# Paul Pennyfeather — Decline and Fall character guide

> Paul Pennyfeather in Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Paul, Pennyfeather, Mr. Pennyfeather, Darling Paul

**First appearance:** 0000-prelude

## Snapshot

A quiet Oxford theology student whose one disastrous night of misrule casts him loose into a world of schoolmasters, swindlers, and socialites he is comically unequipped to survive.

## Who they are

Paul begins the novel as the sort of well-mannered young man who can order dinner in creditable French and be trusted with luggage at foreign railway stations — precisely the qualities that make him helpless once he is expelled and packed off to teach at a fourth-rate Welsh school. His defining tension is that he is less a hero than a vacancy: the narrator warns that the book is really the account of his mysterious disappearance, and each new world he enters — Llanabba, Margot's set, prison — absorbs him a little further. His passivity is the engine of the early arc, letting Waugh drag an ordinary Englishman through every absurd institution of the age.

## Relationships

### [Margot Beste-Chetwynde](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/margot_beste_chetwynde)

_romantic_

Margot seduces and marries Paul, but their relationship is built on manipulation and social ambition rather than genuine affection.

### [Captain Grimes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/captain_grimes)

_friendship_

Grimes is a boisterous, amoral companion who repeatedly drags Paul into chaotic schemes with a mix of camaraderie and exploitation.

### [Philbrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/philbrick)

_professional_

Philbrick, the butler at Llanabba Castle, serves as a servant to Paul but also deceives him with elaborate false identities.

### [Peter Beste-Chetwynde](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/peter_beste_chetwynde)

_social_

Peter is Paul's student at Llanabba and later becomes his stepson, with a polite but distant acquaintance.

### [Dr. Fagan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/dr_fagan)

_professional_

Dr. Fagan is Paul's employer and headmaster at Llanabba, treating him with condescending authority and indifference.

### [Sir Alastair Digby-Vaine-Trumpington](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/sir_alastair_digby_vaine_trumpington)

_social_

Sir Alastair is a wealthy, vapid Oxford acquaintance of Paul, representing the idle aristocracy Paul briefly mingles with.

### [Arthur Potts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/arthur_potts)

_friendship_

Potts is a fellow Oxford student and later a colleague, offering Paul a mild, bookish friendship and moral support.

### [Colonel Sidebotham](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/colonel_sidebotham)

_social_

Colonel Sidebotham is a pompous parent of a Llanabba student who condescends to Paul during school events.

### [Professor Silenus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/professor_silenus)

_social_

Paul meets Professor Silenus at Margot's house, finding him bizarre and intellectually intimidating.

### [Sir Wilfred Lucas-Dockery](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/sir_wilfred_lucas_dockery)

_professional_

Sir Wilfred is the governor of the prison where Paul is incarcerated, treating him with bureaucratic indifference.

### [Mr. Prendergast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/mr_prendergast)

_professional_

Prendergast is a fellow teacher at Llanabba, sharing Paul's discomfort with the school's chaos and his own religious doubts.

### [Stubbs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/stubbs)

_professional_

Stubbs is a servant at Llanabba who assists Paul with minor tasks, remaining a background figure.

## In the story

### [I: Vocation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-i-vocation)

Sent down from Oxford for indecent behavior; forced to find work; hired as junior assistant master at Llanabba.

### [II: Llanabba Castle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-ii-llanabba-castle)

Arrives at Llanabba Castle as a new master, feeling disconsolate and uncertain about his new role.

### [III: Captain Grimes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-iii-captain-grimes)

Dines with the boys and is befriended by Peter Beste-Chetwynde; later goes to the pub with Grimes.

### [Mr. Prendergast](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-iv-mr-prendergast)

Awakened by Peter, uses the bathroom before Mr. Prendergast, listens to Mr. Prendergast's story.

### [Discipline](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-v-discipline)

New master at Llanabba, struggles to control his class and is advised by Grimes and Prendergast.

### [Conduct](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-vi-conduct)

Reflects on his first week at Llanabba, receives a letter from Potts, and wrestles with his conscience over accepting Trumpington's money.

