Willa Cather showcases the common dilemma of believing one has found love only to discover the loss of another love. In her renowned short story “A Wagner Matinee,” Cather portrays Aunt Georgiana’s experience of sacrificing one love while pursuing the affection of a man. Moreover, Cather incorporates the harsh realities faced by individuals living on the frontier.
Aunt Georgiana forsakes her passion for music in favor of her newfound love for a man, only to later realize the immense sacrifice she has made. Following her heart, Aunt Georgiana embarks on a journey with her new love interest Howard, but instead of finding happiness, she is faced with difficulties that also deprive her of the music that once brought her sheer joy. Clark introduces Aunt Georgiana’s love interest, Howard Carpenter, by stating, “she ignited the naive imagination of the most indolent and aimless local boys.” This statement by Cather serves to highlight that Howard is not a man driven by ambition or striving to improve his life or that of his family. Consequently, this decision becomes one of the regrettable choices Aunt Georgiana has made.
Despite Aunt Georgiana’s inability to resist her intense attraction to the young man, she developed absurd and extravagant passions for him. This inexplicable infatuation led her to elope with him, forsaking her love for music in order to pursue her love for him. To escape the disapproval of her family and friends, they relocated to the Nebraska frontier. Cather includes the detail of their relocation to demonstrate the awareness and concern others had for Georgiana’s tragic sacrifice.
Then Clark reminisces about his time living with his aunt. He recalls that she rarely discussed music with him, and to her, her selflessness was not entirely vile. This demonstrates her awareness of her significant sacrifice or selflessness but not considering it the most dreadful aspect of her life. While Clark was examining one of her music books, Aunt Georgiana approached him and uttered, “Do not hold affection for it so strongly, Clark, or it might be taken away from you.” This quotation holds tremendous significance in this narrative as it reveals more than anything else how Aunt Georgiana gave up her love for music when she pursued her love for Howard.
On the frontier, living a life of sacrifice, she lost the thing she loved most: music. To Clark, she expressed her hope that he would never have to make that sacrifice, saying, “Oh! dear boy, pray that whatever your sacrifice be it is not that.” Aunt Georgiana reinforced this by warning Clark not to love music, as it was the worst sacrifice he could make. As Clark considered taking her to the symphony, he hoped that her love for music had diminished enough that her struggle would finally come to an end.
Cather illustrates the difficult struggle Georgiana faces after losing music, highlighting its absence as a significant factor in her life. Even after enduring an extended period without music, its importance remains evident in her life. Aunt Georgiana expresses her emotions through tears and pleads, “I don’t want to go, Clark, I don’t want to go!” Her long-awaited reunion with music has finally come, and she is not ready to leave just yet.
She is sobbing because she does not want to leave the opera house and the life filled with beautiful music that it represents. It is possible that Aunt Georgiana never returned to the frontier or did so with a broken heart. Cather uses symbols, such as the black pond, to reinforce the theme’s meaning and represent the bleakness of Aunt Georgiana’s future.
The next symbol in the text is “the tall, unpainted house, naked as a tower”, which represents Aunt Georgiana’s monotonous and uneventful life without music. Another symbol that Cather uses is the image of gaunt turkeys moulting above the door, seemingly stuck and picking up refuge. This particular symbol is meant to convey how Aunt Georgiana is similarly stuck on the frontier with her life wasting away. Like the turkeys, she appears gaunt and worn out when Clark first sees her. Just as the turkeys hang above the door, picking up debris, Aunt Georgiana is now trapped on the frontier growing old.
Aunt Georgiana, conflicted with herself, made the choice to leave behind the love that had brought her joy in order to pursue a new love with Howard. Believing that she would find even greater happiness with him, she soon realizes her mistake. Some individuals, like Aunt Georgiana, make sacrifices for love, while others sacrifice for material possessions. Every day, people make various sacrifices, with some being more significant than others. Ultimately, love and sacrifice are intertwined – in this case, Aunt Georgiana gave up one love for another and will continue to sacrifice for love.
