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44-442: The Financier is a novel by Theodore Dreiser , based on real-life streetcar tycoon Charles Yerkes . Dreiser started writing his manuscript in 1911, and the following year published the first part of his lengthy work as The Financier . The second part appeared in 1914 as The Titan ; the third volume of his Trilogy of Desire was also Dreiser's final novel, The Stoic (1947). In Philadelphia , Frank Cowperwood, whose father

88-477: A stage name , was bestowed by an Italian maestro at the beginning of her operatic career. He convinced her that European opera-goers would not tolerate a diva with a plain sounding, Anglo-American name. The adopted name, Giglia Nordica , meant "Lily of the North", but she soon became known as "Madame Nordica" or simply as "Nordica". As Madame Nordica, she made her operatic debut at Brescia in 1879. She achieved

132-434: A crime that attracted widespread attention from newspapers. While the novel sold well, it also was criticized for its portrayal of a man without morals who commits a sordid murder. Though known primarily as a novelist, Dreiser also wrote short stories, publishing his first collection of 11, entitled, Free and Other Stories in 1918. His story "My Brother Paul" was a biography of his older brother Paul Dresser , who became

176-565: A famous songwriter in the 1890s. This story formed the basis for the 1942 romantic movie My Gal Sal . Dreiser also wrote poetry. His poem "The Aspirant" (1929) continues his theme of poverty and ambition: a young man in a shabbily furnished room describes his own and the other tenants' dreams, and asks "why? why?" The poem appeared in The Poetry Quartos , collected and printed by Paul Johnston , and published by Random House in 1929. Other works include Trilogy of Desire , based on

220-466: A great American business novel." Renowned mid-century literary critic Irving Howe spoke of Dreiser as ranking "among the American giants, the very few American giants we have had." A British view of Dreiser came from the publisher Rupert Hart-Davis : "Theodore Dreiser's books are enough to stop me in my tracks, never mind his letters—that slovenly turgid style describing endless business deals, with

264-408: A great artist, and that no other American of his generation left so wide and handsome a mark upon the national letters. American writing, before and after his time, differed almost as much as biology before and after Darwin . He was a man of large originality, of profound feeling, and of unshakable courage. All of us who write are better off because he lived, worked, and hoped." Dreiser's great theme

308-794: A high rank among the international prima donnas of her era, appearing in many major musical venues in Western Europe and Russia. She sang for example at The Royal Opera House , Covent Garden , in 1887–93 and performed at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany in 1894 as Elsa in Lohengrin . In her native America, Nordica was particularly associated with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where her frequent stage partner

352-550: A lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency . Dreiser's best known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925). Dreiser was born in Terre Haute, Indiana , to John Paul Dreiser and Sarah Maria (née Schanab). John Dreiser was a German immigrant from Mayen in the Rhine Province of Prussia , and Sarah

396-433: A living wage, falls prey to several men, and ultimately achieves fame as an actress. The novel sold poorly and was considered controversial because it featured a country girl who pursues her dreams of fame and fortune through relationships with men. The book has acquired a considerable reputation. It has been called by Donald L. Miller the "greatest of all American urban novels." In 1901 Dreiser's short story "Nigger Jeff"

440-450: A peculiarly American kind of crime, a form of "murder for money", when "the young ambitious lover of some poorer girl" found "a more attractive girl with money or position" but could not get rid of the first girl, usually because of pregnancy. Dreiser claimed to have collected such stories every year between 1895 and 1935. He based his novel on details and the setting of the 1906 murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette in upstate New York,

484-462: A seduction every hundred pages as light relief. If he's the great American novelist, give me the Marx Brothers every time." The literary scholar F. R. Leavis wrote that Dreiser "seems as though he learned English from a newspaper. He gives the feeling that he doesn't have any native language". One of Dreiser's strongest champions during his lifetime, H. L. Mencken , declared "that he is

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528-749: A singer in Boston, graduating from the New England Conservatory in that city at the age of 18. She later studied in New York City with Emilio Belari . Norton made her public debut at the conservatory as a soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society . Convinced that she could forge a successful career as a professional performer, Norton travelled to Italy and put a final bel canto polish on her vocalism through study in Milan . "Nordica",

