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Evelyn Waugh: Narcissistic personality and psychopathology
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Michael Fitzgerald,
Former Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Trinity College, Dublin 2,
Ireland.
www.profmichaelfitzgerald.eu
e-mail: profmichaelfitzgerald@gmail.com
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Evelyn Waugh was a writer of genius. Of course, this nearly always is associated with a dark side, which
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does not take from his genius, but seems to be necessary for genius. Normality, (Fitzgerald, 2018), is not
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associated with genius although what is normality, is also debated. The public saw him as a, ̔monster̕,
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(Hastings, 1994). Hastings, (1994) also stated that he was, ̔one of the great prose stylists of the twentieth
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century and that as a man, he was a monster̕. She also stated that Malcolm Muggeridge stated that he
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was, ̔the nastiest tempered man in England,̕ but he was also described as a, ̔saint̕, and, ̔capable of generosity
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and compassion̕ . In addition, she noted that he had, ̔a deep seam of anger and resentment notoriously
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exploding in demonstrations of cruelty and rage̕, and finally, that Hilaire Belloc described him
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as, ̔diabolically possessed.̕
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Family:
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According to Hastings, (1994), ̔his parents were kind, gentle people; his paternal grandfather on the other
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hand was an irascible and sadistic character, known within the family as, ̔the brute̕. There is little doubt that
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he inherited significant genes from his paternal grandfather, via his father and these were of critical
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importance for his creativity. His paternal grandfather also had, ̔fierce, unpredictable rages̕, which Evelyn
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also showed as well as, ̔sadism̕ , and cruelty in behaviour towards his wife and children. Through his mother,
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he inherited genes which were probably equally important from his great-great-grandfather who was
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an, ̔eccentric and brilliant man̕ , (Hastings, 1994). To get a true genius like Evelyn, you probably need to
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inherit genes from both parents which come together in a form of epistasis, (Gardner, 1997).
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Childhood:
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He was a hyperkinetic child, who was very loud and could spend the, ̔whole afternoon obsessively bowling a
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tennis ball at the nursery wall,̕ (Hastings, 1994). He was oppositional and defiant. He was a hypersensitive
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child and his brother, Alec was the favourite child and Evelyn experienced an intense sibling rivalry.
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Evelyn was outgoing and loved social occasions and was a leader of other children. He was novelty-
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seeking, sensation-seeking and adventurous, (Fitzgerald, 2008). He was writing adventure stories from the
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age of six. He showed some traits of being a bully and cruelty from an early age, (Hastings, 1994). Cecil
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Beaton said he was, ̔a very sensitive character̕, (Hastings, 1994). He also had talent in the visual arts,
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sketching and drawing.
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Oxford:
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He began excessive drinking in college, spending excessively and got into debt. He loved fine clothes. His
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academic record at Oxford was poor. He then became a teacher at various schools; not very successfully.
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He got depressed, had suicidal thoughts and may have attempted suicide, but this is far from definite.
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Marriage and adult life:
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He married Evelyn Gardner, whom he loved. She did not love him and only married him to get away from
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her home. She started an affair very early in the marriage and this led to divorce. Then he became quite
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depressed and suicidal.
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Traveler:
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He was always a great traveler, wandering and this satisfied his novelty-seeking and sensation-seeking. As a
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journalist he covered many major events about Africa, etc. He was rebellious.
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Catholicism:
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He converted to Catholicism and had the zeal of a convert. He formed a relationship with a woman called
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Laura, who was only eighteen years old and pursued her for many years. He could not get married in the
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catholic church because he was divorced. Eventually he got an annulment from the catholic church. He was
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always argumentative, controlling and dominating. He was very right-wing and admired controlling and
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dominating leaders. He admired Mussolini and his invasion of Abyssinia. He hated liberals.
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Narcissistic Personality Disorder:
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He showed signs of histrionic personality, but narcissism fits him better. He was excessively emotional and
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attention-seeking and wanted himself to be the center of attention. He had a, ̔volcanic temperament̕,
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and, ̔neurotic instability̕, (Stannard, 1988). He was extremely provocative in his comments, often upsetting
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people. This behaviour didn’t seem to bother him. He was, ̔acerbic̕, and, ̔fundamentally aggressive̕, and he
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saw the world as, ̔largely populated by a rabble of potential or actual savages̕, (Stannard, 1988). He gave
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particular attention to his clothes and dress from his Oxford days onwards. He often showed socially
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dramatic and exaggerated emotion, which upset people. He considered his first marriage to be more
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intimate than it was. His first wife didn’t love him. He had no awareness of this at the time.
