The Real Thing Summary

In London, an aristocratic gentleman and lady—Major Monarch and Mrs. Monarch—visit an artist’s studio. The artist, upon seeing the poised and elegantly dressed couple, assumes that they have come to commission him to paint their portrait. He begins to ask a few preliminary questions about the portrait and payment, only to quickly discover that there has been a misunderstanding—they haven’t come for a portrait at all. Instead, the couple is hoping to sit as models for the artist’s commercial illustrations, the artwork for books and periodicals that he does to financially support himself.

The artist is taken aback; he can’t imagine such upper-class people doing as lowly a job as modeling. The couple admits that the situation is awkward, but that they are desperate to do something. They introduce themselves as Major and Mrs. Monarch, and they explain that they have lost their money and are now struggling to stay afloat. They figure that they could be models whenever the artist needs to depict people like them, that is to say, aristocrats. When the artist asks if they have any prior experience, they inform him that they have been photographed extensively.

The artist isn’t convinced that they will make good models, since he doesn’t care about the identity of his models, just how they give him inspiration to create a finished product. He also already works with several talented models. He tells the Monarchs this, but they are persistent, even explaining that they know that the artist has recently accepted a new project where he will illustrate a new edition of the works of novelist Philip Vincent, and they hope to be used as models. For this project, the artist will do the art for the first book and, if this work is satisfactory, he will receive the contract to do the illustrations for the following books.

Still pushing against the artist’s resistance, Major Monarch inquires whether it wouldn’t be best to have “the real thing” while illustrating ladies and gentlemen. This gets the artist to agree. At this moment, Mrs. Monarch bursts into tears, disclosing that she has applied to countless jobs, only to always get turned away. While the artist comforts her, plain and disheveled Miss Churm, one of the artist’s favorite models, arrives for work. The Monarchs are perturbed that the artist would use such a lowly woman to pose as a princess and they leave the studio very assured of their future success. Miss Churm, meanwhile, is dismissive of them.

The Monarchs begin modeling and the artist quickly discovers that they are terrible at it. They are too stiff and, no matter how many situations and poses the artist puts them in, they look exactly like themselves, which is a problem when they are supposed to be suggesting various “types,” or characters. The artist loves capturing human character and illustrating it in all its variety, so the Monarchs’ monotony frustrate him and increases his appreciation for Miss Churm, who can cleverly imitate anything.

One day, while Mrs. Monarch is modeling, a young Italian man arrives. Although he can’t speak English, he is able to communicate through gestures that he is looking to work as a model. Although initially skeptical, the artist is enchanted with the young man’s expressions and clever mimicry, and he hires him as a servant and model. The man, whose name is Oronte, swiftly becomes another of the artist’s favorite models.

The artist starts on his illustrations for the special Philip Vincent book, and uses the Monarchs as his models. While he admits that it is sometimes useful to have “the real thing” before him, he is constantly thwarted in his attempts to make realistic images with them. He asks his friend Jack Hawley, a man with fine aesthetic taste, what he thinks of his new art. Upon seeing the artwork, Hawley is disgusted and warns the artist that this new artistic phase will hurt his career.

But the artist doesn’t dismiss the Monarch’s yet. He feels trapped: he doesn’t have the heart to fire them. Instead, he starts using Miss Churm and Oronte more and more for his illustrations. When the project’s artistic director, to whom the artist had sent his illustrations of the Monarchs, issues a warning that the work is unsatisfactory, the artist finally fires the Major and his wife.

The Monarchs stop by the studio a few days after being fired, arriving right in the middle of a modeling session with Oronte and Miss Churm. While the artist works, the dejected Monarchs begin cleaning the studio. The artist is both moved and disturbed by the Monarchs’ attempt to become his servants. He uncomfortably agrees to keep them on as servants, but after a week of the unnerving sight of them cleaning, he simply pays them to go away. He never sees them again, but Hawley tells the artist that they had a damaging and permanent effect on his work. The artist doesn’t deny this, but he doesn’t regret the memory either.