Lady Hermione Wedge

Who they are

Lady Hermione Wedge is one of Lord Emsworth’s many sisters and a formidable presence in Full Moon, published in 1947. The specialist annotation identifies the novel as her introduction, along with her husband Colonel Egbert Wedge and daughter Veronica. At Blandings she has strong views about a suitable match and about the conduct expected of the younger generation. The castle can seem a refuge to Clarence, but another Threepwood relative may treat it as a place where family decisions must be supervised.

There is a particular comic pleasure in watching a person arrive with complete confidence that everybody else’s priorities can be rearranged. Hermione is not simply Lady Constance under another name. The family resemblance in authority is useful, but Full Moon has a different set of young lovers and a different household balance. The reader need not decide which sister is objectively more formidable in order to enjoy the shift. Their power is felt through the plans other people make around them and through the words they choose when they discover a plan.

Personality and relationships

Clarence and Galahad are her brothers. Colonel Wedge is her husband, Veronica their daughter. Tipton Plimsoll enters the romantic and family calculations of Full Moon, where advice from the older generation can make a promising situation more difficult. Hermione’s presence as chatelaine gives the book a particular texture while Constance is absent. A name shared with a larger Threepwood family does not make all the sisters interchangeable, and the profiles keep their direct appearances separate.

Galahad at Blandings revisits the family, with specialist notes recalling the Wedges’ introduction in Full Moon. The later novel is a return, not the origin of the characters. A passage that merely recalls Hermione is not necessarily a scene with her present; the two-book trail here is based on the identified direct appearances. Wodehouse’s elastic handling of time means a reader should use publication order for a sensible route without calculating everybody’s ages from the gap between 1947 and the later book.

Best books and memorable moments

On screen

Elizabeth Spriggs played Lady Hermione in four episodes of Blandings on Radio 4. Cast and production record. Compare Wodehouse screen, stage and radio versions.