"The Prodigies" is a short story by
Willa Cather. It was first published in ''
Home Monthly'' in July 1897.
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
*Mrs Harriet Mackenzie, a pianist.
*Mr Nelson Mackenzie, a doctor. He plays the
cornet
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 sopr ...
.
*Elsie, the Mackenzies's daughter.
*Billy, the Mackenzies's son.
*Kate Massey, a pushy mother.
*Mr Massey, a businessman, Kate's husband.
*Hermann, the Masseys's son.
*Ad, the Masseys's daughter.
*Madame Marchesi, a singing teacher in
Paris.
*John Hamilton, a boy with a skate.
*Mollie Hamilton, John's sister.
Allusions to other works
*Literature is mentioned with
Lewis Carroll's ''
Alice in Wonderland
''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatur ...
'',
Pegasus
Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
,
Alphonse Daudet,
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...
's ''
Robinson Crusoe'',
Johann David Wyss's ''
The Swiss Family Robinson'', and
John Bunyan's ''
The Pilgrim's Progress''.
*Music is mentioned with
Teodor Leszetycki,
Charles Gounod,
Schubert,
Jean de Reszke,
Adelina Patti,
Italo Campanini,
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
(through a relative of his, Frau Cosima Wagner),
Sybil Sanderson
Sibyl Sanderson (December 7, 1864May 16, 1903) was a famous American operatic dramatic coloratura soprano during the Parisian Belle Époque.
Biography
She was born in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Sibyl's father Silas Sanderson ...
, and
Hector Berlioz
In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...
's ''
La damnation de Faust''.
Literary significance and criticism
*"The Prodigies" has been deemed to be
Jamesian.
[''Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction'', University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, November 1, 1970, "Introduction" by Mildred R. Bennett, page xxix]
References
External links
''Full Edition''at th
''Willa Cather Archive''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prodigies
1897 short stories
Short stories by Willa Cather
Works originally published in Home Monthly