Schroeder (Peanuts) arrives with a toy violin and asks Schroeder if he could play Beethoven on it, and Schroeder scoffs at such an absurd idea. Peppermint Patty once called Schroeder a "miniature Leonard Bernstein" after she heard him whistling a classical piece during a ball game shortly after she was introduced to the strip and briefly took over management of the team. Schroeder's other distinguishing mark as a character is his constant refusal of Lucy's love. Lucy is infatuated with Schroeder, and frequently lounges against his piano while he is playing, professing her love for him. But Beethoven was a lifelong bachelor,
Schroeder (Peanuts) she rattles off a list of all the luxuries she would need to maintain a high-society lifestyle, before asking Schroeder whether pianists make much money; when he replies that it depends on how much they practice, she encourages him to keep practicing. Her suggestions that he might "insist on playing in some cheap little" bar or that she would make him practice in the basement upset him, and several of her fantasies of their married life seem strangely pessimistic: Lucy has imagined that Schroeder could become a famous concert pianist who breaks both arms skiing, leaving them so destitute that