Babylon Revisited
After the crash, a reformed American returns to Paris to win back his young daughter, and the wild years he thought he had left behind walk in through the door.
Charlie Wales used to spend money in Paris as if it would never run out. Now the boom is over, his wife is dead, and his daughter Honoria lives with his sister-in-law, who blames him for everything. Charlie is sober, working, and allows himself exactly one drink a day. He has come back to prove he has changed. Just as he seems to have won, two friends from the old days turn up drunk at the worst possible moment, and he learns how hard it is to leave the past behind.
What happens in Babylon Revisited
Charlie Wales, an American businessman now working in Prague, returns to Paris a year and a half after the stock market crash. He stops at the Ritz bar, which is nearly empty now, asks after old drinking companions, and leaves the address of his brother-in-law so that one of them, Duncan Schaeffer, can find him. Charlie visits his sister-in-law Marion Peters and her husband Lincoln, who are raising his nine-year-old daughter Honoria. Marion is cold and suspicious. Charlie’s wife Helen died after a period of wild living, and Marion holds him responsible, especially for a night when, after a quarrel, he locked Helen out in the snow. Charlie wanders through the nightclubs of Montmartre and finds them shabby without the money that once filled them. The next day he takes Honoria to lunch and is interrupted by Duncan Schaeffer and Lorraine Quarrles, friends from the old days, who want to see him. He puts them off. Charlie then asks Marion and Lincoln to let Honoria live with him, explaining that he is sober, has a good job, and can make a home for her. Marion resists and accuses him, but finally agrees. The following evening, as they discuss the arrangements, Duncan and Lorraine, drunk, burst into the Peters’ apartment and invite Charlie out. He sends them away, but the damage is done. Marion is shaken and withdraws her consent. The next day Charlie returns to the Ritz bar, where Lincoln telephones to say that Charlie must wait at least six months. Charlie resolves that he will come back for his daughter, and he tells himself that Helen would not have wanted him to be so alone.
Where and when Babylon Revisited happens
The Ritz bar, Paris
Once crowded with rich Americans, now quiet, it frames the story at beginning and end.
The Peters’ apartment
A modest family home where Charlie pleads for his daughter and where his old friends intrude.
Montmartre
The nightclub district that stands for the excesses of the boom years.
About 1930, after the crash
The aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash, when the party of the 1920s has ended.
Timeline the story arc, beat by beat
- Return The Ritz bar
Charlie Wales returns to Paris after the crash, finds the Ritz bar nearly empty, and leaves his address for an old friend.
- Family Dinner at the Peters’
Charlie visits his daughter Honoria and his sister-in-law Marion, who treats him with cold suspicion.
- The past Montmartre at night
Charlie tours the nightclubs he once frequented and finds them hollow without the money of the boom.
- The ghosts Lunch with Honoria
Old friends Duncan Schaeffer and Lorraine Quarrles interrupt Charlie’s lunch with his daughter.
- The plea Asking for Honoria
Charlie asks for custody, Marion accuses him over his wife’s death, and she reluctantly agrees.
- The intrusion Duncan and Lorraine
The two friends burst drunk into the Peters’ apartment, and Marion takes back her consent.
- Waiting Back at the bar
Charlie learns he must wait six months and resolves to return for his daughter.
Characters and how they connect
Charlie Wales
Protagonist
A former high-living American trying to prove he has reformed so he can raise his daughter. His regrets and his past follow him everywhere.
Honoria Wales
Charlie’s daughter
A loving nine-year-old who wants to live with her father and represents his hope for a new life.
Marion Peters
Charlie’s sister-in-law
Helen’s sister, who resents Charlie’s past wealth and blames him for Helen’s death.
Lincoln Peters
Marion’s husband
A fair-minded man who is sympathetic to Charlie but defers to his wife.
Helen Wales
Charlie’s late wife
Remembered through quarrels and regret, her death hangs over every conversation.
Duncan Schaeffer
Old friend
A companion from Charlie’s wild years whose drunken arrival wrecks his plans.
Lorraine Quarrles
Old friend
A flirtatious woman from the boom days who tries to pull Charlie back into the old life.
Character Relationships who connects to whom, and the themes that bind them
Love / marriage
Family
Friendship / ally
Connection
Themes in Babylon Revisited what the story is really about
The weight of the past
Charlie tries to prove he has changed, but his former life keeps returning, both in Marion’s memory and in the friends who walk through the door.
Redemption and its limits
Charlie has reformed, yet the story questions whether anyone can fully escape the consequences of past behavior.
Wealth and loss
The crash wiped out fortunes, and Charlie realizes that the boom cost him far more than money: his wife and his daughter.
Family and responsibility
Charlie’s love for Honoria drives the story, while Marion’s protectiveness reflects her own grief and resentment.
Guilt
Charlie carries guilt for Helen’s death and for his years of excess, and he must decide how to live with it.
Symbols & motifs
Babylon
The title compares Paris in the boom years to the biblical city of luxury and decadence, now fallen.
The Ritz bar
Its emptiness marks the end of an era and the distance Charlie has traveled from his old life.
One drink a day
Charlie’s daily limit shows his discipline and how carefully he guards against slipping back.
The snow
The night Charlie locked Helen out in the snow stands for the recklessness and cruelty of those years.
Recurring motifs
Money. References to wealth, spending, and loss run through the story, reminding Charlie of what money did to his life.
