SN PLUS 3
SN PLUS 3

Suggestions

Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
  • Shakespeare dark gray
    • No Fear Shakespeare Translations
    • Shakespeare Study Guides
    • Shakespeare Life & Times
    • Glossary of Shakespeare Terms
  • Literature dark gray
    • No Fear Literature Translations
    • Literature Study Guides
    • Glossary of Literary Terms
    • How to Write Literary Analysis
  • Other Subjects dark gray
    • Biography
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Computer Science
    • Drama
    • Economics
    • Film
    • Health
    • History
    • Math
    • Philosophy
    • Physics
    • Poetry
    • Psychology
    • Short Stories
    • Sociology
    • US Government and Politics
  • Test Prep PLUS dark gray
    • Test Prep Lessons
    • AP® English Literature
    • AP® English Language
  • Teacher dark gray
    • SparkTeach
    • Teacher's Handbook
  • Blog
My PLUS Dashboard
  • My PLUS Activity dark gray
    • Notes
    • Bookmarks
    • Test Prep PLUS
    • No Fear Translations & Audio
    • Mastery Quizzes
    • Flashcards
    • Infographics
    • No Fear Graphic Novels
  • Account Details
  • Subscription & Billing

Please wait while we process your payment

Reset Password

  • Please wait while we process your payment

    Log in Sign up

    Sparknotes

  • By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.

    Don’t have an account? Subscribe now

    Create Your Account

    Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial

    • Ad-free experience
    • Study notes
    • Flashcards
      & Quizzes
    • AP® English Test Prep
    • Plus much more

  • Already have an account? Log in

    Your Email

    Choose Your Plan

    BEST VALUE

    Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!

    Continuing to Payment will take you to astripe-imagepayment page

    Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?

    Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!

  • Price

    $24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax

    Subtotal $37.48 + tax

    Save 25% on 2-49 accounts

    Save 30% on 50-99 accounts

    Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.

    Your Plan

    Payment Details

  • We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country.

  • Payment Details

    Payment Summary

    SparkNotes Plus

    You'll be billed after your free trial ends.

    7-Day Free Trial

    Not Applicable

    Renews April 2, 2023 March 26, 2023

    Discounts (applied to next billing)

    DUE NOW

    US $0.00

    SNPLUSROCKS20  |  20% Discount

    This is not a valid promo code.

    Discount Code (one code per order)

    SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.

    Choose Your Plan

    Suggestions

    Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.
    • My Account Icon My Account white
      • My PLUS Activity
        • Notes
        • Bookmarks
        • Test Prep PLUS
        • No Fear Translations
        • Mastery Quizzes
        • Flashcards
        • Infographics
        • No Fear Graphic Novels
      • Account Details
      • Subscription & Billing
      My PLUS Dashboard
    • Shakespeare white
      • No Fear Shakespeare Translations
      • Shakespeare Study Guides
      • Shakespeare Life & Times
      • Glossary of Shakespeare Terms
    • Literature white
      • No Fear Literature Translations
      • Literature Study Guides
      • Glossary of Literary Terms
      • How to Write Literary Analysis
    • Other Subjects white
      • Biography
      • Biology
      • Chemistry
      • Computer Science
      • Drama
      • Economics
      • Film
      • Health
      • History
      • Math
      • Philosophy
      • Physics
      • Poetry
      • Psychology
      • Short Stories
      • Sociology
      • US Government and Politics
    • Test Prep PLUS white
      • Test Prep Lessons
      • AP® English Literature
      • AP® English Language
    • Teacher white
      • SparkTeach
      • Teacher's Handbook
    • Blog
    • Help

    Please wait while we process your payment

    expired-logo

    Your PLUS subscription has expired

    • We’d love to have you back! Renew your subscription to regain access to all of our exclusive, ad-free study tools.
    Renew your subscription

    Please wait while we process your payment

    expired-logo

    snpromo-logo
    • Looking for exclusive, AD-FREE study tools? Look no further!

