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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}}


== Plot Summary ==
== Short Summary ==


A strict landlady showed a hopeful renter around her building, and eventually took her to the fourth floor, where a coloured maid showed her a small room with an iron cot, a washstand, and a chair. The renter, a small working girl, took the room and every day she went out to work. At night, she would bring home papers with handwriting on them and make copies with her typewriter. One summer evening, the small working girl pointed up to the sky and exclaimed that she could see a star that she had named Billy Jackson. The next day, the fat, flush, and foolish man seized his chance and asked her to marry him. The next morning, the coloured maid found the door to the small working girl's room locked and they had to force it open. An ambulance doctor arrived and quickly took the small working girl away in his arms, and the next morning there was a news item in the paper about the small working girl being taken to Bellevue Hospital, and the last sentence of it said that the ambulance physician who attended the case said that the patient would recover.
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.


== Chapter-by-chapter Summary ==
{{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.''


=== Chapter 1 ===
=== Mrs. Parker's Boarding House ===


Mrs. Parker was a landlady who rented out rooms in her building.  
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 = 👩🏻
}}
}}


She was very particular about who she rented to, only allowing doctors and dentists to rent the double parlours. She showed a prospective tenant the second-floor-back at $8, but the tenant wanted something cheaper. Mrs. Parker then took the tenant to look at Mr. Skidder's large hall room on the third floor, where the tenant admired the lambrequins.
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.


One day, Miss Leeson came hunting for a room.  
{{Character
| Name = Mr. Skidder
| Description = man, tenant, aspiring playwright, smoker, lives on the third floor, often behind on rent
| 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 = Miss Leeson
| Name = Clara
| 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 = 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 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
| Name = Mr. Hoover
| Description = man, 45 years old, fat, flush, foolish, interested in Miss Leeson
| 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 = 👦🏻
}}
}}


She was a very small girl with eyes and hair that seemed to be saying, "Goodness me! Why didn't you keep up with us?" Mrs. Parker showed her the double parlours, but Miss Leeson could not afford them. Mrs. Parker then took her to Mr. Skidder's room, where Miss Leeson admired the lambrequins.  
=== 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
{{Character
| Name = Mr. Skidder
| Name = Billy Jackson (star)
| 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 = star visible from Miss Leeson's skylight room, named by her, symbolizes hope and constancy
| Emoji = 👨🏼‍🎤
| Emoji = ⭐
}}
 
{{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.
}}
}}


After they had gone, Mr. Skidder changed the tall, black-haired heroine in his latest play to a small, roguish one with heavy, bright hair and vivacious features.
=== Miss Leeson's Decline ===


Mrs. Parker then took Miss Leeson to the fourth floor, where Clara, the coloured maid, showed her the Skylight Room. It was a small room with an iron cot, a washstand, and a chair. There was a shelf that served as a dresser, and a skylight that let in a square of blue infinity. Miss Leeson took the room, and every day she went out to work. At night, she would bring home papers with handwriting on them and make copies with her typewriter.
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.


When Miss Leeson had time to sit on the steps of the building, the gentlemen roomers would quickly group around her. Especially Mr. Skidder, who had cast her in his mind for the star part in a private, romantic drama in real life. And especially Mr. Hoover, who was forty-five, fat, flush and foolish. And especially very young Mr. Evans, who set up a hollow cough to induce her to ask him to leave off cigarettes. The men voted her "the funniest and jolliest ever," but the other women in the building sniffed.
{{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...
}}


=== Chapter 2 ===
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.


It was a summer evening and Mrs. Parker's roomers were gathered together. Miss Leeson, a small working girl, pointed up to the sky and exclaimed that she could see a star that she had named Billy Jackson. Miss Longnecker, another tenant, corrected her, saying that it was Gamma of the constellation Cassiopeia. Mr. Hoover, a forty-five year old man who was fat, flush, and foolish, defended Miss Leeson, saying that she had just as much right to name stars as any of the old astrologers.
{{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...
}}


Miss Leeson then began to tell them about how she could see Billy Jackson from her skylight room. She said that it was like the shaft of a coal mine, and that it made Billy Jackson look like a big diamond pin.
In her weakened state, Miss Leeson bid farewell to Billy Jackson before losing consciousness.


The next day, Miss Leeson had not had dinner and when she returned to the building, Mr. Hoover seized his chance and asked her to marry him. She dodged and caught the balustrade, and then slowly made her way up the stairs to her skylight room. She was too weak to light the lamp or to undress, so she just lay on the iron cot and looked up at Billy Jackson. She tried to raise her arm and blew a kiss out to the star, saying goodbye.
=== The Ambulance Arrives ===


The next morning, Clara, the coloured maid, found the door to Miss Leeson's room locked and they had to force it open. Vinegar, and the slapping of wrists and burnt feathers proving of no avail, someone ran to 'phone for an ambulance. The ambulance doctor arrived and quickly took Miss Leeson away in his arms. Mrs. Parker followed slowly, and when she met the doctor coming back down the stairs, he let loose the practised scalpel of his tongue.
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, there was a news item in the paper about Miss Leeson being taken to Bellevue Hospital, and the last sentence of it said that Dr. William Jackson, the ambulance physician who attended the case, said that the patient 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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