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Moving on now more specifically to narcissistic personality disorder, he always from childhood had a strong
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sense of his own self-importance, but his accomplishments in the army were poor. He did become a writer
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of genius later. He was very jealous and envious of rivals, for example, Connolly. He was conscious of his
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narcissism and asked if he was getting, ̔folie de grandeur̕, (Stannard, 1988). He became a man, ̔of crusades̕,
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(Stannard, 1988). ̔He was acting all the time̕, (Stannard, 1988). He had a false sense of self, with identity
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diffusion where he constantly presented different aspects of his false self. He, ̔hungered for absolute
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standards̕, and had a, ̔fashionable aestheticism̕ , (Stannard, 1988). Stannard, (1988), also described Evelyn
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as, ̔a great British eccentric̕, a, ̔Woodhouse figure̕, who was exhibitionistic as well as being a, ̔mob-orator̕,
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and also being, ̔pugnacious and vainglorious̕. He was a snob. Stannard (1988) also noted that, ̔he was an
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awkward child, whose blustering self-assertion and tantrums interspersed with equally unpredictable
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withdrawals and hurt silences̕. He was a puzzling contradictory figure. Waugh described himself
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as, ̔fatuously haughty̕, ̔vindictive̕, and, ̔peers saw that he was perverse̕, and, ̔a bit mad,̕ loathing, ̔ugliness̕, and
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insisted on an, ̔abstract aesthetic ideal,̕ (Stannard, 1988). He was also severely narcissistically wounded
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because he was only 5ft 5”. He liked narcissistically wounding other people. Stannard, (1988) noted that
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there was an, ̔element of pose in his criticisms and of sheer malice̕, and that Waugh, ̔thrived in animosity̕.
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He had a great deal of narcissistic contempt for people, including authority figures and was something like
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Sebastian in, ̔Brideshead Revisited.̕ For Evelyn Waugh, ̔accepting charity, appalled his reckless generosity̕,
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and he had, ̔sneering criticism of the second rate̕, and the, ̔underbred,̕ which he remained, ̔aloof.(Stannard,
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1988). He was narcissistically defiant. After Oxford, Stannard, (1988) described him as behaving like
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a, ̔spoiled child,̕ who felt, ̔the world owed him a living̕, and when he received money from his father to pay
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debts, ̔it outraged Waugh’s dignity̕. Stannard (1988) noted a, ̔phantasmagoric life̕, for a period after Oxford
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when he became a teacher because he was so desperate for money and was described as, ̔spoiled,̕ ̔petulant̕,
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and, ̔angry̕, and was narcissistically wounded by, ̔mockery̕. At this time, there was supposed to be an
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unsuccessful suicide attempt, at least that’s the story. He was quite misanthropic and had an, ̔obsessive fear
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of anonymity̕, and was narcissistically wounded when he thought people had, ̔snubbed him̕ , at Notting Hill
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school, where he taught, and he described ̔all the masters dropping their aitches and spitting in the fire and
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scratching their genitals̕, (Stannard, 1988). He had, ̔neurotic class consciousness̕, (Stannard, 1988). In the
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army, Waugh had an, ̔inability to get on with other ranks, veering awkwardly in his manner between
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contempt and condescension. He was arrogant when giving orders to the soldier – servants, or Marine
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Officers Attendants, who were not slow to resent it̕, (Hastings, 1994). In the army mess, he behaved in a
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typically narcissistically fashion, displaying his, ̔connoisseurship as a wine buff,̕ and used to, ̔tody up to
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anyone with a title̕, which he longed for himself but he lacked, ̔the patrician character that properly suited his
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self-image̕, (Hastings, 1994). He was attention-seeking in the army and invented, ̔outrageous stories about
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his companions̕, and was, ̔deliberately provocative during an air raid … where everyone except Evelyn took
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their places in the slit trench̕, (Hastings, 1998). It is not surprising that John Russell, in reviewing
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the, ̔Brideshead Revisited,̕ novel, noted, ̔the complete uncharity and complete unhumility of every line of it̕,
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(Hastings, 1994).