    Miss Lonelyhearts

    Nathanael West

    Study Guide
    • Study Guide
    • Summary
      • Summary & Analysis
      • "Miss Lonelyhearts, Help Me, Help Me" and "M.L. and the Dead Pan"
      • "Miss Lonelyhearts and the Lamb" and "M.L. and the Fat Thumb"
      • "Miss Lonelyhearts and the Clean Old Man"
      • "Miss Lonelyhearts and Mrs. Shrike"
      • "Miss Lonelyhearts on a Field Trip"
      • "Miss Lonelyhearts in the Dismal Swamp" and "M.L. in the Country"
      • "Miss Lonelyhearts Returns," "M.L. and the Cripple," and "M.L. Pays a Visit"
      • "Miss Lonelyhearts Attends a Party," "M.L. and the Party Dress," and "M.L. Has a Religious Experience"
      • Full Book
      • Full Book Summary
      • Key Facts
    • Characters
      • Character List
      • Miss Lonelyhearts
      • William Shrike
      • Betty
      • Fay Doyle
      • Peter Doyle
    • Literary Devices
      • Themes
      • Motifs
      • Symbols
    • Quotes
      • Important Quotes Explained
    • Quick Quizzes
      • Book
      • Full Book Quiz
      • 'Miss Lonelyhearts, Help Me, Help Me' and '1000.50. and the Dead Pan'
      • 'Miss Lonelyhearts and the Lamb' and '1000.50. and the Fat Thumb'
      • 'Miss Lonelyhearts and the Clean Old Man'
      • 'Miss Lonelyhearts and Mrs. Shrike'
      • 'Miss Lonelyhearts on a Field Trip'
      • 'Miss Lonelyhearts in the Dismal Swamp' and '1000.50. in the Country'
      • 'Miss Lonelyhearts Returns,' '1000.50. and the Cripple,' and '1000.50. Pays a Visit'
      • 'Miss Lonelyhearts Attends a Party,' '1000.50. and the Party Dress,' and '1000.50. Has a Religious Experience'
        • More
        • Context
        • Plot Overview
        • Character List
        • Analysis of Major Characters
        • Themes, Motifs, and Symbols
        • Essays
          • Mini Essays
          • Suggested Essay Topics
        • Further Study
          • Suggestions for Further Reading
          • Nathanael West and Miss Lonelyhearts Background

        Please wait while we process your payment

        snplus-logo

        Unlock your FREE SparkNotes PLUS trial!

        Unlock your FREE Trial!

        Sign up and get instant access to bookmarks.
        • Ad-Free experience
        • Easy-to-access study notes
        • Flashcards & Quizzes
        • AP® English test prep
        • Plus much more
        Already have an account? Log in
        Characters

        Character List

        Characters Character List
        • Miss Lonelyhearts

          The main character of the novel. Miss Lonelyhearts works as an advice columnist to his miserable readership at a New York newspaper, under the eye of his editor, Shrike. Miss Lonelyhearts is profoundly depressed by the letters he receives and by the moral climate around him. He believes that Jesus Christ is the only answer, but he has difficult integrating the concepts of Christian love into his personal life, as in his failed relationship with Betty and his affairs with Mary Shrike and Fay Doyle.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Miss Lonelyhearts .

        • Shrike

          Miss Lonelyhearts's editor at the newspaper. Cynical, hedonistic, grandiloquent, and a womanizer, Shrike is the novel's anti-Christ of sorts. He is married to Mary, who he claims beats him and refuses to give up her virginity. Still, Shrike lets Mary go out with other men to save money. He mocks Miss Lonelyhearts most when it comes to religion, ridiculing his identification with Jesus and forcing him to dispense false hopes to his readership.

          Read an in-depth analysis of William Shrike .

        • Betty

          A woman to whom Miss Lonelyhearts had proposed marriage two months prior to the events of the novel, but whom he now avoids her until desire for sex makes him visit her again. Betty is ordered, earnest, and virginal, and attributes Miss Lonelyhearts's illness to city life—she prizes her aunt's old farm above anything else. Betty's naïveté also disallows her from completely understanding Miss Lonelyhearts's plight and makes her an easy target for his verbal abuse.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Betty .

        • Mrs. Doyle

          A large, nearly grotesquely voluptuous and brutish woman. A great beauty when she was younger, Fay married the disabled Peter Doyle when she did not have enough money to support her daughter by another man. She is unhappy with her life and especially with Doyle, whom she verbally and physically abuses. Fay takes her frustrations out with aggressive advances on Miss Lonelyhearts, who plays the traditionally feminine role of resister to her pursuit.

