The Coming of Bill · Question
How does The Coming of Bill develop the theme of Class and Bohemianism?
Answer
The Coming of Bill by P. G. Wodehouse develops Class and Bohemianism across the chapters the companion marks for this theme.
The narrative contrasts the rigid, moneyed world of the Bannisters with the free-spirited, bohemian artist community Kirk inhabits, exploring themes of snobbery, belonging, and the value of unconventional lifestyles.
Kirk is an artist with a private income, living in a studio with a servant, representing a bohemian yet comfortable lifestyle.
Kirk's studio serves as a gathering place for a bohemian crowd, including impecunious artists and friends like Hank Jardine and Steve Dingle, contrasting with conventional married life.
The contrast between the Bannisters' wealthy, conventional lifestyle and Kirk's bohemian artist circle is highlighted, with Bailey viewing Kirk as a 'scrubby dauber' unworthy of his sister.
Evidence in the book
- I: A Pawn of Fate
Kirk is an artist with a private income, living in a studio with a servant, representing a bohemian yet comfortable lifestyle.
- III: The Mates Meet
Kirk's studio serves as a gathering place for a bohemian crowd, including impecunious artists and friends like Hank Jardine and Steve Dingle, contrasting with conventional married life.
- IV: Troubled Waters
The contrast between the Bannisters' wealthy, conventional lifestyle and Kirk's bohemian artist circle is highlighted, with Bailey viewing Kirk as a 'scrubby dauber' unworthy of his sister.
- Wherein Opposites Agree
Bailey's outrage at Ruth marrying a 'nobody' contrasts with the bohemian world of Kirk's studio and Mrs. Porter's intellectualism.
- VI: Breaking the News
John Bannister dismisses Kirk as a loafer, highlighting the clash between bourgeois values and bohemian artistry.
- IX: The White Hope Is Turned Down
The clash between the bohemian studio life of Kirk and Steve and the rigid, wealthy formality of John Bannister's Fifth Avenue household.
- The Misadventure of Steve
Steve's discomfort in the formal Fifth Avenue home versus his ease at the bohemian studio highlights the clash between wealth and artistic simplicity.