572-407: A small American boy, who was taken ill while on a different vessel passing through Torres Strait . After his death, Nordica installed a gravestone in the local cemetery in his memory. She was well enough on Thursday Island to make a new will, which disinherited her husband. (The Australian poet and novelist Thomas Shapcott dramatised these events in his 1998 novel Theatre of Darkness . ) Nordica

616-498: A strenuous tour to Australia, which proved to be her last. Nordica made a number of acoustic discs for Columbia Records . They were recorded comparatively late in her career, however, and are of a poor technical standard. Nevertheless, they do indicate her considerable range as a singer, for she is able to perform both coloratura showpieces (such as "Io son Titania" from Mignon ) and dramatic Wagnerian solos (such as " Mild und leise " from Tristan und Isolde ). Her best known record

660-438: A theatre acoustic. A CD of her gramophone and cylinder recordings was released by Marston Records in 2003, complete with extensive liner notes dealing with Nordica's voice and career (see below). Nordica's successful operatic career contrasted with her disastrous personal life. Nordica wed three times. In 1882, she retired from the stage to marry Frederick A. Gower, whom she sued for divorce in 1885, but who disappeared at about

704-479: Is a banker, makes his first money passing by an auction sale; he successfully bids for seven cases of Castile soap, which he sells to a grocer the same day with a profit of over 70 percent. Later, he gets a job in Henry Waterman & Company, and leaves it for Tighe & Company. He also marries an affluent widow, in spite of his young age. Over the years, he starts investing and misusing municipal funds with

748-541: Is also named after him. In 2011, Dreiser was inducted into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. Lillian Nordica Nordica established herself as one of the foremost dramatic sopranos of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She had a powerful yet flexible voice and the ability to perform an unusually wide range of roles in the German, French and Italian operatic repertoires. Lillian Allen Norton

792-483: Is long but, because of him, those who follow will never have to face the road through the wilderness of Puritan denial, the road that Dreiser faced alone. Alfred Kazin characterized Dreiser as "stronger than all the others of his time, and at the same time more poignant; greater than the world he has described, but as significant as the people in it," while Larzer Ziff (UC Berkeley) remarked that Dreiser "succeeded beyond any of his predecessors or successors in producing

836-648: Is probably that of a demanding aria from the Hungarian opera Hunyadi Laszlo by Ferenc Erkel , which she cut in 1907. Nordica can be also heard briefly in some of the Mapleson Cylinders that were recorded during actual performances at the Metropolitan Opera House during the first few years of the 20th century. The sound of these cylinders is primitive but the impressive size of Nordica's voice can be better appreciated as it rings out in

880-617: The Chicago Daily Globe under the name Carl Dreiser. By 1895 he was writing articles for magazines. He authored articles on writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne , William Dean Howells , Israel Zangwill , and John Burroughs and interviewed public figures such as Andrew Carnegie , Marshall Field , Thomas Edison , and Theodore Thomas . His other interviewees included Lillian Nordica , Emilia E. Barr, Philip Armour , and Alfred Stieglitz . In 1895, Dreiser convinced business associates of his songwriter brother Paul to give him

924-669: The Great Terror and the non-aggression pact with Adolf Hitler . Dreiser joined the Communist Party USA in August 1945 and later became the honorary president of the League of American Writers . Although less politically radical friends, such as H. L. Mencken , spoke of Dreiser's relationship with communism as an "unimportant detail in his life", Dreiser's biographer Jerome Loving notes that his political activities since

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968-469: The 1930s). Helen tolerated Dreiser's affairs, and they remained together until his death. Dreiser and Helen married on June 13, 1944, his first wife Sara having died in 1942. Dreiser planned to return from his first European vacation on the Titanic , but was talked out of it by an English publisher who recommended he board a cheaper ship. Dreiser was an atheist. Dreiser had an enormous influence on

1012-541: The House of Four Pillars, an 1830s Greek Revival house in Maumee, Ohio . There Dreiser began work on his first novel, Sister Carrie , published in 1900. Unknown to Maude, Arthur sold a half-interest in the house to Dreiser to finance a move to New York without her. In Sister Carrie , Dreiser portrayed a changing society, writing about a young woman who flees rural life for the city (Chicago), fails to find work that pays

