Characters / Withnail and I

The title characters

Withnail

Withnail

"Bastards! You'll all suffer! I'll show the lot of you! I'm gonna be a staaaar!"

Played by: Richard E. Grant

One of the film's protagonists — an unemployed (and largely unemployable) actor by profession and a flamboyant alcholic by choice. He was born into money, but lives in squalor due to his family's disapproval of his vocation and his own inability to land a job.

---

• Ambiguously Gay: Not a matter of straight / bi versus gay (as he has no apparent interest in women at all), but of gay versus asexual. He admits to being carried away lying that Marwood was in love with him, but then he looks he's going to cry when he says "man delights not me, no, nor women neither" at the end. Paul McGann claims that Richard E. Grant actually did have tears in his eyes during the goodbye scene. There's also plenty of Ho Yay going on between him and Marwood, and his family apparently hate his stage career, which could have less to do with wanting him to take a more reputable career and more to do with the association between "inversion" and actors in the U.K at the time. He's also strangely chummy with Monty, who's implied to be the black sheep of the family, which would suggest something of an understanding between them.
• Ate His Gun: In the film's original ending.
• Badass Boast: Withnail is incredibly skilled at giving these.
  Withnail: There's nothing invented I couldn't take.
• Black Sheep: He curries no favours with his family, who disdain his choice of profession (and his frankly appalling lifestyle).
  Withnail: I dislike relatives in general and in particular mine.
  Marwood: Why?
  Withnail: I've told you why. We're incompatible. They don't like me being on stage.
• Break the Haughty: For all his high opinion of himself and his talents, in the end he is forced to face the fact that he'll never make it big.
• Byronic Hero: Artistic, tormented, misunderstood by society.
• Despair Speech: He mournfully recites a passage from Hamlet at the end of the film upon parting ways with his only friend and realizing his ambitions will never come to fruition.
• Dirty Coward:
  • When he sees the size of the drunken Irishman who called Marwood "perfumed ponce", Withnail backpedals so furiously he almost falls over the bar:
    I don't know what my fr... acquaintance did to upset you but I can assure you it's nothing to do with me. I suggest you both go outside and discuss it sensibly in the street...
  • Withnail causes Marwood's encounter with a randy bull by forgetting to shut the gate to its field, then he jumps over the wall to let him deal with it.
• Doomed Protagonist: The movie ends with Withnail alone, in complete and utter despair, still unemployed, and on the brink of getting evicted. It's not a question of whether his self-destructive lifestyle will kill him, but a question of when. (Withnail's real-life counterpart, the little-known actor Vivian MacKerrell, never found success in life and died fairly young of throat cancer.)
• Drama Queen: Prone to over-acting at the drop of a hat.
  Withnail (after Marwood backhandedly compains about him not doing the dishes): How dare you! How dare you! How DARE you call me inhumane!
• Drives Like Crazy: Unsurprisingly, since he doesn't even have a license, and the one time we see him drive he's still probably plastered on vintage port. He gets arrested for his trouble, and that apparently happens to him enough for him to purchase a drink driving aid as a precautionary measure.
• Dumbass Has a Point: When Withnail observes that he and Marwood are on a downward spiral, Marwood even says (in voiceover), "Even a stopped clock is right twice a day."
• Giftedly Bad: Subverted; his extreme hamminess leads the viewers to believe that he is as bad at acting as he is at life, but, as the final scene shows, he is in fact genuinely talented. Too bad nobody but the wolves will ever know.
• Hangover Sensitivity: The Character.
• The Hedonist: One of the qualities at the core of his personality.
  Monty: You're incapable of indulging in anything but pleasure, am I not right?
• I Need a Freaking Drink: His response to virtually any situation is to get absolutely sloshed.
• Immune to Drugs: According to the Other Wiki, Withnail is shown drinking roughly nine and a half glasses of red wine, half a pint of cider, one shot of lighter fluid [emphasis added]..., two and a half shots of gin, six glasses of sherry, thirteen glasses of whisky and half a pint of ale" throughout the movie. And he also does pot. There's a supposed Drinking Game where the player drinks everything Withnail drinks when he drinks it, with something else substituted for the lighter fluid. It's unlikely that anyone who has even attempted the game has actually completed it.
  • In an earlier scene, he is offered a drug whose street name is "The Embalmer." His response? "Balls. I'll swallow it and run a mile."
• It's All About Me: He is massively self-centred, prone to endless whining about how miserable things are for him and causing trouble that he then abandons to Marwood to deal with.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For most of the movie he's all too willing to throw Marwood to the wolves for personal gain, but his attempt to "make time" when driving to London is a genuine show of friendship on his part. And when Marwood gets a big role, he manages to muster up a teary-smiled "congratulations", although he's almost certainly very displeased about it. He does show some concern for Marwood after basically betraying him to his uncle, and tries to get him to stay.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All:
  • "A coward you are, Withnail. An expert on bulls you are not."
  • His general approach to any situation is to try and bluff his way out of it, which backfires on him spectacularly a few times throughout the film, most memorably in the scene with the police:
    Withnail: Look here, my cousin's a Q.C—
    Officer: GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN!!
• Large Ham: All the world is a stage for him, and while we never see him on an actual stage we get to see him overact in his everyday life.
• Last-Name Basis: Only referred to / known as "Withnail".
• Laughing Mad: Near the end of the film a very high Withnail can't stop laughing when told he's to be evicted.
• Luvvie: Posh, pompous, boastful and eccentric - basically every stereotype associated with British theatre actors rolled into one person.
• Messy Hair: Sports a mane of uncombed, uncut and oftentimes unwashed hair.
• Mock Millionaire: "We want the finest wines available to humanity. We want them here and we want them now!" "We are not drunks, we're multi-millionaires". One of the least convincing examples of this trope.
• Only One Name
• Perpetual Poverty: He is even worse-off than Marwood, who at least has enough money on him to loan it to Withnail when needed. This is despite his very posh background, which gives a suggestion of him having been disowned due to his attempt at an acting career/homosexuality/extreme alcoholism/generally toxic behavior.
• Small Name, Big Ego: He believes himself to be a great actor despite having done virtually no work in the field. His final scene, however, in which he delivers a word-perfect Hamlet soliloquy with spot-on characterisation and emotion, may prove him right.
• Smart People Know Latin: As seen during the game of cards, he knows Latin as a result of his education at Harrow.
• Sophisticated as Hell: Frequently evokes both Sir Swearsalot and Upper-Class Twit in the same sentence.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Towers over most other characters, especially the rather short Marwood, in whose company he is the most, and is rarely at a loss for a biting remark.
• Toxic Friend Influence: He embodies the trope with absolute relish: he's hedonistic and self-destructive and all but dragging Marwood down with him in his spiral of alcoholism and drug addiction.
• Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Hedonistic, cowardly, and somewhat lacking in both common sense and empathy departments.
• Upper-Class Twit: It's made very clear that he comes from an upper-class family (e.g. he went to Harrow), and his common sense and work ethic are both inferior to Marwood's (who was born into the working class).

