How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Book.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Sebastian is in love with his own childhood. That will make him very unhappy. His Teddy-bear, his Nanny […] and he is nineteen years old."(1.4.238)
Oh, that Cara. Always the fountain of wisdom. She’s struck at another important point in Brideshead Revisited – Sebastian’s obsession with his youth. However, note that while Cara condemns this quality, it is also what draws Charles to Sebastian.
Quote #8
"Oh, Charles, what has happened since last term? I feel so old."
"I feel middle-aged. That is infinitely worse; I believe we have had all the fun we can expect here."
We sat silent in the firelight as darkness fell.
"Anthony Blanche has gone down." (1.5.9-12)
What is the difference between being middle-aged and being old, according to Charles? Remember that he stated in the prologue that he is a "middle-aged captain of infantry" and in the epilogue refers to himself as "homeless, child-less, middle-aged, loveless."
Quote #9
I had left behind me – what? Youth? Adolescence? Romance? The conjuring stuff of these things, "the Young Magician's Compendium," that neat cabinet where the ebony wand had its place beside the delusive billiard balls, the penny that folded double and the feather flowers that could be drawn into a hollow candle.
"I have left behind illusion," I said to myself. "Henceforth I live in a world of three dimensions – with the aid of my five senses."
I have since learned that there is no such world; but then, as the car turned out of sight of the house, I thought it took no finding, but lay all about me at the end of the avenue. (1.6.218-20)
More evidence for our theory that Brideshead represents youth to Charles. When he leaves the estate, he enters adulthood.