A Summary of The Stoic by Theodore Dreiser

Frank Algernon Cowperwood, having suffered defeat in Chicago and the loss of his street railway franchise, seeks new outlets for his power. The book was written in 1945 and published in 1947, after the author’s death. This book is the final installment in the "Trilogy of Desire" series, which previously included "The Financier" (1912) and "The Titan" (1914). The story centers on an aging American millionaire attempting to gain control of London’s transportation system and find personal happiness.

The concept of the London project

After his Chicago failure, sixty-year-old Cowperwood faces a severe crisis. His wife, Eileen, has long ceased to provide him with emotional support and is unable to help him enter high society. However, the arrival of young Bernice Fleming restores the financier’s confidence. She agrees to become his companion and suggests the idea of traveling to England to build an underground transportation network there.

Cowperwood dispatches his agent, De Sott Sippens, to London. Sippens discovers that English engineers Philip Henshaw and Montague Greaves hold the rights to build the Charing Cross to Hampstead line, but lack the funds to begin construction. The existing steam-powered lines, the Metropolitan and District, are unprofitable, and tens of millions of dollars are needed to create a modern electric network.

To distract the emotional and jealous Eileen, Cowperwood and Bernice devise a cautious plan. They hire an impoverished New York dandy, Bruce Tollifer. In exchange for regular payments through a trust company, Tollifer escorts Eileen to fashionable restaurants, theaters, and Parisian resorts, alleviating her loneliness and shielding the businessman from domestic drama.

The struggle for English concessions

Cowperwood arrives in England with Eileen, while Bernice and her mother settle separately in the Priory Cove mansion near Marlow. The financier meets with Henshaw and Greaves. Demonstrating firmness in negotiations, he buys out their option for 30,000 pounds sterling and deposits 60,000 pounds in bonds as collateral, gaining complete control of the company.

To further expand the network, Cowperwood formed an alliance with lawyer Alverson Johnson and aristocrat Lord Steyne, who owned a large block of shares in the District Line. Cowperwood proposed a plan to exchange three new shares for one old one and established the Track Equipment and Construction Company to equip cars and electrify tracks.

British capital and conservative directors expressed displeasure at the American’s arrival. Competitor Stanford Drake attempted to wrest concessions from him in Parliament, but Cowperwood, through legal action and the support of Speyer & Company, succeeded in having his rival’s bid rejected. The press hailed him as a genius capable of giving London a cutting-edge underground system.

Love affairs and revelations

While traveling to America to attract investment, Cowperwood meets twenty-year-old dancer Lorna Maris, a distant relative, in Baltimore. A passionate affair blossoms between them, quickly picked up by the press. Meanwhile, in Paris, Tollifer’s friend, Marigold Brainerd, reveals the truth to Eileen: Tollifer is courting her for her husband’s money.

An enraged Eileen drives Tollifer away, sends a newspaper clipping about Cowperwood’s affair with Lorna to Bernice’s mansion, and threatens her husband with public exposure. Bernice is deeply distressed by the betrayal, but the financier flies to London, frankly confesses everything, and assures her of his sincere devotion.

Meanwhile, Lord Stein falls in love with Bernice, pays her attentions, and invites her and her mother to his family estate, Tregazal, and on a cruise on the yacht Iola. During this trip, Bernice meets the Queen of England. She realizes that Stein is ready to propose marriage, but her heart belongs to Cowperwood.

Illness and attempts to cheat death

Strenuous work and frequent travel undermine Cowperwood’s health. During a meeting with Lord Steyne in Trégasal, the financier faints. London doctors discover he has an incurable kidney disease — chronic nephritis. Dr. Wayne gives him no more than a year to live.

Cowperwood summons his personal physician and friend, Jefferson James, from New York. To conceal the businessman’s fatal illness from investors and stem the stock’s decline, Dr. James organizes a promotional trip for the businessman to European resorts. The press reports that the recovered Cowperwood is enjoying himself at the casinos of Monte Carlo, Vienna, and Carlsbad.

Feeling a temporary boost of energy, Cowperwood returned to business. He commissioned the sculptor Lynnwood to create a massive granite mausoleum in the Greco-Roman style for Brooklyn’s Greenwood Cemetery, and also purchased paintings by Rembrandt, Hals, and Turner for his New York gallery. He also planned to build a free hospital in the Bronx for poor people of all races and religions.

The Death of Cowperwood and the Collapse of His Legacy

A severe attack of pain forces Cowperwood to hastily sail for New York. Bernice follows him on another ship. At the port, the ailing financier is met by an ambulance and taken to the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Upon learning that Bernice is staying at the same hotel under an assumed name, Eileen refuses to visit her dying husband.

Bernice keeps vigil at her lover’s bedside, disguised as a nurse. Cowperwood’s condition worsens, and he begins to experience delusions in which he sees Bernice as Aphrodite. On November 18th, he dies in the arms of Bernice and Dr. James.

After the millionaire’s death, his faithful servant Buckner Carr and Dr. James secretly transport his body to a mansion on Fifth Avenue. A remorseful Eileen allows a modest funeral service. Cowperwood is buried in the family mausoleum at Greenwood Cemetery.

The financial empire Cowperwood built quickly collapses. An inheritance of over eleven million dollars is plundered by lawyers, administrators, and creditors. Lawsuits devalue the shipping company bonds, and the mansion and art collection are auctioned off to pay taxes and debts. The gallery and hospital never reopen. Eileen dies in poverty five years later, buried next to her husband.

Bernice’s Spiritual Rebirth

Cowperwood’s death and the collapse of his plans force Bernice to rethink her life’s purpose. She realizes the futility of worldly ambitions and the pursuit of wealth. Having stumbled upon the ancient text "Bhagavad Gita," she decides to travel to India to gain spiritual wisdom.

Bernice and her mother arrive in Nagpur and become a disciple of Guru Borodandaj. For four years, she diligently studies Hindu philosophy, practices breathing exercises, and meditates. The guru teaches her renunciation of selfish desires, selfless service, and the vision of the divine presence in all living beings.

Traveling through India, Bernice witnesses the appalling poverty, illness, and suffering of thousands. She understands that the highest wisdom lies in helping those in need. Returning to New York, she sells her mansion on Park Avenue and, with the proceeds, opens a free children’s hospital in the Bronx with Dr. James.

Bernice completed nursing training and dedicated herself to caring for blind and seriously ill children. She found true peace and meaning in serving others, understanding that material wealth and earthly glory are fleeting, but love and compassion are eternal.