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He felt himself to be special and unique and at dinner, could not be placed near an uninteresting person. If
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this happened, he would complain loudly to the host as he regarded himself as a special person
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and, ̔moderation never appealed,̕ to him, (Stannard, 1988).
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He was very upset when he did not get a Knighthood. He had a sense of entitlement. He wouldn’t go to his
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particular Oxford Dinner because his pride was outraged at not being, ̔the principal guest̕, (Stannard, 1988).
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In the army, he made, ̔obstreperous … demands for special treatment̕, and was, ̔intolerant and quick to
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condemn, impelled by an almost fanatical search for perfection̕ , (Hastings, 1994). He was exploitative and
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would take advantage of people. He was cruel and often showed a lack of empathy. He had, ̔a mockery of
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weakness̕, (Stannard, 1988). He said that, ̔he must regard all his friendships as things of three to six months̕,
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(Stannard, 1988). This was because of his lack of empathy and conflict with people. In the army, he
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showed soldiers his, ̔cruel,̕ wit, (Hastings, 1994). He had, ̔an explosive temper̕, and, ̔a notorious lack of
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charity towards his fellow men̕ . Nancy Mitford asked him how he could reconcile to being so horrible
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with, ̔being a Christian̕ , (Hastings, 1994). In relation to his Catholicism, ̔he was a self-appointed grand
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inquisitor, punitive and puritanical. He rarely hesitated to apply the scourge where he judged it necessary̕,
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and according to Hastings, (1994), was a, ̔military disgrace̕. Nevertheless, Hitchens (2003) said that he
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showed evidence of, ̔gallantry̕ . Hastings, (1994) pointed out that Waugh, ̔deluged the mild-mannered
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Betjeman with fire and brimstone orations, threatening him with hell and eternal damnation if he refused to
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see the light̕, and become a catholic. Evelyn said, ̔I am by nature a bully̕, (Hastings, 1994). Hastings,
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(1994), noted that Evelyn, ̔would have no mercy scenting fear, he would move in for the kill,̕ and was
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excited by conflict with people which of course, drove them away from him. He was bored and irritated by
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children and contemptuous of so many people whom he found uninteresting, if not stupid. On one occasion,
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he damaged a hotel room and liked to play the, ̔belligerent clown̕ , (Hastings, 1994). He was novelty-seeking
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and sensation-seeking. He was, ̔censorious̕, ̔insulting̕, ̔testy with people̕, as well as
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being, ̔condescending̕, ̔pompous as well as being provocative̕, (Hastings, 1994). He was arrogant and
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according to Hastings, (1994), ̔his chief flaw was an inability to get on with other ranks, veering awkwardly
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in his manner between contempt and condescension̕ , and had, ̔an arrogant disregard for orders from higher
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officers.
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Depression:
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Stannard, (1998) stated that he, ̔suffered from manic depressive boredom̕ , and was, ̔fundamentally
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melancholy̕, and that sometimes, ̔melancholia deepened to paranoia̕ . Evelyn was pessimistic in
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temperament, an excessive drinker which caused further depression and he was contemptuous of the Welsh
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where he taught. He stated, ̔I have a heart of lead and nerves of fire and can see no hope of anything ever
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happening̕, (Stannard, 1988). Stannard, (1988) said he often described, ̔depression and a nasty sense of
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persecution̕ .
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Conclusion:
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In conclusion Evelyn was a literary genius with a narcissistic personality disorder.
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References:
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American Psychiatric Association (2013): DSM 5. Washington D.C. American Psychiatric Association.
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Fitzgerald M., (2008): ADHD, creativity, novelty-seeking and risk-taking. New York: Nova Science.
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Fitzgerald M., (2018): Normality and abnormality in psychiatry. Doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.17216.07688.
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Gardner H., (1997): Extraordinary minds. New York: Basic Books.
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Hastings S., (1994): Evelyn Waugh. London: Sinclair-Stevenson.
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Hitchens C., (2003): The permanent adolescent.
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https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2003/05/the-permanent-adolescent/302717.
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