The Third Violet

On the surface, "The Third Violet" exemplifies a scenario in which boy meets girl, boy pursues girl, and boy and girl live happily ever after. William Hawker, a struggling artist in late-nineteenth-century New York City, returns to his parents’ farm in the countryside—to get away from the world of advertising design and paint his vision of the truth. There he becomes infatuated with Grace Fanhall, a wealthy aristocratic socialite vacationing for the summer at a local inn. Hawker handles the courtship awkwardly, and he becomes distressed when faced with a rich rival, Jem Oglethorpe. Teasing and satirical comments from George Hollanden, a writer also staying at the inn, upset Hawker further, though the latter is relieved when his rival, Oglethorpe, finally departs. The action then shifts abruptly from rural New York State to urban New York City and the Bohemian rooms of William Hawker and his indigent artist friends. Hawker finds his attraction to Grace Fanhall complicated by the presence of Florinda O’Connor, a local model who loves him; confused about his feelings, he treats Florinda coolly. But Hawker’s friends nonetheless tease him about his relationships with two women. After a certain amount of anguish and self-pity, Hawker visits Grace in her Manhattan brownstone and tells her he has treasured two violets she gave him while they were in the country. To his surprise, she gives him a third violet, and the script ends with the two of them apparently content in each other’s company—despite the fact that Hawker is not yet the artist he means to become.