Marwood

Peter Marwood

"We are not drunks, we are multi-millionaires!"

Played by: Paul McGann

The "...& I" of the title - Withnail's friend / roommate / fellow unemployed actor who provides the film's narration. The more reasonable, modest and quiet of the pair, he is, nonetheless, an alcoholic like Withnail and a willing participant in the latter's shenanigans.

---

• The Alleged Car: He owns a beaten-up Mark 2 Jaguar with only one functioning headlight and one functioning windscreen wiper - on the passenger side. Not what you want for a drive around the Lake District.
• Audience Surrogate: He doesn't even get a name, allowing the audience to more easily identify with his misfortunes.
• Author Avatar: He is a stand-in for Bruce Robinson, the film's director/screenwriter.
• Butt-Monkey: Up till the last twenty or so minutes of the film he can't catch a break (mostly due to Withnail being Withnail).
• Captain Obvious:
  Withnail: Are we there?
  Marwood: No, we're not. We're here.
  • This may be more of an Ask a Stupid Question......then again, Withnail's been asleep for the past while and the car's suddenly stopped.
  [knocks on the door]
  Mrs Parkin: Who's there?
  Marwood: Me.
• Cloud Cuckoo Landers Minder: A large chunk of his life involves getting himself and Withnail out of whatever trouble the latter's landed them in.
• Contemplating Your Hands: During his panic attack at the beginning of the film.
  Marwood: My thumbs have gone weird! I'm in the middle of a fucking overdose!
• Deadpan Snarker: He is quieter than Withnail but oftentimes much snarkier, compared to Withnail's arrogant disdain.
• Death Glare: His preferred method of dealing with Withnail's bouts of pigheadedness; one can assume he's had a lot of time to practice.
• Dogged Nice Guy: He wants to be this, but he carelessly goes along with Withnail's asshole behaviour and substance abuse.
• Expository Hairstyle Change:
  • At the end of the film he gets rid of his wild curls and becomes noticeably more clean-cut and less bohemian in appearance, to signify his improved circumstances and the severing of ties with Withnail.
  • On a more mundane level, it's because he's been cast as the lead in the play Journey's End, which is set in the World War One trenches, and all of the leading characters of which are British Army officers, so he has to look the part.
• The Everyman: Hands the down the most normal, grounded character in the film.
• Fauxlosophic Narration: His writings frequently take on a philosophical bent.
  Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day. And for once I'm inclined to believe that Withnail is right. We are indeed drifting into the arena of the unwell.
• First-Person Peripheral Narrator: He is much more relatable than Withnail and is thus able to provide the audience with insight into his more eccentric roommate.
• Important Haircut: In the final scene.
• Mistaken for Gay: Repeatedly, as a result of his rather fey appearance, his close friendship with a very flamboyant alcoholic, that alcoholic telling his gay uncle that Marwood was in fact also gay and because he's an out-of-work actor, one of the most queer coded roles in U.K media.
• Most Writers Are Writers: He keeps a journal filled with various thoughts on his and Withnail's situation in life, which provides the narration.
• Mr. Fanservice: He spends a great deal of time in his underwear.
• Nervous Wreck: The movie starts with him having a (drug-induced) panic attack, and he spends most of the film in a state of anxiety.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Even when he's annoyed at Withnail, Marwood is supremely touchy-feely with him.
• Only Sane Man: Certainly when compared to Withnail, Monty and Danny. He's not immune to indulging his vices and isn't exactly much better equipped to survive in the country than Withnail is, but overall he's far more reasonable, calm and blessed with more common sense.
• Passive-Aggressive Kombat: He's very skilled at the art of diplomatic putdowns.