        • Peter Doyle

          A worker for a gas company whose foot has been crippled from birth. Peter, who was married by convenience to the much stronger Fay, wonders what the point of life is and why he keeps on struggling. He is also angry and threatened that Fay's daughter Lucy is his biological child. Peter plays a submissive role to Fay while trying to overlook her sexual advances on other men, notably Miss Lonelyhearts.

          Read an in-depth analysis of Peter Doyle .

        • Mary

          Shrike's wife. Mary has been having an ongoing affair with Miss Lonelyhearts and other men for some time, but Shrike allows her this, as it saves him money. Still, Mary only goes so far as to kiss the men. She enjoys the dreamy atmospheres of nightclubs and restaurants and clearly wishes to escape from her dreary home life.

        • "Broad Shoulders"

          An anonymous person who pens the longest letter Miss Lonelyhearts receives during the novel. "Broad Shoulders," like Miss Lonelyhearts's other readers, writes poorly, in a wrenching torrent of run-on sentences and misspellings that details her life of suffering. She says that she calls herself "Broad Shoulders" because that is how she feels about life and herself.

        • Old Man

          An old man Miss Lonelyhearts and his friend Ned Gates find in a toilet in the park one night. His real name George B. Simpson, the old man is interrogated mercilessly and mockingly by the two men.

        • Ned Gates

          An irritable friend of Miss Lonelyhearts's who takes delight in verbally torturing the old man. Ned does, however, try to get Miss Lonelyhearts to lay off the old man after a while.

        • Miss Farkis

          A young woman with whom Shrike has a date at the speakeasy. Miss Farkis is interested in intellectual discussions, and is seduced by Shrike's eloquent speeches.

        • Gas station attendant

          A worker at a gas station near Betty's farm. The attendant openly reveals his anti-Semitic beliefs when Miss Lonelyhearts talks to him while gassing up the car.

        • Goldsmith

          A co-worker at the newspaper who fills in for Miss Lonelyhearts the day he is too hung over to go to work.

        Next section Miss Lonelyhearts
        Test your knowledge

        Take the Character List Quick Quiz

        Take a study break

        QUIZ: Is This a Taylor Swift Lyric or a Quote by Edgar Allan Poe?

        Take a study break

        The 7 Most Embarrassing Proposals in Literature

        Did you know you can highlight text to take a note? x

        Please wait while we process your payment

        snplus-logo

        Unlock your FREE SparkNotes PLUS trial!

        Unlock your FREE Trial!

        Sign up and get instant access to creating and saving your own notes as you read.
        • Ad-Free experience
        • Easy-to-access study notes
        • Flashcards & Quizzes
        • AP® English test prep
        • Plus much more
        Already have an account? Log in

        Popular pages: Miss Lonelyhearts

        • Miss Lonelyhearts: Character Analysis CHARACTERS

        • Important Quotations Explained QUOTES

        • Themes LITERARY DEVICES

        • Review Quiz FURTHER STUDY

        Take a Study Break

        • QUIZ: Is This a Taylor Swift Lyric or a Quote by Edgar Allan Poe?

        • The 7 Most Embarrassing Proposals in Literature

        • The 6 Best and Worst TV Show Adaptations of Books

        • QUIZ: Which Greek God Are You?

        Sign up for our latest news and updates!
        By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. You can view our Privacy Policy here. Unsubscribe from our emails at any time.

        SparkNotes—the stress-free way to a better GPA

        • Quick Links
        • No Fear Shakespeare
        • Literature Guides
        • Other Subjects
        • Blog
        • Teacher’s Handbook
        • Premium Study Tools
        • SparkNotes PLUS
        • Sign Up
        • Log In
        • PLUS Help
        • More
        • Help
        • How to Cite SparkNotes
        • How to Write Literary Analysis
        • About
        • Contact Us

        Copyright © SparkNotes LLC

        • Terms of Use
        • |
        • Privacy
        • |
        • Cookie Policy
        • |
        • Do Not Sell My Personal Information