The Fountainhead - Gail Wynand
Chapter 1:
This chapter starts out with Gail Wynand (owner of Banner newspaper) contemplating suicide. He is later considering a new real estate venture called Stoneridge; Toohey recommends Keating for the job. Toohey tells Wynand to meet Mrs. Keating before deciding, and sends Wynand the statue of Dominique from the Stoddard Temple. Wynand has a secret art gallery in his penthouse. After seeing the statue of Dominique sent by Toohey, Wynand agrees to meet Mrs. Keating (not knowing it is Dominique).
Chapter 2:
Keating and Dominique are talking and Keating tells Dominique there is no real Dominique. He asks her, “Where’s your I?” and she replies, “Where’s yours, Peter?” At one point Dominique asks Keating who the man he hates is and he tells her “Howard Roark.” Toohey then calls and tells them that Wynand wants to meet with Dominique to talk about Stoneridge.
Chapter 3:
Dominique goes to meet Keating in his office and impresses him with her beauty. She tells him it was the story regarding the Stoddard Temple that lost her the job at the Banner and that is when he realizes she is Dominique Francon. Dominique then offers to sleep with Wynand in exchange for Stoneridge for Keating, but Wynand knows she doesn’t really want to do this. Wynand meets Keating and Dominique at a restaurant shortly after and tells Keating he can have Stoneridge in exchange for Dominique for two months on his yacht. Two days before they set sail, Wynand shows Dominique his private art gallery.
Chapter 4:
Wynand and Dominique go for a cruise on his yacht. He has never explained the name (I Do) to anyone before but tells her that people used to tell him he didn’t run things and the yacht is his way of saying, yes, “I Do.” On the yacht, Wynand asks Dominique to marry him and she agrees to marry him after remembering the Stoddard Temple and his newspaper’s campaign against Roark.
Chapter 5:
After returning to New York, Wynand goes to see Keating and offers him $250,000 and Stoneridge in exchange for Dominique. Keating agrees but then feels grief. Dominique visits Roark in Ohio and tells him what is going on. Roark is disappointed but does not object. She asks him to let her stay one night with him but he says no and walks her to the train.
Chapter 6:
Toohey’s group of writers (American Council of Writers) gets together to listen to Ike, a member, read his newest play. It is awful, but Toohey helps the writers become famous. Toohey also supports modern architecture in his column. This hurts Keating, who uses a blend of other styles. Francon retires and Neil Dumont is chosen by Keating as his new partner; the firm begins to slide.
Chapter 7:
Wynand wants a small, private ceremony but Dominique tells him she wants the whole nine yards: engraved invitations, guests, mobs of guests, celebrities, flowers, flash bulbs and newsreel cameras. Dominique ends up wearing a long black dress. The Banner is flooded with letters degrading Wynand as he married a divorced woman who got married in black.
Chapter 8:
For two weeks after the wedding, Wynand and Dominique stay in their penthouse, 57 stories above the rest of the world. One night, Wynand sees the cablegram that fired Dominique: “Fire the bitch. GW.” However, to Dominique’s surprise, he leaves it alone. When Wynand returns from a convention, Dominique has bought tickets to Ike’s show: “No Skin Off Your Nose,” which was highly praised by the Banner. The show is awful, and Dominique attempts to get Wynand to see what he has done to the world. Wynand tells her he hates the idea of perfection and that there is no such thing as a perfectly honorable man and that he has spent a great deal of money and time trying to prove it.
Chapter 9:
On the I Do, Wynand tells Dominique that power is the only thing he has ever wanted. He also tells her he wants to erect “The Wynand Building” in Hell’s Kitchen that will be the new home of the Banner. Dominique warns him that Toohey wants to assume control of the paper so he can assume control of the world. She tells Wynand to fire him. Wynand laughs at her warning and says, “Why should I fire Elsie? He’s the kind that makes money for me.” When Wynand tells Dominique that he loves her, she thinks of Roark and she apologizes to Wynand for marrying him but not loving him. Wynand is happy and tells her he does not care.
