Dodsworth

Dodsworth, novel by Sinclair Lewis, published in 1929, was dramatized by Sidney Howard and the author (1934).

Samuel Dodsworth, automobile manufacturer of the Midwestern city of Zenith, retires to devote himself to cultural pursuits and a trip to Europe. During 23 years of married life, he has adored his frivolous, pampered wife Fran, but he is soon disillusioned after abandoning his absorption in business. On the transatlantic ship she assumes an air of worldliness and flirts with an Englishman, Major Clyde Lockert; in Paris she joins the extravagant set of Renée de Pénable and has an affair with Arnold Israel. Sam quickly tires of this life and returns alone to America, but, fearing that Fran may be harmed by Israel, he rejoins her in Europe. Fran breaks with her lover and visits Germany with Sam, where she falls in love with an impoverished aristocrat, Kurt von Obersdorf. She asks Sam for a divorce, and he spends lonely months touring southern Europe. He is happy again only after he meets Edith Cortright, an American widow, in whose mature tolerance he finds companionship. Through Edith he learns to appreciate European traditions and art, and she encourages his plans for a building enterprise in Zenith. They intend to marry, but when Kurt's mother forbids him to marry Fran, Sam is persuaded to return to America with his wife. During the voyage he finds Fran still childish and egotistical, and he cables Edith that he will return to her by the next ship.