Page "Brideshead Revisited" Paragraph 18

Readers who interpret the relationship as overtly homosexual quote such lines as the fact that Charles had been " in search of love in those days " when he first met Sebastian, and his finding " that low door in the wall ... which opened on an enclosed and enchanted garden " — an image that some interpret as a Freudian metaphor for homosexual sex, though it recurs when Charles is expelled from Brideshead by Lady Marchmain, suggesting it refers more generally to the glamorous world Sebastian represents: " a door had shut, the low door in the wall I had sought and found in Oxford.

" However, the line " our naughtiness high on the catalogue of grave sins " is also a suggestion of homosexual sex, which is a mortal sin in Roman Catholic dogma, though it is worth noting that so are drunkenness and gluttony, which Charles and Sebastian certainly indulge in.

Reference is made at one point to Charles impatiently awaiting Sebastian's letters in the manner of one who is love-smitten.

It is also suggested in the book that one of the reasons why Charles is later in love with Julia is because of the similarity between her and Sebastian.

Indeed, when asked by Julia if he loved Sebastian, Charles replies, " Oh yes!

He was the forerunner ".