Return. Charlie returns to Paris, to the bar, and to old places, trying to reclaim what he lost.
Interruptions. The past keeps intruding at key moments, first at lunch and then at the Peters’ door.
Conflicts
Person vs. person
Charlie and Marion struggle over Honoria and over the memory of Helen.
Person vs. self
Charlie fights his own past and the temptation to slip back into old habits.
Person vs. society
The whole world of the boom years, now collapsed, shapes Charlie’s choices and his reputation.
Literary devices
- Allusion
- The title alludes to Babylon, the biblical symbol of luxury and moral decay.
- Flashback
- Memories of Helen and the boom years surface in conversation and reflection.
- Frame structure
- The story begins and ends at the Ritz bar, showing how little has changed for Charlie.
- Irony
- Charlie’s reform is real, but the friends from his old life undo his progress at the worst moment.
- Third-person limited point of view
- The narration stays with Charlie, sharing his hopes and regrets.
The ending of Babylon Revisited, explained
Babylon Revisited ends with Charlie back where he started, at the Ritz bar, facing the fact that his past has cost him more time with his daughter. After Duncan Schaeffer and Lorraine Quarrles burst into the Peters’ apartment, drunk and demanding that Charlie come out with them, Marion is so upset that she takes back her agreement to let Honoria live with him. Charlie had done everything right: he was sober, employed, and patient, and he even sent the intruders away. But their appearance confirmed Marion’s fears and her memory of the reckless years that ended in her sister’s death. The next day Charlie sits in the bar, and Lincoln calls to say that Marion is ill and that Charlie must wait at least six months before trying again. Charlie is bitter; he knows he cannot recover the years he wasted or the life he lost with Helen. The story does not end in despair, though. Charlie resolves that he will come back for Honoria someday, and he tells himself that Helen would not have wanted him to be so alone. The ending leaves his future uncertain. It shows how the consequences of the boom years linger long after the money is gone, and it suggests that reform does not erase the past, even when the change is sincere.
Common misreadings
MythCharlie is still drinking heavily.
ActuallyHe has reformed and limits himself to one drink a day, which makes the ending more painful.
MythCharlie invites his old friends to the Peters’ home.
ActuallyHe left his brother-in-law’s address at the bar earlier, but he did not invite them, and he sends them away.
MythThe story ends with Charlie getting custody of Honoria.
ActuallyMarion withdraws her consent, and Charlie must wait at least six months.
Test yourself
1. Why has Charlie returned to Paris?
He wants Honoria to live with him again.
2. Who is raising Honoria?
Charlie’s sister-in-law and her husband are caring for her.
3. How many drinks does Charlie allow himself each day?
His single daily drink shows his discipline.
4. What ruins Charlie’s plan?
Their arrival makes Marion withdraw her consent.
5. How long must Charlie wait before trying again?
Lincoln tells him he must wait at least six months.
Charlie used to party hard in Paris when he had lots of money, but after the stock market crashed and his wife died, he changed. Now he is sober and has a job, and he comes back to Paris to ask his sister-in-law Marion to let his daughter Honoria live with him. Marion does not trust him and blames him for her sister’s death, but she finally says yes. Then two of Charlie’s old party friends show up drunk at Marion’s home, and she changes her mind. Charlie has to wait months before trying again. The story shows how hard it is to escape your past, even after you change.
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Compare & connect the story universe
The Great Gatsby
Fitzgerald’s novel of the boom years shows the glamour and emptiness that Babylon Revisited looks back on.
The Rich Boy
Another Fitzgerald story about wealth, loss, and a man unable to escape his own patterns.
Soldier’s Home
A man returns to a changed world and struggles to fit back in.
The Swimmer
A man confronts the losses of his past in a story that moves from comedy to regret.
Adaptation. The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954, Film directed by Richard Brooks).
Discussion & essay prompts for class, or your next paper
💬 Discussion questions
- What does the title Babylon Revisited mean
- Why does Marion blame Charlie in Babylon Revisited
- What happens at the end of Babylon Revisited
- How does Babylon Revisited explore the theme of the weight of the past?
- How does Babylon Revisited explore the theme of redemption and its limits?
- What is the central conflict in Babylon Revisited, and how does it shape the ending?
✎ Essay prompts
- Analyze how F. Scott Fitzgerald develops the theme of the weight of the past in Babylon Revisited. Support your argument with specific evidence from the text.
- Examine the significance of babylon in Babylon Revisited. What does it represent, and how does it deepen the work’s meaning?
- How does F. Scott Fitzgerald use allusion to shape the reader’s experience of Babylon Revisited?
- Some readers assume that charlie is still drinking heavily. Argue for or against this interpretation, using evidence from the text.
Key questions students ask
- What does the title Babylon Revisited mean
- Why does Marion blame Charlie in Babylon Revisited
- What happens at the end of Babylon Revisited
- What role do Duncan and Lorraine play in Babylon Revisited
- How does Babylon Revisited reflect the stock market crash
- Has Charlie Wales really changed in Babylon Revisited
Analysis is original StoryBites commentary on Babylon Revisited by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1931). The text is under copyright and is summarized and analyzed in our own words, not reproduced. The story first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post in 1931, and Fitzgerald revised it for Taps at Reveille (1935); the 1931 magazine text enters the United States public domain on January 1, 2027, while the 1935 revision remains protected through 2030.
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