The short story “A Wagner Matinee”, written by Willa Cather is a brilliant example of symbolism, the brightest symbol is music that is dominant in the story. It has many manifestations and represents various aspects of the main characters life.
Perhaps, it is necessary to give at least a brief summary of the story. Aunt Georgiana goes to Boston in order to see to some business. Her nephew, Clark is very grateful to her, because Georgiana cultivated that sense of beauty in him. Thus, he decides to give a little present. They go to Wager Matinee and this music produces such a strong impression on her that she does not want to leave the concert hall, and return to the mundane routine.
Analyzing the way, functions in this short story, we discuss it from various points of view. It will not be an exaggeration to surmise that Wagners music is symbolic and that it allows the reader to get insight into the inner world of Aunt Georgiana.
First, music represents Aunt Georgianas past life, the life that she had to abandon many years ago, it is the beautiful world and therefore the main character is so intent on staying in the concert hall. It is worth mentioning, that Clark, her nephew doubts whether is still able to appreciate music, he says “though, as I conversed with her I grew doubtful about her enjoyment of it” (Cather, 3) However, her sense of beauty survived in spite of many years that she lived in the country. Clark understands that the “silence” (Cather, 4) in the figurative sense of this word has been broken.
The author describes the effect that each peace of music has on Aunt Georgiana, and we can say that to some extent music symbolizes spiritual and aesthetic revival, that the main character experience, it seems that she is awakening from a very long sleep.
Moreover, Wagners music represents her unfulfilled desires and ambitions. This statement can be substantiated by various examples. First, Aunt Georgian was once a talented musician and now she has to be a common housewife, whose sole concern is milking cows and the kitchen. It stands to reason, that she does not want to return to her daily life, because it is very limited. For many years, the main character has not left her house and now she is able to give vent to her feelings.
Additionally, the music conjures up the image of a person that Aunt Georgiana once loved, probably, because he had some interest in music. Thus, we can say that people, who live in Red Willow County, do not share her interest in music.
The music makes Aunt Georgiana feel that she is still alive and that there this world has something bigger than just kitchen and the farm. This concert helps her escape just for while from “the black pond with the cattle-tracked bluffs” and “the tall, unpainted house” (Cather, 10) consequently, it can be concluded that, music is a perfect means of escape from harsh reality, which she detests deep in heart. It should be mentioned that any kind of art is way to escape from reality, and perhaps it is the true purpose of art.
Thus, having analyzed the short story “A Wagner Matinee” by Willa Cather, we can arrive at the conclusion that music fulfills very important functions in this story. First, it throws light on the inner world of the main character. Secondly, music is a very complex symbol that can be analyzed from different standpoints.
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Bibliography
Willa Cather. “A Wagner Matinee” Redpath Press, 1986.