Bertram Cope’s Year · Chapter
II: Cope Makes a Sunday Afternoon Call explained
Bertram Cope pays his first Sunday call on Medora Phillips at her large, eclectic house west of the campus.
What happens
Bertram Cope pays his first Sunday call on Medora Phillips at her large, eclectic house west of the campus. He finds her alone, as the young women of the house are out walking. Their conversation is a playful, sparring exchange about the girls' talents and Cope's academic work, revealing Mrs. Phillips's determination to entertain and her curiosity about Cope's character. The chapter ends with the return of the young women.
Themes in this chapter
Social Manipulation and Patronage
Mrs. Phillips orchestrates Cope's visit as part of her social machine, using entertainment as a means of control and assessment.
Performance and Artifice
The conversation between Cope and Mrs. Phillips is a performative sparring match, with both adopting roles and testing each other.
Youth vs. Middle Age
Cope's youthful, slightly irreverent tone contrasts with Mrs. Phillips's established position and her expectations of deference.
Characters to notice
- Bertram Cope
Makes his first Sunday afternoon call on Mrs. Phillips; engages in witty, slightly defiant conversation; mentally composes a letter to Arthur Lemoyne describing the visit.
- Medora Phillips
Hosts Cope alone; describes her house and its purpose of entertainment; quizzes Cope about his work and the young women; shows both warmth and a testing attitude.
- Amy Leffingwell
Mentioned as one of the girls; plays the violin; Cope recalls her serving him tea at a previous meeting.
- Hortense Dunton
Mentioned as one of the girls; paints.
- Carolyn Thorpe
Mentioned as one of the girls; is a poet.
- Arthur Lemoyne
Cope mentally addresses a letter to him, describing Mrs. Phillips as a 'scrapper' and noting the intensity of her conversation.
Key passages
“Her expression and inflection indicated to him that he had been caught up in the cogs of a sizable machine, and that he was to be put through it.”
Cope felt that Mrs. Phillips's manner signaled he was now part of her social system and would be processed accordingly.
Highlights the theme of social manipulation and the mechanized nature of Mrs. Phillips's hospitality.
“She uttered this belief emphatically—so emphatically, in truth, that it came to mean: 'I wonder if you will indeed.' And there was even an overtone: 'After all, it's not the least necessary that you should.'”
Mrs. Phillips's strong insistence that Cope would enjoy the girls actually conveyed doubt and indifference about his approval.
Illustrates the performative and ambiguous nature of social interactions in the chapter.