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{{Summary
{{Summary
| Title = The Skylight Room
| Title = The Skylight Room
| Cycle = [[Four Million (Henry)| Four Million]]
| Subtitle =
| Original Title =
| Cycle = [[The Four Million (Henry)|The Four Million]]
| Author = O. Henry
| Author = O. Henry
| Genre = short story
| Literary form = short story
| Year of publication =
| Year of publication = 1906
| Microsummary =  
| Microsummary = Working girl rented cheapest room, named visible star. Struggled to find work, became ill from starvation. Too weak to move, bid farewell to star. Doctor saved her, revealed to be star's namesake.
| Wikidata =
| Emoji = 🪟
| Wikisource = The Four Million/The Skylight Room
}}
}}


{{Start of text}}
{{Start of text}}


Mrs. Parker was the landlord of a building where rooms were rented out. She always showed potential tenants the double parlours first, and was not impressed when they revealed they were neither doctors nor dentists. She then showed them the second-floor-back at $8, and if they were still looking for something cheaper, the third-floor-hall room of Mr. Skidder, who wrote plays and smoked cigarettes. Lastly, if they were still looking, she would show them the skylight room on the fourth floor, which was only $2 a night.
== Short Summary ==
 
New York City, early 1900s. Miss Leeson, a poor working girl, rented the cheapest room in Mrs. Parker's boarding house - a tiny skylight room on the top floor.
 
{{Character
| Name = Miss Leeson
| Description = young woman, very small, working girl, typewriter owner, gay-hearted, whimsical, poor, determined, eventually becomes ill due to starvation
| Emoji = 👩🏻‍💼
}}
 
She named a star visible through her skylight 'Billy Jackson'. Miss Leeson's cheerful nature made her popular among the male boarders, but she struggled to find work. As her situation worsened, she became ill from starvation.
 
One night, too weak to move, Miss Leeson lay in her bed, looking at her star.
 
{{Quote|
'Good-bye, Billy,' she murmured faintly. 'You're millions of miles away and you won't even twinkle once. But you kept where I could see you most of the time up there...'
}}
 
The next day, an ambulance was called. The physician, Dr. William Jackson, rushed to save Miss Leeson. The story concluded with a newspaper report stating that the patient would recover, revealing that 'Billy Jackson' was not just a star, but also the doctor who saved her life.
 
== Detailed Summary ==
 
''The division of the summary into chapters is conditional.''
 
=== Mrs. Parker's Boarding House ===
 
The story began with Mrs. Parker showing potential tenants around her boarding house. She first displayed the double parlors, which she reserved for doctors and dentists. If the prospective tenant admitted to not being in these professions, Mrs. Parker would show them the second-floor-back room for $8, though she claimed it was worth $12.


{{Character
{{Character
| Name = Mrs. Parker
| Name = Mrs. Parker
| Description = proprietor of the boarding house; a woman in her 50s; icy stare; demon's smile
| Description = middle-aged woman, landlady of the boarding house, stern, judgmental, particularly fond of doctors and dentists as tenants
| Emoji = 👩🏼
| Emoji = 👩🏻
}}
}}


One day, Miss Leeson came looking for a room. She was a small, young woman with heavy, bright hair and vivacious features. Mrs. Parker showed her the double parlours, but when she revealed she was neither a doctor nor a dentist, Mrs. Parker's manner changed and she showed her the second-floor-back. It was too expensive, so she then showed her Mr. Skidder's room, where they admired the lambrequins. Lastly, she showed her the skylight room, which Miss Leeson took for $2 a night.
If the tenant still insisted on something cheaper, they were taken to see Mr. Skidder's large hall room on the third floor. Although Mr. Skidder's room wasn't vacant, Mrs. Parker made every room-hunter visit it to admire the lambrequins.


{{Character
{{Character
| Name = Miss Leeson
| Name = Mr. Skidder
| Description = a very small girl in her late teens; eyes and hair that had kept on growing; gay-hearted and full of tender, whimsical fancies; a poor little working girl; vivacious features
| Description = man, tenant, aspiring playwright, smoker, lives on the third floor, often behind on rent
| Emoji = 👧🏼
| Emoji = 👨🏻‍🎨
}}
}}
Finally, if the potential tenant still proclaimed their poverty, Mrs. Parker would call for Clara, the colored maid, to show them the Skylight Room on the fourth floor.


{{Character
{{Character
| Name = Mr. Skidder
| Name = Clara
| Description = one of the roomers; wrote plays and smoked cigarettes all day; cast Miss Leeson in his mind for the star part in a private, romantic drama
| Description = colored maid, works for Mrs. Parker, shows tenants to the skylight room
| Emoji = 👨🏼‍🎤
| Emoji = 👩🏾‍🔧
}}
 
{{Quote|
Through the glass of the little skylight you saw a square of blue infinity. 'Two dollars, suh,' Clara would say in her half-contemptuous, half-Tuskegeenial tones.
}}
 
=== Miss Leeson Arrives ===
 
One day, Miss Leeson came looking for a room. She was a very small girl carrying a large typewriter. Mrs. Parker showed her the various rooms, but Miss Leeson could only afford the Skylight Room.
 
