Willa Cather

Willa Cather is commonly remembered as the author of My Antonia, a novel discussing the decisions and regrets made within an immigrant family. Although it was written before My Antonia, Cather’s A Wagner Matinee deals with a similar regret. Clark, the young narrator, visits with his aunt while she is in town for business. He reminisces over the great relationship he had with his aunt as a boy. She was always helping him with chores and school work, but she hesitated before helping him pursue music. She had once enjoyed and taught music in he city, but she married and started a new, rural life—one without music. Clark once practiced an instrument in front of his aunt and told him, “Don’t love it so well, Clark, or it will be taken away from you” (Cather). As his aunt arrived in the city, Clark surprised her with tickets to go see the Symphony Orchestra. His aunt’s reaction to the tickets and the show itself was half hearted. In fact, she became depressed by the event and filled with sorrow. She did not want to leave the symphony, and it became obvious that the poor woman regretted the country lifestyle that she chose to live. One critic wrote Cather’s portrayal to be a “severe motion sickness” (Werlock). She wrote, “Georgiana is not just transplanted but catapulted into a once-familiar but now completely foreign cultural and geographical landscape” (Werlock).

One man once said, “You can never regret a decision because at one time it was all you ever wanted.” As citizens, and human beings for that matter, we are provided the gift to make our own decisions. Because they were leaders of the Transcendentalist period, Emerson and Thoreau truly believed in making one’s own decisions and having one’s own opinions. Although Clark’s aunt may not be happy with the choice she made to move out of the city and leave her music behind, she has to face the consequences, whether good or bad, that comes with decision making. Whether they ended up in jail or a renounced activist, Emerson and Thoreau considered the consequences before taking the leap.

Cather, Willa. "A Wagner Matinee". Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 521-526. Print.

Werlock, Abby H. P. "'A Wagner Matinée'." The Facts On File Companion to the American Short Story, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.