Willa Cather "A Wagner Matinee"

Willa Cather is the author of the short story "A Wagner Matinee". As some to most of the short stories and poems assigned to us to read, I find this short story to tug at the strings of nature during the transcendentalist period. The descriptive words used in this short story are great. "her linen duster had become black with soot"(Cather, "A Wagner Matinee"). This may not seem all that descriptive but it gives us details on how long and tiring her journey must have been and on what her appearance is. When the author meets his aunt on the train we know that she is battered and worn from the journey but he still respects her. The author talks of the old times working on the farm for her and how he respected her. "I became, in short, the gangling farm boy my aunt had known, scourged with chilblains and bashfulness, my hands cracked and sore from the corn husking. I felt the knuckles of my thumb tentatively, as though they were raw again. I sat again before her parlor organ, fumbling the scales with my stiff, red hands, while she, beside me, made canvas mittens for the huskers"(Cather, "A Wagner Matinee"). This tells us that she cared for the workers and took the time to make mittens for the workers so that their hands would not be as sore as they would be without them.

"Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood"("EMERSON - NATURE--Web Text."). Nature was important to Ralph Waldo Emerson as shown in his famous essay "Nature". The symbolism of nature is evident in this short story as well as emotion which was also important to Emerson and Thoreau. After Clark took his Aunt to the opera and the audience had left they remained behind reminiscing on the old days. "I spoke to my aunt. She burst into tears and sobbed pleadingly. "I don't want to go, Clark, I don't want to go!"(Cather, "A Wagner Matinee"). This is because the music had brought some memories of home back to her which was all but gone due to relatives passing away. She was happy and sad at the same time and did not want to give up those happy memories of her long life.

This short stories showed some characteristics of the Transcendentalist period and it is an important piece of writing to that period. It shows both nature and emotion to engage the reader and help us to understand the meaning of memories. Memories are to be cherished and can be brought back to us in the smallest things, such as an opera show.

Cather, Willa. "A Wagner Matinee." Willa Cather's Short Story:. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.

"EMERSON - NATURE--Web Text." Virginia Commonwealth University. Web. 11 Feb. 2012.