The Coming of Bill · Chapter
Dolls with Souls explained
Ruth reflects on her strained relationships with Bailey and Kirk, realizing she has lost everything that mattered.
What happens
Ruth reflects on her strained relationships with Bailey and Kirk, realizing she has lost everything that mattered. She receives news that Bailey is critically ill from overwork and financial strain. At his bedside, she witnesses Sybil's fierce devotion, which humbles her and forces her to reevaluate her assumptions about others. As Bailey's financial empire collapses, Ruth finds unexpected freedom in the ruin, believing she can now return to Kirk. The chapter ends with Mrs. Porter arriving to inform Ruth that Kirk has taken William and Mamie to Connecticut.
Themes in this chapter
Wealth and Corruption
Bailey's financial speculation and eventual crash illustrate the corrupting and unstable nature of wealth, as well as its power to destroy lives.
Love vs. Social Convention
Sybil's raw, fanatical love for Bailey contrasts with Ruth's earlier complacent marriage, highlighting the tension between genuine emotion and social expectations.
Marriage and Companionship
Ruth's reflections on her marriage to Kirk and her hope to rebuild it after the financial crash underscore the theme of marriage as a partnership that can be renewed.
Parenthood and Child Rearing
Ruth's guilt over neglecting William and Kirk's decision to take him away highlight the consequences of failed parenting and the importance of genuine care.
Characters to notice
- Ruth Bannister
Ruth is the central consciousness of the chapter, grappling with regret over losing Kirk and realizing her own complacency and misjudgment of others.
- Bailey Bannister
Bailey is critically ill from overwork and financial speculation, having taken big risks in Wall Street. His breakdown brings Ruth and Sybil together.
- Sybil Wilbur
Sybil reveals a fierce, fanatical devotion to Bailey, shocking Ruth and forcing her to see Sybil as a person with depth and passion.
- Kirk Winfield
Though not present, Kirk looms large in Ruth's thoughts. She realizes she has lost him and hopes to return to him now that the financial barrier is gone.
- Mrs. Lora Delane Porter
Mrs. Porter appears at the end to deliver the news that Kirk has taken William and Mamie to Connecticut, acting as a catalyst for the next crisis.
- Mamie
Mamie is mentioned as having eloped with Kirk and taken William, though she does not appear directly in the chapter.
- William Bannister Winfield
William is the child at the center of the custody dispute, taken by Kirk to Connecticut.
Key passages
“She knew now that she had thrown away the substance for the shadow. Kirk's anger, so unlike him, so foreign to the weak, easygoing person she had always thought him, had brought her to herself.”
Ruth realizes she chose a superficial life over real happiness, and Kirk's unexpected anger jolted her into self-awareness.
Ruth's moment of clarity about her mistakes.
“It was as if she had seen a naked soul where she had never imagined a soul to be.”
Ruth is shocked to discover deep passion and devotion in Sybil, whom she had dismissed as shallow.
Ruth's humbling realization about Sybil's true nature.
“How simple everything was now! She could go to Kirk and, as she had said to Sybil, start again. The golden barrier between them had vanished.”
Ruth feels liberated by the financial ruin, seeing it as a chance to reunite with Kirk without the obstacle of wealth.
Ruth's optimistic reinterpretation of Bailey's crash.