### [VII: Philbrick](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-vii-philbrick)

Reluctantly listens to Philbrick's confessions and later discusses the failed sports day with Grimes and Prendergast.

### [VIII: The Sports](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-viii-the-sports)

Accompanies Dr. Fagan around the grounds and observes the sports day chaos.

### [IX: The Sports—Continued](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-ix-the-sports-continued)

Passes around foie gras sandwiches as instructed by Dingy, observing the social dynamics and overhearing Lord Circumference's confused conversation about the bandmaster.

### [X: Post Mortem](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-x-post-mortem)

Shows a subdued mood after the sports day and reveals his curiosity about Margot Beste-Chetwynde.

### [XI: Philbrick—Continued](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-xi-philbrick-continued)

Paul shares his version of Philbrick's story involving the Lamb and Flag at Camberwell Green and Toby Cruttwell, and questions which story is true.

### [XII: The Agony of Captain Grimes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-xii-the-agony-of-captain-grimes)

Receives Margot's offer to tutor Peter; declines Dr. Fagan's partnership proposal; hosts a dinner for Grimes and Prendergast.

### [XIII: The Passing of a Public School Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-i-xiii-the-passing-of-a-public-school-man)

Acts as best man; observes Grimes's decline and Philbrick's exposure.

### [II: Interlude in Belgravia](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-ii-ii-interlude-in-belgravia)

Dines with Arthur Potts, momentarily regaining his former identity before his shadowy adventures resume.

### [Pervigilium Veneris](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-ii-iii-pervigilium-veneris)

Visits Margot's house, falls deeply in love with her, and is offered a job in her business.

### [Resurrection](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-ii-iv-resurrection)

Receives a letter from Dr. Fagan, reunites with Grimes, and shows Potts around King's Thursday.

### [V: The Latin-American Entertainment Co. Ltd.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-ii-v-the-latin-american-entertainment-co-ltd)

Accompanies Margot to London, observes her business interviews, and later speaks with Philbrick.

### [VI: A Hitch in the Wedding Preparations](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-ii-vi-a-hitch-in-the-wedding-preparations)

Paul is busy with wedding preparations, moves into the Ritz, and travels to Marseilles to fix passport issues for Margot's young women. He returns exhausted on his wedding morning and is arrested by Inspector Bruce.

### [Stone Walls Do Not a Prison Make](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-iii-i-stone-walls-do-not-a-prison-make)

Convicted and sentenced to seven years' penal servitude; finds unexpected peace in solitary confinement.

### [II: The Lucas-Dockery Experiments](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-iii-ii-the-lucas-dockery-experiments)

Now inmate D.4.12, Paul petitions to continue solitary confinement and becomes the subject of Sir Wilfred's experimental treatment.

### [III: The Death of a Modern Churchman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-iii-iii-the-death-of-a-modern-churchman)

Paul is assigned a new exercise partner, a religious fanatic, and complains about him to the Governor.

### [IV: Nor Iron Bars a Cage](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-iii-iv-nor-iron-bars-a-cage)

Transferred to Egdon Heath Penal Settlement; receives special privileges and a visit from Margot; learns of her engagement to Maltravers.

### [V: The Passing of a Public School Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-iii-v-the-passing-of-a-public-school-man)

Paul works alongside Grimes in the quarry, listens to his complaints, and later reflects on Grimes's escape and presumed death, concluding that Grimes is immortal.

### [VI: The Passing of Paul Pennyfeather](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-iii-vi-the-passing-of-paul-pennyfeather)

Paul is taken from prison, forced to sign a will, and legally declared dead after a fake appendectomy.

### [Resurrection](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-iii-vii-resurrection)

Paul is living at Margot's villa, returns to Oxford under disguise, and resumes his studies in theology.

### [Epilogue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/chapters/part-iii-epilogue)

Now in his third year at Scone, studying and preparing for ordination; he remains static and detached from his past.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters/paul_pennyfeather
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/decline_and_fall_se/characters