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Chapter 6
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Miss Lonelyhearts, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Religion and Morality in Modern Society
The Illusion of the American Dream
The Limitations of Love
Isolation and Madness
Summary
Analysis
The next day, Miss Lonelyhearts receives a letter from Mrs. Doyle, who writes that someone pointed him out to her at Delehanty’s speakeasy, and she’d like to chat with him in person about her failing marriage. Though he hesitates, Miss Lonelyhearts calls Mrs. Doyle using the number she included in her letter and asks her to meet him in the park in an hour. When the two meet, Miss Lonelyhearts suggests that they go for a drink at the speakeasy, but Mrs. Doyle says that people will recognize her. He suggests that they go over to his place, and although Mrs. Doyle asks if she has to, she walks ahead of him, ready to go.
Based on Miss Lonelyhearts’s decision to invite Mrs. Doyle to his home, it’s clear that he doesn’t actually intend to help or give her advice. While Miss Lonelyhearts and Mrs. Doyle could’ve had their entire conversation in the park, Miss Lonelyhearts’s invitations are suggestive. It becomes evident that he’s open to having sex with Mrs. Doyle, even though he doesn't find her attractive. As such, instead of trying to help Mrs. Doyle, Miss Lonelyhearts is selfishly trying to see if Mrs. Doyle can help him feel better.
Themes
At Miss Lonelyhearts’s apartment, he and Mrs. Doyle sit on his bed together. Mrs. Doyle initiates a kiss, and they have sex. Afterward, Mrs. Doyle explains that her husband, Mr. Doyle, is disabled and “isn’t much.” Before they were married, Mrs. Doyle says, she used to spend time with Mr. Doyle because she felt bad for him. Then, when Mrs. Doyle became pregnant by another man who refused to help her pay for an abortion, she married Mr. Doyle. Years later, she’s full of regret now that she’s no longer the beautiful girl she once was. Because he finds himself feeling afraid, Miss Lonelyhearts tells Mrs. Doyle that she’s still pretty.
Although Miss Lonelyhearts does have (consensual) sex with Mrs. Doyle, this interaction is quite similar to his interactions with Mary in that both Mrs. Doyle and Mary end up confiding in Miss Lonelyhearts about significant emotional troubles they’re facing. It’s noteworthy that Miss Lonelyhearts finds himself feeling afraid after hearing about Mrs. Doyle’s problems: he’s likely realized that sex isn’t the answer to his turmoil, and he doesn’t feel any better.
Themes