1056-653: The aid of the City Treasurer, George Stener. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire causes a stock market crash, prompting him to be bankrupt and exposed. He attempts to browbeat his way out of being sentenced to jail by intimidating Stener. However, politicians from the Republican Party , who themselves often stoop to bribery and misuse of city funds, use him as a scapegoat for their own corrupt practices. Meanwhile, he has an affair with Aileen Butler,

1100-458: The daughter of one of his business partners. She vows to wait for him after his jail sentence. Her father, Edward Butler dies, and she grows apart from her family. Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser ( / ˈ d r aɪ s ər , - z ər / ; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite

1144-590: The deportation of Emma Goldman , and the conviction of the trade union leader Thomas Mooney . In November 1931, Dreiser led the National Committee for the Defense of Political Prisoners (NCDPP) to the coalfields of southeastern Kentucky to take testimony from miners in Pineville and Harlan on the pattern of violence against the miners and their unions by the coal operators. The pattern of violence

1188-654: The early 1930s had "clearly been in concert with ostensible communist aims with regard to the working class." Dreiser's appearance and personality were described by Edgar Lee Masters in a poem, Theodore Dreiser: A Portrait , published in The New York Times Review of Books . While working as a newspaperman in St. Louis, Dreiser met schoolteacher Sara Osborne White. They became engaged in 1893 and married on December 28, 1898. They separated in 1909, partly due to Dreiser's infatuation with Thelma Cudlipp ,

1232-517: The editorship of a magazine called Ev'ry Month , in which he published his first story, "Forgotten" a tale based on a song of his brother's titled "The Letter That Never Came". Dreiser continued editing magazines, becoming editor of the women's magazine The Delineator in June 1907. As Daniels noted, he thereby began to achieve financial independence. During 1899, Dreiser and his first wife Sara stayed with Arthur Henry and his wife Maude Wood Henry at

1276-553: The first magnitude, despite facing powerful competition during her career from a number of other outstanding dramatic sopranos. Her main rivals included Lilli Lehmann , Rosa Sucher , Katharina Klafsky , Milka Ternina , Therese Malten , Johanna Gadski , Félia Litvinne , Olive Fremstad , Anna von Mildenburg and Emmy Destinn . Nordica wrote a treatise called Hints to Singers . A copy is appended to her Yankee Diva biography. By 1913, Nordica's voice and health were in decline. This did not prevent her from embarking misguidedly on

1320-476: The generation that followed his. In his tribute "Dreiser" from Horses and Men (1923), Sherwood Anderson writes (almost repeated 1916 article ): Heavy, heavy, the feet of Theodore. How easy to pick some of his books to pieces, to laugh at him for so much of his heavy prose ... [T]he fellows of the ink-pots, the prose writers in America who follow Dreiser, will have much to do that he has never done. Their road

1364-436: The life of Charles Tyson Yerkes (1837–1905), who became a Chicago streetcar tycoon. It is composed of The Financier (1912), The Titan (1914), and The Stoic . The last was published posthumously in 1947. Dreiser often was forced to battle against censorship because his depiction of some aspects of life, such as sexual promiscuity, offended authorities and challenged popular standards of acceptable opinion. In 1930 he

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1408-645: The pay gap between male and female singers. Nordica raised funds for the women’s suffrage movement by giving concerts. She spoke from an open streetcar in San Francisco, encouraging women to vote, one day before the vote for the women’s right in California. In 1910, Nordica wrote a full page article for the New York Times . In this, she championed the Women's Suffrage cause. Nordica nearly missed

1452-418: The ship departing Sydney after her 1913 Australian concert tour, but wired the captain asking him to wait for her. It would prove to be a fatal mistake. The Tasman hit a coral reef , where it remained for three days, and Nordica suffered hypothermia (exposure), from which she never recovered. She was taken to Thursday Island, Queensland , where she was hospitalised for some time. There, Nordica befriended

1496-507: The teenage daughter of a colleague, but were never formally divorced. In 1913, he began a romantic relationship with the actress and painter Kyra Markham . In 1919, Dreiser met his cousin Helen Patges Richardson (1894–1955) with whom he began an affair. Through the following decades, she remained the constant woman in his life, even through many more temporary love affairs (such as one with his secretary Clara Jaeger in