{{Quote|
Miss Leeson was not intended for a skylight room when the plans were drawn for her creation. She was gay-hearted and full of tender, whimsical fancies.
}}
}}


Miss Leeson was a working girl who went out to different offices to search for work. She was often unsuccessful and returned to her room with no dinner. One night, she returned to the stoop of the building and Mr. Hoover, a forty-five year old, fat, and foolish man, asked her to marry him. Frightened, she ran up the steps and opened the door of the skylight room.
Miss Leeson settled into the Skylight Room and quickly became popular among the other roomers, especially the men. Mr. Skidder, Mr. Hoover, and young Mr. Evans were particularly drawn to her, while Miss Longnecker and Miss Dorn viewed her with disdain.


{{Character
{{Character
| Name = Mr. Hoover
| Name = Mr. Hoover
| Description = one of the roomers, 45yo; fat, flush and foolish; faithful heart; voted Miss Leeson "the funniest and jolliest ever"
| Description = man, 45 years old, fat, flush, foolish, interested in Miss Leeson
| Emoji = 🤦🏽‍♂️
| Emoji = 🧔🏻
}}
 
{{Character
| Name = Miss Longnecker
| Description = woman, tall blonde, public school teacher, snobbish, often says 'Well, really!'
| Emoji = 👱🏻‍♀️
}}
 
{{Character
| Name = Miss Dorn
| Description = woman, works in a department store, enjoys shooting at moving ducks at Coney Island
| Emoji = 🙎🏻‍♀️
}}
 
{{Character
| Name = Mr. Evans
| Description = very young man, tenant, interested in Miss Leeson, pretends to cough to get her attention
| Emoji = 👦🏻
}}
 
=== Billy Jackson, the Star ===
 
One evening, as the roomers sat on the stoop, Miss Leeson pointed out a star she had named Billy Jackson. Miss Longnecker tried to correct her, stating it was actually Gamma of the constellation Cassiopeia, but the others preferred Miss Leeson's name for the star.
 
{{Character
| Name = Billy Jackson (star)
| Description = star visible from Miss Leeson's skylight room, named by her, symbolizes hope and constancy
| Emoji = ⭐
}}
}}


She was too weak to do anything besides lie down on the iron cot. As she lay on her back, she looked out of the skylight and saw a star she had named Billy Jackson. She tried to raise her arm to blow a kiss to him, and then murmured, "Goodbye, Billy Jackson."
{{Quote|
At night my room is like the shaft of a coal mine, and it makes Billy Jackson look like the big diamond pin that Night fastens her kimono with.
}}
 
=== Miss Leeson's Decline ===
 
As time passed, Miss Leeson's fortunes declined. She stopped bringing home papers to copy and instead spent her days searching for work without success.
 
{{Quote|
There came a time after that when Miss Leeson brought no formidable papers home to copy. And when she went out in the morning, instead of working, she went from office to office...
}}
 
One evening, Miss Leeson returned home without having eaten dinner. Mr. Hoover seized the opportunity to propose marriage, but she weakly struck him and struggled up to her room.
 
{{Quote|
For Billy Jackson was shining down on her, calm and bright and constant through the skylight. There was no world about her. She was sunk in a pit of blackness...
}}
 
In her weakened state, Miss Leeson bid farewell to Billy Jackson before losing consciousness.
 
=== The Ambulance Arrives ===
 
The next day, when Miss Leeson didn't respond, her door was forced open and an ambulance was called. The ambulance physician, Dr. William Jackson, rushed to the Skylight Room.
 
{{Character
| Name = Dr. William Jackson
| Description = man, ambulance physician, attends to Miss Leeson at the end of the story
| Emoji = 👨🏻‍⚕️
}}
 
{{Quote|
The ambulance physician strode with his burden through the pack of hounds that follow the curiosity chase, and even they fell back along the sidewalk abashed, for his face was that of one who bears his own dead.
}}


The next morning, they found the door to her room locked and had to force it open. When the ambulance doctor arrived, Mrs. Parker followed him up the stairs to Miss Leeson's room. He carried her out of the room in his arms, and Mrs. Parker was so shocked by what he said to her that she never revealed what it was. He drove Miss Leeson to Bellevue Hospital, where the news article the next morning confirmed that she would recover.
The story concluded with a newspaper item reporting that a young woman had been admitted to Bellevue Hospital suffering from debility induced by starvation. The ambulance physician, Dr. William Jackson, stated that the patient would recover.


{{End of text}}
{{End of text}}

Latest revision as of 15:15, 22 October 2024

Disclaimer: This summary was generated by AI, so it may contain errors.
🪟
O. Henry
The Skylight Room
1906 
Summary of the Short Story
from the Collection «The Four Million»
Microsummary: Working girl rented cheapest room, named visible star. Struggled to find work, became ill from starvation. Too weak to move, bid farewell to star. Doctor saved her, revealed to be star's namesake.

Short Summary

New York City, early 1900s. Miss Leeson, a poor working girl, rented the cheapest room in Mrs. Parker's boarding house - a tiny skylight room on the top floor.

