"A Night at Greenway Court" is a short story by

Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) 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, ...

. It was first published in '' Nebraska Literary Magazine'' in June 1896. Four years later a revised version was published in the ''

Library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

''.

Plot summary

In 1752, Richard Morgan — a citizen of

Winchester, Virginia Winchester is the most north western independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Frederick County, although the two are separate jurisdictions. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Winchester wit ...

— visits his friend Lord Fairfax at nearby Greenway Court. There, he meets Philip Maurepas, a Frenchman who tells them about his years in India. He expresses his disdain for the King, to Viscount Chillingham's dismay. They compare the political orders both in England and in France. Maurepas then attacks Fairfax because of the painting of a woman with a

lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...

that he has. The next day, Fairfax acts regally and Fairfax pretends nothing happened. The narrator concludes that he acted in accordance with his Virginian duty. Of historical interest, but not the most celebrated of Cather's works.

Characters

*Richard Morgan, the narrator. *Richard Morgan's father. *Josiah Goodrich, a friend of Richard Morgan's. *M. Philip Marie Maurepas, a gambler who left France because of his debts. He learnt his English in India. *Lord Thomas Fairfax *Viscount Chillingham *Mr Courtney, a pastor. *Fernando Fairfax, a forebear of Thomas's. *Mistress Crawford, Thomas's housekeeper. *Murzapha Jung, Dupleix's ally. *Nabob of the Carnatic, Dupleix's enemy. *Tecunda Sahib, Nabob's enemy.

References to actual history

George I of Great Britain George I (George Louis; ; 28 May 1660 – 11 June 1727) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 and ruler of the Electorate of Hanover within the Holy Roman Empire from 23 January 1698 until his death in 1727. He was the first ...

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

, and

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Leader ...

are mentioned with regards to British history. *Maurepas mentions

Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais Bertrand-François Mahé, comte de La Bourdonnais (11 February 169910 November 1753) was a French naval officer and colonial administrator, in the service of the French East India Company. Biography La Bourdonnais entered the service of the Fren ...

and Joseph François Dupleix.

Literary significance and criticism

The story has been deemed Poesque. It has also been said to be 'straight out of' William Makepeace Thackeray's '' Henry Esmond''. Others have stressed the influence of John Esten Cooke, who wrote about Greenway Court, or

Anthony Hope Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933), was a British novelist and playwright. He was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels but he is remembered predominantly for only two books: ''Th ...

.James Woodress, ''Willa Cather: Her Life and Art'', New York: Pegasus, 1970, p. 28

References

External links

''Full Text''
at th
''Willa Cather Archive''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Night At Greenway Court, A 1896 short stories Short stories by Willa Cather Works originally published in American magazines Works originally published in literary magazines