At first glance Willa Cather's The Professor's House does not appear to be from the Modernist era. However, upon further examination one realizes that Cather is criticizing materialism, which was typical of the 1920's. She also shows signs of the classic stream of consciousness with the Professor's flashbacks to his times with Tom. In order to elaborate upon her critique, Cather establishes dichotomies. To add even more depth to the various dichotomies, she explores them through her characters and their personalities. Two of the main influencing juxtapositions are that of Augusta and Father Duchene and the Professor and Tom.
Augusta and Father Duchene are both religious Catholics who have spent their lives being invested in the church. Cather introduces this similarity by presenting Augusta in the context of religious holidays. Every time she is mentioned in the novel a holiday or clarification of some religious principle occurs. The same idea applies to Father Duchene in that he is always focused on Tom's Latin capabilities. Cather's reasoning for such a representation is to cause the reader to notice a parallel among these two characters. Additionally, Augusta and Father Duchene are limited unto themselves, rather they give advice and have an influence on others. Their relationships with the Professor and Tom respectively are also meant to draw a comparison between them. Cather uses the inherent similarities to further comment on the dichotomy of Catholicism and Modernist society. Augusta and Father Duchene represent what modern society should have been, to wit selfless and humanitarian. The actions of the other characters represent the Modernist society, namely materialistic and selfish. Therefore, Cather intentionally sets up the structure of Father Duchene and Augusta to be similar so that she can comment on the misplacement of focus by society.
The Professor and Tom have a close relationship, so much so that Lillian is jealous and the Professor still thinks about Tom regularly after his death. Their closeness arises from the fact that the Professor and Tom are so similar personality wise. Both the Professor and Tom value privacy to the utmost degree that it even shuts those closest to them away. Professional success is hinged upon maintaining privacy and clarity. By juxtaposing the like ways of the Professor and Tom, Cather is able to comment the dichotomy of privacy and society. She enables herself to show both sides of the spectrum. The dangers of seclusion are represented by the Professor and Tom and the dangers of being too rooted in society like Rosamond and Louie or the family in Washington Tom boards with. The Professor and Tom do not always have the same outlook or values. For example, Tom is the young idealist who has a certain impatience with his experiments and life. The Professor, on the other hand, is a pragmatist who is resided to the fact that his best days in life are over and monotony has begun. Cather uses this contrast to convey our progression from a young idealist into a mature pragmatist throughout our lifespan.
To conclude, Cather does a great job of synthesizing her characters into dichotomies, some of which later develop into themes. She wants the characters to be round and not flat and one dimensional. The main focus of her commentary is toward society and their shortcomings. Cather explores her characters in pairs to create a dichotomy that produces meaning. Her approach is linear in a sense, because she develops characters that then lead to dichotomies, that then transition into themes, that transmit meaning to the reader.
What other pairings and dichotomies can you think of?
Paige this is a really informative reading on The Professor's House. You really explained how it fits into the modernist era through the characters which was really interesting. Also, I never thought about Cather's exploration of dichotomies; this was a really interesting post.
ReplyDeleteI thought your exploration of the dichotomies was good, as well-- but what does Cather try to teach her readers through this exploration?
ReplyDeleteI think Cather uses the characters to expose the dichotomies. By bringing these juxtapositions to life, Cather is able to show her audience that such quandaries exist. It also enables her to present both sides of the spectrum to her audience instead of a one dimensional view. In doing so, I believe Cather wanted her readers to ultimately choose for themselves what they thought was right.Especially with the dichotomy of old money and new money, I think Cather wanted to reveal flaws as well.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting idea and unique way to explore the novel. The different comparisons and interconnections you focused on between the two sets of characters are a perspective I never thought to look at in the book. Particularly, reading your post brought me to reflect more on the minor characters of Augusta and Father Duchene than I had in my initial reading of the story and to see how Cather used the characters and their personalities to transmit her message to her readers.
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