Bertram Cope is starting his first year as a graduate student at a university in Illinois. His handsome looks and cool demeanor quickly attract all kinds of attention, some wanted and some not.

Cope attempts to walk a thin line. He desperately wants the insider connections that come with this new social circle for his and his friend Lemoyne’s careers, but is also worried about his “self-defence” ability from his admirers' affections.

It is interesting how same sex attraction is handled and viewed by the surrounding cast of characters. When it is addressed, its more of a wink and a nod, the rest of the words left unsaid. Concerns are more about the qualities of the person of their attraction, not of their gender. The only character who receives blowback from their queerness is Arthur Lemoyne, who gets a but too carried away in their role as a female character in a university play.