and said “Yes. I do” (Waugh 28). Because their love is so deep and they are almost inseparable, it is easy to mistake Charles and Sebastian for homosexuals, even the prostitutes of the Old Hundredth misidentify them as "Fairies" (Waugh 116). Cara, Lord Marchmain's mistress, addresses this subject when she tells Charles: "I know these romantic friendships of the English... It's the kind of love that comes to children before they know its meaning." (Waugh 102). Waugh has long been believed to be bisexual. In her biography Mad World: Evelyn Waugh And The Secrets of Brideshead, Paula Byrne states that Sebastian is a composite of two of Waugh's three lovers, Alistair Graham and Hugh Lygon, citing the fact that in some manuscripts Alistair's name is written in place of Sebastian (Stephen 1). With this biographical information in mind and Cara's opinion, it seems that Waugh views the relationship between Charles and Sebastian as being more than just friendship. Although I do not believe that Charles and Sebastian are homosexual, I do believe that their love is a form of romantic love without a physical aspect. Cara also recognizes that Sebastian is stuck in his childhood and predicts his demise, saying, "He'll be a drunk if someone doesn't come and stop him...I see it in the way he drinks" (103). Despite Sebastian's decline into alcoholism, Charles remains loyal to him, telling Sebastian that he does not have to hide his drinks from him and even giving him money to go to the bar. Charles recognizes that trying to corner Sebastian will only make him more desperate to escape. As Sebastian moves further and further away from Brideshead and the constraints of his family, his friendship with Charles runs out of steam but this love is not lost, it is only transferred, that of Sebastian to his love of God and that of from Charles to his possible love for Julia. Before Julia, however, Charles met and married Celia with whom he had two children. We are introduced to Celia's relationship with Charles on his deathbed. It doesn't seem to matter to Waugh that we know if there was ever love between them, when we are allowed into theirstory, all traces of love have disappeared. Celia teases Charles upon his return from abroad by saying “…Have you [fallen in love with someone else in the meantime]”, he replies “No. I’m not in love” (Waugh 231). Charles really has no love or even concern for Celia or her children, although we later learn that their paternity is questionable as Celia was to cheat on Charles with the young spotty Robin. This realization, however, only relieves Charles that he has a legitimate reason to hate Celia. Charles and Celia's relationship fails because they are essentially using each other. Celia uses Charles' talent to propel them both to success and Charles uses Celia to replace Sebastian. Neither, it seems, have any real attachment to each other. Even Charles's art suffers from his lack of love; because he has no love in his relationships, he cannot have love in his art and the result is cold and passionless. When Julia re-enters Charles' life, it's a welcome change from his stale marriage to Celia. When Charles and Julia's lives collide so many years later, they are both different people. Julia endured her marriage to Rex and a miscarriage, from which she emerged more mature and sadder. Charles has also suffered from his marriage to Celia, and he remains gray and passionless. When they meet again, the “light bat-like squeak of sexuality” that Charles felt years before develops into an intensely passionate affair that will last two years (Waugh 76). Charles loves Julia deeply, in part because he learned to love her by first loving his brother. Charles himself says that Sebastian was Julia's precursor, and when Julia accuses Charles of forgetting her, he thinks: "I hadn't forgotten Sebastian." He was with me daily in Julia; or rather it was Julia whom I had known in him” (Waugh 303). By learning to love Sebastian, Charles had learned to love the part of Sebastian that was Julia and was then able to transfer that love to Julia. The relationship between Charles and Julia seems destined to bring them the happiness they deserve, but it does not last. Charles' lack of religion drives a wedge between them, exacerbated by Julia's own religious crisis. When Bridey accuses Julia of living in sin, it resonates with her own shame and throws her into a hysterical fit that Charles can neither understand nor hope to resolve. In the end, Julia realizes that to repair her relationship with God, she must give up what she loves most; Charles. Charles says he knew before Julia even knew that this would be necessary. “I hope your heart breaks,” he said, “but I understand.” (Waugh 341) Despite its lack of passion, Bridey's marriage to Beryl is arguably the most successful in the novel. Neither marries for love, although Bridey is quick to point out that he is “ardently attracted” (Waugh 285). Beryl marries to provide financial security for her children after her husband's death and goes so far as to lie about her age and exaggerate her piety. Bridey does not marry for love or for matchboxes, but because he sees a woman as the next logical step in his life, and his father pressures him to marry. This incredibly logical approach to marriage contrasts with Charles and Julia's relationship which centers on their insatiable passion and emotional need for each other. And yet, as Charles and Julia's relationship deteriorates and ends, Bridey and Beryl seem reasonably happy. This seems to suggest that Waugh believes that long-term commitments should be centered on rationality and logistics rather than love or passion. Another reasoning,.