“A Wagner Matinee”

1. “A Wagner Matinee” Willa Cather

2. What is Regionalism? • Often called “local color.” • Focuses on characters, dialect, customs, topography, and other features specific to a certain region (eg. the South) • Coincided with Realism and sharing many of the same traits. • Prominent from 1865-1895.

3. About the Selection • The narrator’s Aunt Georgiana returns to Boston for a visit years after moving to the frontier. • A former music teacher, Georgiana has been outwardly toughened by frontier life. • Yet when her nephew takes her to the opera, she has a deep emotional response.

4. About the Selection • She cries with joy at the music and with grief at the cultural opportunities she has forfeited to live with her husband. • Through his aunt’s pain, the narrator learns that the soul never really dies, but “withers to the outward eye only” as it waits to be reawakened.

5. Point of View • The writer is using first person point of view when a story is told by a character involved in the action.

6. Point of View • Because we learn from Clark about the type of person Aunt Georgiana once was and all that she has done for Clark, we come to view Aunt Georgiana with respect and sympathy.

7. Point of View • Which details show who is narrating this story? • Details such as “my kinswoman” and “my poor aunt’s figure” both indicate that the narrator is her nephew. Note: The reader views Aunt Georgiana, the Nebraskan, through the eyes of the big city nephew.

8. Point of View • What do the contrasting details of Aunt Georgiana’s life in Boston and Nebraska reveal about her character? • She was once a refined and cultured woman who, for the sake of romantic passion, exchanged life in Boston for a life that transformed her into a figure “at once pathetic and grotesque.”

9. Characterization • Direct characterization is developed by: • Direct statements about the character • Physical descriptions

10. Characterization • Indirect characterization is developed by: • The character’s actions, thoughts, or comments • Comments about the character made by other characters

11. Characterization of Aunt Georgiana • When Clark was a boy, what subjects did he learn from his aunt? • He studied Latin, Shakespeare, mythology and music. What does this say about the Boston version of Aunt Georgiana? How does this fit into Regionalism?

12. Characterization of Aunt Georgiana • What is Clark’s initial feeling about being in public with Aunt Georgiana? How does that attitude change? • At first he feels anxious and embarrassed about how out of place and ill at ease his aunt seems. When he sees that she is absorbing details of the musicians, his mind wanders to his own first passionate responses to the sounds in the orchestra. What does this say about stereotypes of the two very different regions? How does this fit Regionalism?

13. Importance of Setting • Geographic location – physical features • Time – a season or specific historic period • Characters – jobs and daily activities • Culture – religious and moral beliefs, social and economic conditions

14. Means of Conveying Setting • Dialects • Detailed Descriptions

15. Regional Identity • What does Aunt Georgiana’s excitement about the performance reveal about her? • It reveals that her love for music has been reawakened; her suffering has not numbed her completely. How does the frontier life “numb” Aunt Georgiana? What does this say about the Nebraska?

16. Setting Matters • Life in Red Willow County is physically and psychologically brutal; the climate is harsh; the work never-ending and back-breaking; there are few people with whom to socialize; and there is no music or sophisticated culture. • In contrast, Boston’s cultural opportunities, people, and society seems stimulating and enjoyable. What attitude does this show regarding frontier life? How does this fit Regionalism?

17. Setting Matters • Would it have been better for Aunt Georgiana if she had not come to Boston? • Are people’s personalities shaped by the environment in which they live? How do these ideas fit into the author’s use of setting?

18. Theme • Aunt Georgiana says, “Don’t love it so well, Clark, or it may be taken away from you.” What does she mean? • She means that when one loves something deeply, that person can become vulnerable to a profound sense of loss if that thing disappears.