# Anson Merrill — The Titan character guide

> Anson Merrill in The Titan by Theodore Dreiser.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. Merrill, Merrill, Anson Merrill, Mrs. Merrill, Mrs. Anson Merrill

**First appearance:** 0006-vii-chicago-gas

## Snapshot

A wealthy Chicago businessman whose social standing and quiet rivalry with Cowperwood mark the line between established fortune and audacious new money.

## Who they are

Merrill belongs to the settled commercial class whose approval Cowperwood both covets and disdains, and whose wife's social verdicts help police Chicago's drawing rooms. His presence sharpens the novel's central tension: Cowperwood can buy franchises and politicians, but not the effortless acceptance that men like Merrill inherit. As the social world Aileen longs to enter, Merrill and his circle become the invisible standard against which Cowperwood's raw power is measured.

## In the story

### [In Search of Victory](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se/chapters/ix-in-search-of-victory)

Mentioned as a wealthy dry-goods prince; his wife is a cold, remote social figure who intimidates Aileen.

### [The Fruits of Daring](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se/chapters/xi-the-fruits-of-daring)

Comments on Cowperwood's rising notoriety in the newspapers; dismisses the Cowperwoods as climbers.

### [A Matter of Tunnels](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se/chapters/xxi-a-matter-of-tunnels)

Co-owner of the South Side railway and investor in the tunnels; has never shown friendship to Cowperwood.

### [The Power of the Press](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se/chapters/xxiii-the-power-of-the-press)

Merrill, owner of the Globe, is described as semi-neutral but potentially swayed by business interests.

### [XLVIII: Panic](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se/chapters/xlviii-panic)

Member of the quadrumvirate; admires Cowperwood's subtlety but participates in the plotting against him.

### [Mount Olympus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se/chapters/xlix-mount-olympus)

A member of the quadrumvirate, he suggests Arneel personally contact Cowperwood to summon him to the meeting.

### [A New York Mansion](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se/chapters/l-a-new-york-mansion)

Decides he must fight Cowperwood openly, though he admires his courage.

### [Cowperwood and the Governor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se/chapters/lv-cowperwood-and-the-governor)

Mentioned among the financial interests puzzling over Cowperwood's scheme.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se/characters/anson_merrill
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_titan_se/characters