# A Trip to Louisville explained — The Titan

> Chapter companion for The Titan by Theodore Dreiser.

## What happens

Cowperwood faces growing financial opposition from Hand and Arneel, forcing him to travel across the country in search of loans. In Louisville, he meets Colonel Nathaniel Gillis, who introduces him to Hattie Starr (formerly Mrs. Ira George Carter), a woman of refined background who now runs a discreet house of ill repute. Cowperwood becomes intrigued by her daughter, Berenice Fleming, after seeing her photograph, and later offers to help Mrs. Carter relocate after a scandal threatens her business.

## Themes in this chapter

### Wealth and Its Illusions

Cowperwood's financial maneuvering reveals the precariousness of wealth, as he scrambles to secure loans amid growing opposition from Hand and Arneel.

### Social Class and Ostracism

Hattie Starr's fall from aristocratic Virginia-Kentucky society to keeper of a house of ill repute illustrates the fragility of social standing and the threat of ostracism.

### Love and Betrayal

Hattie Starr's history of philandering and divorce, as well as the scandal involving Major Hagenback's death, highlight themes of romantic betrayal and its consequences.

## Character check-ins

### Frank A. Cowperwood

Travels to Louisville seeking loans; meets Hattie Starr and becomes fascinated by her daughter Berenice Fleming.

### Berenice Fleming

Daughter of Hattie Starr; described as a 'lady born' with great charm; Cowperwood obtains and frames her photograph.

### Ira George Carter

Former husband of Hattie Starr; mentioned as her second husband.

### Hattie Starr

Also known as Nannie Hedden, Mrs. John Alexander Fleming, and Mrs. Ira George Carter; keeper of a secret house of ill repute in Louisville; mother of Berenice Fleming and Rolfe Carter.

### Rolfe Carter

Son of Hattie Starr; attends a military school in the West.

### Hosmer Hand

Part of the financial opposition against Cowperwood in Chicago.

### Timothy Arneel

Part of the financial opposition against Cowperwood in Chicago.

### Addison Cowperwood

Former president of Lake City National; now heads Chicago Trust Company, which Cowperwood uses as a central reserve bank.

## Key lines

> The most serious difficulty confronting Cowperwood from now on was really not so much political as financial.

Cowperwood's biggest challenge shifts from politics to finance.

_Introduces the chapter's central conflict: financial opposition._

> She is the ex-wife of two of my best friends, both dead, and the ex-mistress of another.

She was married twice to my close friends, both deceased, and was also the mistress of another friend.

_Colonel Gillis describes Hattie Starr's complicated romantic history._

> She’s a lady born, if ever there was one. How her mother is to keep her straight, living as she does, is more than I know.

She is naturally refined, and it's a mystery how her mother can raise her properly given her lifestyle.

_Colonel Gillis comments on Berenice Fleming's innate elegance and the challenge of her upbringing._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_titan_se/chapters/xl-a-trip-to-louisville
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_titan_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_titan_se/chapters