Sense Of Regret In A Wagner Matinee By Willa Cather

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In Willa Cather’s short story, “A Wagner Matinee”, Cather uses a sense of regret, along with the setting and the music from the concert hall, to bring a sense of sadness to the story and to Aunt Georgiana. Aunt Georgiana was a music teacher who loved her career but gave it up to marry a farmer. She recognized her mistakes and moves on to regret marrying the farmer. As Aunt Georgiana continues to live with Mr. Clark, she cannot help but think about how she wanted to live her own life without anyone controlling her. Cather uses a sense of regret to make the reader feel sorry for Aunt Georgiana.
In “A Wagner Matinee”, Aunt Georgiana met a twenty-one year old man by the name of Howard Carpenter. Aunt Georgiana and Mr. Carpenter met in the Green Mountains, where Georgiana’s ancestors had dwelt for years. After the two adults left the Green Mountains, Aunt Georgiana headed to Boston to return to her normal life of teaching music at the Boston Conservatory. Mr. Carpenter relentlessly followed her to Boston and persuaded her to move with him to Nebraska. Mr. Clark explains how he owes his whole boyhood to Aunt Georgiana. He also explains that his aunt was extremely overworked by stating, “During the years when I was riding herd for my uncle, my aunt, after cooking three meals-the first of which was ready at six o’clock in the morning-and putting the six children to bed, would often stand till midnight at her ironing board…” (Cather 542). Mr. Clark’s observations portray Aunt Georgiana’s life as very dull and sad, an extreme contrast from before her marriage to Mr. Carpenter. Mr. Clark also mentions that Aunt Georgiana did not want to return to Nebraska after visiting Boston once more and reliving memories of her days of teaching music at...

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...r at every song. As the concert continued, and “Prize Song” had begun to play, Clark looked over at his aunt and “Her eyes were closed, but the tears were glistening on her cheeks, and I think in a moment more they were in my eyes as well… My aunt wept gently throughout the development and elaboration of the melody” (Cather 545-546). This shows the concert has an insurmountable effect on Aunt Georgiana as she remembers what she left behind in Boston to move to Nebraska.
Willa Cather portrays sadness and regret throughout “A Wagner Matinee”. Cather uses the music in the concert to express how Aunt Georgiana remembers Nebraska and the life she left behind in Boston. Aunt Georgiana begins to recognize early in the story that marrying Howard Carpenter was not a good choice. As the story closes, she feels the sadness and regret as she does not want to return to Nebraska.

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