• Politically Incorrect Hero: Marwood is racist ("There's a giant spade in the bath") and homophobic — a real product of the 1960's.
• Round Hippie Shades: He dons a pair en route to the cottage.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Garners unwanted attentions from Uncle Monty thanks to his extraordinary good looks.
• Straight Man: He plays a pitch-perfect straight man to Withnail, grounding his manic performance in a solid emotional reality; the film wouldn't work nearly as well as it does without him.
• Supporting Protagonist: Marwood provides the POV and narration, but Withnail is the film's Anti-Hero.
• Sympathy for the Devil: A downplayed example (since Monty isn't exactly evil). Marwood has some typically intolerant attitudes towards homosexuality for the time and certainly is entitled to feel some grievances towards Monty having "narrowly escaped a buggering" that was decidedly unwanted. But he does feel some sympathy for Monty after reading his bittersweet farewell letter.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Spends roughly half of the movie clad only in his underwear.
• Working-Class Hero: Unlike Withnail, he wasn't born into money, which may be partially responsible for his better work ethic and common sense.

Both

• The Alcoholic: Both of them are booze-addled layabouts, although Withnail's the one who stoops so low as to drink lighter fluid.
• City Mouse: Completely unsuited to country life, as they soon find out.
• Fish out of Water: Both of them are totally at sea in the countryside.
• Foils: To each other; Withnail's utter recklessness makes Marwood's faint tendency toward adult behavior more pronounced in comparison.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: As Paul McGann said, it's like a "marriage going wrong". But as he's also noted, the "heterosexual" part definitely doesn't apply to Withnail, and maybe not to Marwood either.
• Like an Old Married Couple: McGann even described their relationship as a marriage gone wrong.
• Men Can't Keep House / The Pig-Pen: Their Camden flat is dingy and squalid - the kitchen area, in particular, is an absolute atrocity.
• Mr. Fanservice:
  • If you're not a hard-drinking British university student, it's quite likely you watched it primarily for Marwood's shirtless scenes, even when he's nearly getting raped. Paul McGann spends a good third of his scenes in only his underwear.
  • This was the film that turned Richard E. Grant into a sex symbol.
• No Name Given: Credited as "...& I", Marwood is named only in the screenplay. We shall never know Withnail's first name, on the other hand, leaving one to think it's something poncey like 'Sheridan'. However, this tweet from Richard E Grant would suggest it is 'Vyvian', which would make sense considering the person on whom the character is based, and the ponce-level of the name. There's a belief among fans that Marwood's first name is "Peter", thanks to a misheard line of dialogue in the movie that is not supported by the script. Although, during this interview Paul McGann does more or less confirm this.
• Pretty Boy: The two leads look like they've have been battered and malnourished for far too long, but still… Marwood has the same looks he later had for the Eighth Doctor and Withnail is pouty-mouthed, has big blue eyes and his hair goes fluffy when they hit the countryside. The battered factor even adds to the appeal.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Marwood's the quieter, more sensible blue to Withnail's impulsive, energetic red.
• Starving Artist: Out-of-work actors with barely a penny to their name.
• Unkempt Beauty: Both are wild-haired, malnourished and eclectically dressed, yet all the more attractive for it.
• Vitriolic Best Buds
• When She Smiles: Male version, subverted with Marwood, who has a very sweet smile, but he deploys it mainly when he's nervous, which ruins the effect slightly. Withnail smiles only a few times throughout the film, and only when he's panicking, trying to charm someone into giving him something or, when Marwood gets his job, heartbroken.

