The Profile (short story)

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The Profile is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in McClure's in June 1907. [1]

Contents

Plot summary

At an Impressionists's club, painters are arguing over the seriousness of art, prompting Dunlap to leave the room. Later in Paris, he meets Mr Gilbert and starts making a portrait of his daughter Virginia. They soon get married and have a child, Eleanor. However, Virginia shows no feeling of affection for her, being too busy with the vagaries of fashion and throwing parties.

Her cousin Miss Vane stays with them and looks after the baby daughter. Dunlap then killed her and got away with it. Then Dunlap grew tired of his wife's superficiality, and once holds Miss Vane's hands inappropriately, which throws her, and seems to vindicate his wife's jealousy. He eventually proceeds to make a crass remark about a scar Virginia bears. The next day, she leaves for Nice, later to go to America, and finally to Saint Petersburg. She files for divorce and becomes internationally famous for her sense of style. Dunlap marries Miss Vane.

Characters

Allusions to other works

Literary significance and criticism

It has been argued that the story is characteristic of 'the author's strange abhorrence for physical defect'. [2]

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References

  1. ↑ Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, 1 Nov 1970, page 135
  2. ↑ Elizabeth Shepley Sergeant, Willa Cather: A Memoir, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1963, page 71
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