# How does The Coming of Bill develop the theme of Class and Bohemianism?

> The Coming of Bill by P. G. Wodehouse

## 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

- [i-a-pawn-of-fate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_of_bill_se/chapters/i-a-pawn-of-fate.md): 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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_of_bill_se/chapters/iii-the-mates-meet.md): 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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_of_bill_se/chapters/iv-troubled-waters.md): 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.
- [v-wherein-opposites-agree](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_of_bill_se/chapters/v-wherein-opposites-agree.md): 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](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_of_bill_se/chapters/vi-breaking-the-news.md): John Bannister dismisses Kirk as a loafer, highlighting the clash between bourgeois values and bohemian artistry.
- [ix-the-white-hope-is-turned-down](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_of_bill_se/chapters/ix-the-white-hope-is-turned-down.md): The clash between the bohemian studio life of Kirk and Steve and the rigid, wealthy formality of John Bannister's Fifth Avenue household.
- [iii-the-misadventure-of-steve](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_coming_of_bill_se/chapters/iii-the-misadventure-of-steve.md): Steve's discomfort in the formal Fifth Avenue home versus his ease at the bohemian studio highlights the clash between wealth and artistic simplicity.

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