Literary Analysis: Willa Cather's "A Wagner Matinee"
Sponsored Listings from TermPapersMonthly.com
- The Yellow Wallpaper Literary Analysis Literary Analysis: The Yellow Wallpaper The narrator in Charlotte Perkins Gilmans The Yellow Wallpaper is characterized as a disturbed...
- Literary Analysis Of Cathedral of Cathedral Sherry Hickey Literary Analysis of Cathedral There it is again, that feeling. If you could draw it on paper, it would be...
- Literary Analysis Of The Raven Literary Analysis of The Raven The rhyme scheme used by Poe in his poem The Raven is described as ABCBBB. Every stanza in The Raven follows this...
- Literary Analysis Of "The Story Of An Hour" Amber Simmons Composition 1 Literary Analysis The Story of an Hour August 31, 2009 In The Story of An Hour Chopins use of imagery...
- a Literary Analysis Of The Corruptness Of Pietro Baglioni In many of Nathaniel Hawthornes novels and short stories, there are characters who appear to be considered evil or immoral, yet still sympathy is considered while
Submitted by ep12345 on 12/14/2008 01:42 PM Flag This Paper
Join Now- Category:
- Literature
- Words | Pages:
- 885 | 4
- Views:
- 3993
- Popularity Rank:
- 27
-
-
-
Literary Analysis: Willa Cather's "A Wagner Matinee"
Literary Analysis
Willa Cather’s “A Wagner Matineeâ€
Willa Cather once said, “Where there is great love there are always miracles.†As a writer completely immersed in her work, Will Cather created many miraculous pieces of literature. Combining her memories of Nebraska life and her love for writing, Cather constructed stories that were highlighted by descriptive writing. In “A Wagner Matinee,†Cather used many literary devices to develop the round character of Aunt Georgiana. While the original setting is her arriving in the city, the story bounces back and forth between memories in Nebraska and city life. Nebraska created isolation for Aunt Georgiana by keeping her away from her love of music, thus, when she arrived to the city, she appeared to be dead inside and out. Moreover, through many literary devices, Cather’s writing is brought to life.
Cather, widely known for her descriptive writing, grabs the reader’s attention right away in the second paragraph of the story. “….the gangling farmer-boy my aunt had known scourged with chilblains and bashfulness, my hands cracked and sore from the corn husking…†(235). This quote not only creates a clear picture of Clark as he saw himself in his aunts eyes, but also shows how Aunt Georgiana brought back many memories of his childhood. Cather’s description is further used to depict the appearance of Aunt Georgiana. With the use of similes, the loathsome description of Aunt Georgiana is brought to life. For example, “…her skin was yellow as a Mongolian’s form constant exposure to a pitiless wind and to the alkaline water which hardens the most transparent cuticle into a sort of flexible leather.†(236). Through this simile, the reader imagines a gruesome image of her skin: old, yellow, and tough as leather. Another simile that helps the development of description is, “It never really died, then—the soul that can suffer so excruciatingly and so interminable…like...