Who is a wagner matinee about?
Ava Arnold
Score: 4.3/5 (15 votes)
A young Bostonian named Clark receives word that his Aunt Georgiana is coming to visit from Nebraska to settle an estate. “A Wagner Matinée” combines two familiar Willa Cather themes—the hardship and desolation of pioneer life and the sustaining power of music on the human spirit. ...
Who are the main characters of A Wagner Matinee?
- Clark, the story's narrator, describes himself as having been "a gangling farmer-boy" with "chilblains"
- Georgiana Carpenter, Clark's aunt.
- Howard Carpenter, Clark's uncle.
- Mrs. Springer, narrator's landlady.
What point of view is A Wagner Matinee?
“Wagner's Matinee” by Willa Cather introduces Aunt Georgiana. The story's point of view is first person with Clark, her nephew, the narrator. ... The narrator stayed with his aunt for three years. She gave Clark attention and taught him about life and music.
Who is the narrator in A Wagner Matinee?
Clark. Clark is the narrator of "A Wagner Matinee." The reader does not learn his last name, only that he is the nephew of Georgiana, his maternal aunt, and her husband Howard Carpenter.
What is the conflict in A Wagner Matinee?
One of the central conflicts of the story is between the hard life on the Nebraska frontier and the cultured world of Boston. At first, Clark regrets his plans to take Aunt Georgiana to the concert because he is doubtful that, after so many years, she will enjoy the concert.
A Wagner Matinee by Willa Cather
How does Clark view the character of Aunt Georgiana?
His Uncle Howard has asked him to assist his Aunt Georgiana who has traveled from their farm in Nebraska to Boston business. ... Clark is a sensitive man who worries about his aunt. He believes that her heavy weighted body will present problems for her. He is almost ashamed of her dowdy appearance.
What is it that Clark understands at the end of the story?
Summarize (In your own words) what (you) think Clark "understands" at the end of the story. He understand that Aunt Georgiana made the poor decision to elope and go live in Nebraska with her love and ended up stuck in this rural country life she did not want away from her passion of classical music.
What does Clark realize about his aunt and her love of music?
However, as he watches her, Clark understands that Georgiana is overwhelmed by her realization that she has lost something important to her---her music. The concert for the nephew and aunt becomes a renewal of lost emotions. The aunt goes back in time to her love of music and the depth of its impact on the heart.
Why does the narrator understand what Aunt Georgiana is feeling after the Wagner Matinee?
The narrator feels obliged to Aunt Georgiana because she has provided him the joy of music; so, after learning that she will soon arrive in Boston, he attains tickets to a concert.
What does aunt Georgiana do when the violins start playing the Pilgrims Chorus?
Georgiana's response to the first piece in the program—the "Pilgrim's Chorus" from Tannhauser—is one of the first indications that Clark's worries are misplaced: she clutches her nephew's arm as the horns begin playing, apparently overwhelmed by strong emotion.
Why did the Prize Song aunt Gana cry?
Why does Aunt Georgiana cry during the concert? because she remembers how important music is to her. ... because she knows he has been enjoying the benefits of Boston's culture while she has sacrificed her old life to live in Nebraska; he sympathizes with her because she had inspired a love of music in him.
When had Georgiana been a music teacher?
Georgiana, the protagonist of the story, is Clark's aunt and Howard's wife. In the 1860s she had been a music teacher at the Boston Conservatory and seemed to have a promising career ahead of her.
What kind of person is aunt Georgiana?
Aunt Georgiana is a woman who has deprived herself of those precious things which have fed her soul; consequently, she appears worn and aged beyond her years. In addition, there is the aloofness of one who spends long times alone.
What happens at the end of Wagner Matinee?
As the music goes on, it seems to carry Georgiana beyond mere reminiscence and melancholy. Her thoughts and feelings aren't accessible to Clark, but he discerns that she is confronting the grief of her abandoned dreams. The concert ends.
Why does Clark come to live with Aunt Georgiana as a boy?
Why did Aunt Georgiana help Clark so much when he was a young boy? She wanted him to get out of Nebraska and be successful in life. ... -Aunt Georgiana is stuck in Nebraska, taking care of her family and her farm for the rest of her life.
Why does Georgiana move to Nebraska?
In "The Wagner Matinee," Aunt Georgiana moved to Nebraska for the purpose of an elopement. When she was younger she worked as a music teacher in Boston but spent one summer in a small village in Nebraska, where she met Howard Carpenter.
Why does aunt Georgiana say I don't want to go at the end of A Wagner Matinee when it's time to leave the concert hall?
Why does Aunt Georgiana never want to leave the concert? She hates her lifestyle in the frontier and wishes she could return to her former way of life. ... It is strong enough to make her abandon her former life and live out in the West.
Why did Clark's aunt cry at the opera?
Why did Clark's aunt cry at the opera? She thought the production was terrible.She felt she had failed her own opera company. ... In "A Wagner Matinee," which of the following factors probably contributed most to Aunt Georgiana's general bewilderment during her visit?
How did aunt Georgiana end up moving from Boston to Nebraska?
How did Aunt Georgiana end up in Nebraska? At age 30, an age at which most women are pressured into getting married quickly, she met a 20-year-old handsome farm boy while visiting the Green Mountains in NA. She fell in love with him and moved to Nebraska so they could start a family.
How do Clark's feelings toward his aunt change during the course of the story?
Over the course of the story, Clark gains a better understanding of his aunt and what sacrifices she had to make to live on the prairie. He comes to appreciate her emotional complexity at a level he had not been able to before.
What is Clark's initial feeling about being with his aunt in public?
Clark is really excited at the opportunity because he believes that his aunt will love it. He ends up being correct; however, he expresses "trepidation" at bringing his aunt to the concert. Clark is worried that his aunt will feel extremely out of place in this higher-class gathering while dressed in her drab clothing.
What did aunt Georgiana teach Clark to do when he was a boy?
When he was a boy, Aunt Georgina taught Clark the subjects of Latin, Literature (namely Shakespeare and mythology), and Music (specifically how to play the organ that her husband had bought for her).
What does the narrator understand about Aunt Georgiana at the end of the story *?
story. He understand that Aunt Georgiana made the poor decision to elope and go live in Nebraska with her love and ended up stuck in this rural country life she did not want away from her passion of classical music.
What does Georgiana appearance tell about her life?
The appearance of this "misshapen figure" when she arrives at Boston from Nebraska clearly indicates the way that toil and country living have ground down this former music teacher into a shadow of the person that she was.
What is revealed about Aunt Georgiana through descriptions of her appearance?
What does the story show about Aunt Georgiana by describing her physical appearance? She has a misshapen figure, and her skin has been tinted yellow by the pitiless wind and alkaline water, showing the trials she has been through. Her mouth and eyebrows twitch, a result of the isolation and monotony of the prarie.
