Brideshead Flyte, the Honorable the Earl of Brideshead, eldest son and heir to the Marquess of Marchmain. As scion to one of the most senior families in the nobility, he is as conventional, conservative and stiff-upper-lipped as one might expect. And yet something is not quite right. Bridey, as his family call him, lacks the normal social graces of a man of his class. He seemingly has no friends, is pedantic to the level of tedium and remains single for a disconcertingly long time. He first tries for ordination as a Catholic priest, and later he tries to join a monastery, both endeavours coming to nothing. In fact the seemingly greatest achievement of his life was when he uncovered Rex Mottram's previous marriage, and consequently the impossibility of his marrying sister Julia ... though she married him anyway. In later years he finally found a woman with whom he was comfortable enough to set up a household with. She is Beryl - a widow, and a commoner, with three children. They take up rooms in Brideshead Castle, but ultimately it is Beryl's lack of class, and also their unlikeliness to have any further children who would be Bridey's, which ultimately decides Lord Marchmain to change his will in Julia's favour, breaking the entail. Show less «