Supporting cast

Uncle Monty

Montague H. Withnail

Played by: Richard Griffiths

Withnail's gay uncle, whose exorbitant wealth inspires a weekend's worth of mooching off on the part of our protagonists.

---

• Abhorrent Admirer: His amorous intentions towards Marwood are entirely unwanted on Marwood's part.
• Attempted Rape: He tries to force himself on Marwood.
• Camp Gay: He's so flamboyant, that even Withnail nearly pales in comparison.
• Cool Car: He drives a custom 1953 Rolls Royce.
• Depraved Homosexual: He makes several advances towards Marwood, who wants nothing to do with him. Then he starts following Marwood around once Withnail's asleep. He only backs off when Marwood convinces him that "I" and Withnail are a couple.
• Drama Queen / Large Ham: Just like his nephew. Presumably, it's a family trait.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Monty is perfectly willing to rape Marwood after becoming infatuated with him, but immediately backs down and even apologizes when he is convinced Marwood and Withnail are involved as he doesn't want to be seen as a homewrecker. It's also debatable whether Monty considers what he almost did "rape" as he appears to be operating under the (gravely mistaken) impression that Marwood is a fellow homosexual who is just playing hard-to-get.
• Gratuitous French: He peppers his speech with French words and quotes.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Inverted - his hateful attitude towards his cat is the first sign that he's not to be trusted.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: He is a thinly-veiled Franco Zeffirelli, albeit fat and not Italian. According to some people involved with the film, some of his dialogue in the bedroom scene is taken word-for-word from some of Zeffirelli's chat-up lines, which the director had to endure while playing Benvolio in his film version of Romeo and Juliet.
• Smart People Know Latin: He's classically educated, like Withnail, and knows Latin and French.

Danny

Danny the Dealer

Played by: Ralph Brown

---

Withnail and Marwood's drug dealer; a perfect embodiment of the 1960s counterculture.

• Cloud Cuckoo Lander:
  Danny: I don't advise a hair cut man. All hairdressers are in the employment of the government. Hair are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos and transmit them directly into the brain. This is the reason bold-headed men are uptight.
• Erudite Stoner: He has shades of this: despite being stoned out of his mind, he does provide a few nuggets of wisdom.
  Danny: Politics, man. If you're hanging onto a rising balloon, you're presented with a difficult decision — let go before it's too late or hang on and keep getting higher, posing the question: how long can you keep a grip on the rope? They're selling hippie wigs in Woolworths, man. The greatest decade in the history of mankind is over. And as Presuming Ed here has so consistently pointed out, we have failed to paint it black.
• Only Sane Man: Normally the complete opposite, but when drugs are involved Danny can hold his better than anyone else and becomes a voice of stoned reason while everyone else is acting ridiculous.
  Marwood: Give me a downer, Danny, my brain's capsizing, I've gotta unfuck my brain!
  Danny: Change down, man. Find your neutral space. You got a rush. It'll pass. Be seated.
  Marwood: Aren't you getting absurdly high?
  Danny: Precisely the reason I'm smoking it.
• Shaped Like Itself: See below; "I invented it in Camberwell, and it looks like a carrot!"
• Speech Impediment: In common with a good many Londoners, he has rhotacism, an inability to pronounce the letter 'r'. In his case it's extreme and sometimes extends to the letter 'l'.
  Danny: The joint I am about to woll wequires a cwaftsman, and can utilise up to twewve skins. It is cawwed a Camberweww Cawwot.
  Marwood: It's impossible to use twelve papers on one joint.
  Danny: It's impossibwe to make a Camberweww Cawwot with anything less.

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

• AM/FM Characterization: Presuming Ed is introduced listening to The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on the radio while in the bath. Fittingly, George Harrison produced the film.
• Blatant Lies/Exact Words: The poacher, who insists he hasn't any eels or pheasants, right after putting an eel down his trousers and handing the barman a pheasant.
• Chromosome Casting: The only female characters in the entire movie are the schoolgirls, the teashop patrons and the farmer's mother.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jake the poacher probably counts as this, since after his argument with Withnail he does end up bringing them a hare to eat.
• Motor Mouth: GETINTHEBACKOFTHEVAN!!
• The Alcoholic: The country barman is clearly quite sloshed.
  • Probably half the characters in the movie are drunk.
• Throw the Dog a Bone:
  • The farmer is nearly the only person in the countryside who's nice to the protagonists, bringing them wood and food.
  • Despite his hostility towards Withnail, Jake also relents and brings the boys a hare for them to cook. Plus, it should also be noted that Withnail wasn't exactly at his most endearing in their encounter.
• Token Minority: Presuming Ed.