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Betty
Mrs. Doyle’s husband, Mr. Doyle makes Miss Lonelyhearts’s acquaintance at the speakeasy. During their first meeting, Mr. Doyle shares a letter in which he details his fatigue with work and asks what the purpose of life is amidst so much suffering. In particular, Mr. Doyle emphasizes the difficulty of living with a disability, as he’s described as having a “crippled” foot. Miss Lonelyhearts appears particularly sympathetic to Mr. Doyle, grasping the other man’s hand beneath the table in a rare moment of intimacy. When Miss Lonelyhearts visits the Doyles’ home, he again holds hands with Mr. Doyle, causing Mrs. Doyle to jokingly call them “fairies.” Despite these moments of seemingly meaningful connection, their knowing each other is what ultimately brings Miss Lonelyhearts’s downfall. Mr. Doyle, who comes home to his wife having been physically assaulted by Miss Lonelyhearts, believes her accusations that he also raped her, and he sets out to avenge his wife. In his enraged state, Mr. Doyle doesn’t understand that Miss Lonelyhearts is trying to embrace him at the end of the novella, and his gun goes off, killing Miss Lonelyhearts.
Mr. Doyle Quotes in Miss Lonelyhearts
The Miss Lonelyhearts quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Doyle or refer to Mr. Doyle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 11
Quotes
The cripple had a very strange face. His eyes failed to balance; his mouth was not under his nose; his forehead was square and bony; and his round chin was like a forehead in miniature. […] They sat staring at each other until the strain of wordless communication began to excite them both.
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After finishing the letter, he did not let go, but pressed it firmly with all the love he could manage. At first the cripple covered his embarrassment by disguising the meaning of the clasp with a handshake, but he soon gave in to it and they sat silently hand in hand.
Chapter 12
Quotes
He could feel her knee pressing his under the table, but he paid no attention and only broke his beatific smile to drink. The heavy food had dulled him and he was trying desperately to feel again what he had felt while holding hands with the cripple in the speakeasy.
He tried again by becoming hysterical. “Christ is love,” he screamed at them. It was a stage scream, but he kept on. “Christ is the black fruit that hangs on the crosstree. Man was lost by eating of the forbidden fruit. He shall be saved by eating of the bidden fruit. The black Christ-fruit, the love fruit…”
Chapter 15
Quotes
He did not understand the cripple’s shout and heard it as a cry for help from Desperate, Harold S. Catholic-mother, Broken-hearted, Broad-shoulders, Sick-of-it-all, Disillusioned-with-tubercular-husband. He was running to succor them with love.
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Get the entire Miss Lonelyhearts LitChart as a printable PDF.
Mr. Doyle Quotes in Miss Lonelyhearts
The Miss Lonelyhearts quotes below are all either spoken by Mr. Doyle or refer to Mr. Doyle. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 11
Quotes
The cripple had a very strange face. His eyes failed to balance; his mouth was not under his nose; his forehead was square and bony; and his round chin was like a forehead in miniature. […] They sat staring at each other until the strain of wordless communication began to excite them both.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
After finishing the letter, he did not let go, but pressed it firmly with all the love he could manage. At first the cripple covered his embarrassment by disguising the meaning of the clasp with a handshake, but he soon gave in to it and they sat silently hand in hand.
Chapter 12
Quotes
He could feel her knee pressing his under the table, but he paid no attention and only broke his beatific smile to drink. The heavy food had dulled him and he was trying desperately to feel again what he had felt while holding hands with the cripple in the speakeasy.
He tried again by becoming hysterical. “Christ is love,” he screamed at them. It was a stage scream, but he kept on. “Christ is the black fruit that hangs on the crosstree. Man was lost by eating of the forbidden fruit. He shall be saved by eating of the bidden fruit. The black Christ-fruit, the love fruit…”
Chapter 15
Quotes
He did not understand the cripple’s shout and heard it as a cry for help from Desperate, Harold S. Catholic-mother, Broken-hearted, Broad-shoulders, Sick-of-it-all, Disillusioned-with-tubercular-husband. He was running to succor them with love.
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