Bertram Cope’s Year · Chapter
III: Cope Is "Entertained" explained
Cope is entertained by Mrs.
What happens
Cope is entertained by Mrs. Phillips and her three young female protégées—Amy, Hortense, and Carolyn—who perform music, painting, and poetry for him. He mentally composes a letter to Arthur Lemoyne, comparing the afternoon to a scene on Lesbos. After a rebuke for not helping, Cope sings, but his performance is received with polite reserve. Mrs. Phillips playfully chides him for not engaging with the girls, and Cope leaves, continuing his letter to Arthur and urging him to come down.
Themes in this chapter
Performance and Artifice
The entire afternoon is a staged entertainment where the young women perform their arts (violin, painting, poetry) and Cope is expected to perform in return by singing.
Social Manipulation and Patronage
Mrs. Phillips orchestrates the event, subtly controlling the interactions and expectations, and later manipulates Cope's feelings of obligation.
Unrequited and Ambiguous Desire
Cope's mental letter to Arthur reveals his longing for Arthur's company, contrasting with the forced socializing with the young women.
Characters to notice
- Bertram Cope
The guest of honor, who is entertained by the young women and later sings for them; he mentally writes a letter to Arthur Lemoyne.
- Medora Phillips
The hostess who orchestrates the entertainment, introduces the girls' talents, and later chides Cope for not helping or engaging.
- Amy Leffingwell
Plays the violin, including a composition she dedicated to Mrs. Phillips.
- Hortense Dunton
Painted Mrs. Phillips' portrait; makes a critical remark about Cope's singing.
- Carolyn Thorpe
Wrote and read a poem dedicated to Mrs. Phillips.
- Roddy
A sophomore who helps clear the table for tea.
Key passages
“Several girls helped entertain me. They came on as thick as spatter. One played a few things on the violin. Another set up her easel and painted a picture for us. A third wrote a poem and read it to us. And a few sophomores hung about in the background. It was all rather too much.”
Cope writes to Arthur that the entertainment was overwhelming, with multiple girls performing music, painting, and poetry, plus some young men lingering.
Cope's private letter reveals his discomfort with the excessive attention.
“It was an afternoon in Lesbos—with Sappho and her band of appreciative maidens. Phaon, a poor lad of nineteen, swept some pamphlets and paper-cutters off the center-table, and we all plunged into the ocean of Oolong—the best thing we do on this island.”
Cope wittily compares the tea party to a scene from classical Lesbos, with the young women as Sappho's followers and himself as the lone male figure.
Cope uses classical allusion to mock the feminine artistic circle.
“I think that you might as well come down. I miss you—even more than I thought I should. The term is young, and you can enter for Spanish, or Psychology, or something.”
Cope urges Arthur to join him at the university, expressing loneliness and suggesting Arthur enroll in courses.
Cope's longing for Arthur's company is a central emotional undercurrent.