The Titan

The second novel in the “Trilogy of Desire” cycle was published in May 1914. American critics met the novel’s release with silence or negative reviews, calling the protagonist “amoral” and pointing to his “licentious character.” Dreiser himself said about the matter: “...there is a tendency to turn everything upside down, to overthrow those who stand at the highest rung of intellectual development, for the sake of the prejudices and foolishness of the majority. All for those who hold power…”

The book tells of Cowperwood’s life after his move from Philadelphia to Chicago. After leaving the Philadelphia prison and making a series of successful speculations during a stock-market panic that made him a millionaire, Cowperwood decides to continue his activities in Chicago. He started his business in the new place by organizing new gas companies, while also bribing members of the municipal council. There were also new romantic stories. Women change in Cowperwood’s life with enviable consistency—of course, this does not help him strengthen his marriage and grows him ever farther from his wife Aileen.