1540-493: The time of the suit, probably having been killed in a balloon accident. Her second marriage was in 1896 to a Hungarian tenor named Zoltán Döhme. He took the title role in Parsifal at Bayreuth in 1894. She obtained a divorce from him in 1904. Her third marriage was in 1909 to a wealthy New York banker, George W. Young, but it also proved unhappy. Nordica was also a vocal supporter of women’s rights. She spoke out against

1584-464: Was An American Tragedy , published in 1925. From 1892, when Dreiser began work as a newspaperman, he had begun to observe a certain type of crime in the United States that proved very common. It seemed to spring from the fact that almost every young person was possessed of an ingrown ambition to be somebody financially and socially. Fortune hunting became a disease with the frequent result of

1628-576: Was born in 1857 in a small Cape Cod style farmhouse built by her grandfather on a hill in Farmington, Maine . In her youth, Norton is said to have possessed an inherent fondness for music and the sounds of singing birds and running brooks. When she was eight her family moved to Boston , Massachusetts to continue the musical education of her sister Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina died before her 18th birthday. Family hopes were then pinned on Lillian, and her musical education began soon thereafter. She trained as

1672-600: Was characterized by severe poverty, and his father could be harsh. His later fiction reflects these experiences. After graduating from high school in Warsaw, Indiana , Dreiser attended Indiana University in 1889–1890 without taking a degree. In 1892, Dreiser started work as a reporter and drama critic for newspapers in Chicago , St. Louis , Toledo , Pittsburgh and New York . During this period he published his first work of fiction, The Return of Genius , which appeared in

1716-499: Was from the Mennonite farming community near Dayton, Ohio . Her family disowned her for converting to Roman Catholicism in order to marry John Dreiser. Theodore was the twelfth of thirteen children (the ninth of the ten surviving). Paul Dresser (1857–1906) was one of his older brothers; Paul changed the spelling of his name as he became a popular songwriter. They were raised as Catholics. According to Daniels, Dreiser's childhood

1760-550: Was known as the Harlan County War . Dreiser was a committed socialist and wrote several nonfiction books on political issues. These included Dreiser Looks at Russia (1928), the result of his 1927 trip to the Soviet Union , and two books presenting a critical perspective on capitalist America, Tragic America (1931) and America Is Worth Saving (1941). He praised the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin during

1804-772: Was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Swedish author Anders Österling , but was passed over by the Nobel Committee in favor of Sinclair Lewis . Politically, Dreiser was involved in several campaigns defending radicals he believed victims of social injustice. These included the lynching of Frank Little , one of the leaders of the Industrial Workers of the World , the Sacco and Vanzetti case,

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1848-486: Was published in Ainslee's Magazine . It was based on a lynching he witnessed in 1893. Dreiser's short story " Old Rogaum and His Theresa " was originally published in 1901. His second novel Jennie Gerhardt was published in 1911. Dreiser's portrayals of young women as protagonists dramatized the social changes of urbanization, as young people moved from rural villages to cities. Dreiser's first commercial success

1892-771: Was the cultured Polish tenor Jean de Reszke . She sang at the Met from 1891 until 1910, with some breaks in between. By all accounts Nordica possessed an extremely big, agile and pure-toned soprano voice which she was prepared to use unstintingly. (See, for instance, Michael Scott, The Record of Singing , Volume One, pp. 38–40.) An adventurous artist, she embraced an enormously varied repertoire which included, among many other works, Aida , Wagner's Ring Cycle (as Brünnhilde), Tristan und Isolde , Lohengrin , La traviata , Il trovatore , La Gioconda , Faust , Les Huguenots , Mignon and Le nozze di Figaro . Nordica established her worldwide reputation as an opera singer of

1936-746: Was the tremendous tensions that can arise among ambition, desire, and social mores. Dreiser Hall, erected 1950 on the Indiana State University campus in Terre Haute, Indiana, houses the University's Communications Programs, Student Media ( WISU ), Sycamore Video and "The Sycamore" (annual yearbook), classroom and lecture space as well as a 255-seat proscenium theater. It was named for Dreiser in 1966. Dreiser College, at Stony Brook University located in Stony Brook, New York,

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