| "The Marriage of Phaedra" | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Willa Cather | |
 Text available at Wikisource | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short story |
| Publication | |
| Published in | The Troll Garden |
| Publication type | Short story collection |
| Publication date | 1905 |
"The Marriage of Phaedra" is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in The Troll Garden in 1905 [1]
MacMaster visits a late painter's studio and attempts to collect information to write his biography.
'The Marriage of Phaedra' is an unfinished painting by Hugh Treffinger.
MacMaster goes to Hugh Treffinger's studio in Holland Road, London. He is greeted by James, who shows him around. Later, he visits Lady Mary Percy, whom he had met in Nice four years back. She criticises Hugh for his lack of manners and for his pride. MacMaster takes to going to the studio to garner information from James. He meets Ellen Treffinger to tell her of his project of a biography. Later, he grows wary of an arts dealer, Lichtenstein. One day, James shows him an issue of The Times saying Ellen is engaged to get married, and she has sold 'The Marriage of Phaedra' to the arts dealer. However, James has stolen the painting as Hugh had made it clear to him before his death that he did not want it sold. MacMaster conjectures they have to tell Ellen of the situation. When he visits her the next day, she says the painting will have to go.
The story may be inspired by Cather's 1902 visit of Edward Burne-Jones's studio [2] in Kensington; [3] she used the real name, James, of Burne-Jones's valet. [4]
Further, the story has been deemed Jamesian for its narrative technique and its use of the painting as a means to convey meaning. [5]
Willa Sibert Cather was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including O Pioneers!, The Song of the Lark, and My Ántonia. In 1923, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours, a novel set during World War I.
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