👩🏻‍💼
Miss Leeson — young woman, very small, working girl, typewriter owner, gay-hearted, whimsical, poor, determined, eventually becomes ill due to starvation.

She named a star visible through her skylight 'Billy Jackson'. Miss Leeson's cheerful nature made her popular among the male boarders, but she struggled to find work. As her situation worsened, she became ill from starvation.

One night, too weak to move, Miss Leeson lay in her bed, looking at her star.

'Good-bye, Billy,' she murmured faintly. 'You're millions of miles away and you won't even twinkle once. But you kept where I could see you most of the time up there...'

The next day, an ambulance was called. The physician, Dr. William Jackson, rushed to save Miss Leeson. The story concluded with a newspaper report stating that the patient would recover, revealing that 'Billy Jackson' was not just a star, but also the doctor who saved her life.

Detailed Summary

The division of the summary into chapters is conditional.

Mrs. Parker's Boarding House

The story began with Mrs. Parker showing potential tenants around her boarding house. She first displayed the double parlors, which she reserved for doctors and dentists. If the prospective tenant admitted to not being in these professions, Mrs. Parker would show them the second-floor-back room for $8, though she claimed it was worth $12.

👩🏻
Mrs. Parker — middle-aged woman, landlady of the boarding house, stern, judgmental, particularly fond of doctors and dentists as tenants.

If the tenant still insisted on something cheaper, they were taken to see Mr. Skidder's large hall room on the third floor. Although Mr. Skidder's room wasn't vacant, Mrs. Parker made every room-hunter visit it to admire the lambrequins.

👨🏻‍🎨
Mr. Skidder — man, tenant, aspiring playwright, smoker, lives on the third floor, often behind on rent.

Finally, if the potential tenant still proclaimed their poverty, Mrs. Parker would call for Clara, the colored maid, to show them the Skylight Room on the fourth floor.

👩🏾‍🔧
Clara — colored maid, works for Mrs. Parker, shows tenants to the skylight room.

Through the glass of the little skylight you saw a square of blue infinity. 'Two dollars, suh,' Clara would say in her half-contemptuous, half-Tuskegeenial tones.

Miss Leeson Arrives

One day, Miss Leeson came looking for a room. She was a very small girl carrying a large typewriter. Mrs. Parker showed her the various rooms, but Miss Leeson could only afford the Skylight Room.

Miss Leeson was not intended for a skylight room when the plans were drawn for her creation. She was gay-hearted and full of tender, whimsical fancies.

Miss Leeson settled into the Skylight Room and quickly became popular among the other roomers, especially the men. Mr. Skidder, Mr. Hoover, and young Mr. Evans were particularly drawn to her, while Miss Longnecker and Miss Dorn viewed her with disdain.

🧔🏻
Mr. Hoover — man, 45 years old, fat, flush, foolish, interested in Miss Leeson.
👱🏻‍♀️
Miss Longnecker — woman, tall blonde, public school teacher, snobbish, often says 'Well, really!'.
🙎🏻‍♀️
Miss Dorn — woman, works in a department store, enjoys shooting at moving ducks at Coney Island.
👦🏻
Mr. Evans — very young man, tenant, interested in Miss Leeson, pretends to cough to get her attention.

Billy Jackson, the Star

One evening, as the roomers sat on the stoop, Miss Leeson pointed out a star she had named Billy Jackson. Miss Longnecker tried to correct her, stating it was actually Gamma of the constellation Cassiopeia, but the others preferred Miss Leeson's name for the star.

⭐
Billy Jackson (star) — star visible from Miss Leeson's skylight room, named by her, symbolizes hope and constancy.

At night my room is like the shaft of a coal mine, and it makes Billy Jackson look like the big diamond pin that Night fastens her kimono with.

Miss Leeson's Decline

As time passed, Miss Leeson's fortunes declined. She stopped bringing home papers to copy and instead spent her days searching for work without success.

There came a time after that when Miss Leeson brought no formidable papers home to copy. And when she went out in the morning, instead of working, she went from office to office...

One evening, Miss Leeson returned home without having eaten dinner. Mr. Hoover seized the opportunity to propose marriage, but she weakly struck him and struggled up to her room.

For Billy Jackson was shining down on her, calm and bright and constant through the skylight. There was no world about her. She was sunk in a pit of blackness...

In her weakened state, Miss Leeson bid farewell to Billy Jackson before losing consciousness.

The Ambulance Arrives

The next day, when Miss Leeson didn't respond, her door was forced open and an ambulance was called. The ambulance physician, Dr. William Jackson, rushed to the Skylight Room.

👨🏻‍⚕️
Dr. William Jackson — man, ambulance physician, attends to Miss Leeson at the end of the story.

The ambulance physician strode with his burden through the pack of hounds that follow the curiosity chase, and even they fell back along the sidewalk abashed, for his face was that of one who bears his own dead.

The story concluded with a newspaper item reporting that a young woman had been admitted to Bellevue Hospital suffering from debility induced by starvation. The ambulance physician, Dr. William Jackson, stated that the patient would recover.

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