The Prodigies

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"The Prodigies" is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in Home Monthly in July 1897. [1]

Willa Cather American writer and novelist

Willa Sibert Cather was an American writer who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, including O Pioneers! (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915), and My Ántonia (1918). In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours (1922), a novel set during World War I.

Home Monthly was a monthly women's magazine published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the late 19th century.

Contents

Plot summary

The Mackenzies are invited to the Masseys' at four in the afternoon to hear their children, Hermann and Ad, sing. Later, Mr. Mackenzie overhears the children say they wish they could join other children and play with them instead of working. He chips in and tells them they will go to a dog show with his children the next day, instead of seeing an opera as planned. During their performance, the girl collapses. One month later, Mr. Mackenzie informs Mrs. Massey that the girl's voice has been worn out. Undaunted, she prods her son to become a very successful singer.

Characters

Cornet musical instrument

The cornet is a brass instrument similar to the trumpet but distinguished from it by its conical bore, more compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B♭, though there is also a soprano cornet in E♭ and a cornet in C. All are unrelated to the renaissance and early baroque cornett.

Paris Capital of France

Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an area of 105 square kilometres and an official estimated population of 2,140,526 residents as of 1 January 2019. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe's major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts.

Allusions to other works

Lewis Carroll English writer, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English writer of world-famous children's fiction, notably Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass. He was noted for his facility at word play, logic and fantasy. The poems Jabberwocky and The Hunting of the Snark are classified in the genre of literary nonsense. He was also a mathematician, photographer, and Anglican deacon.

Pegasus mythological creature in Greek mythology

Pegasus is a famous pterippus, a mythical winged divine stallion who is one of the most recognized creatures in Greek mythology. Although often misused in popular culture, the term "Pegasus" is a proper noun, referring to a particular character, whereas the term "pterippus" is the generic name for the species of winged horses. Pegasus is usually depicted as pure white in color. Pegasus is a child of the Olympian god Poseidon. He was foaled by the Gorgon Medusa upon her death, when the hero Perseus decapitated her. Pegasus is the brother of Chrysaor and the uncle of Geryon.

Alphonse Daudet French novelist

Alphonse Daudet was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée Daudet, and writers Léon Daudet and Lucien Daudet.

Literary significance and criticism

Henry James 19th and 20th-century American novelist, short story author, and literary critic

Henry James, OM was an American-British author regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the son of Henry James Sr. and the brother of renowned philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James.

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References

  1. ↑ Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, November 1, 1970, page 439
  2. ↑ Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, November 1, 1970, "Introduction" by Mildred R. Bennett, page xxix
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