Willa Cather was born on December 7, 1873, in Back Creek Valley, Virginia, the eldest child of Charles and Mary Cather, both descendants of established Virginian families. Her childhood was reportedly happy and well-ordered, and is remembered in her late novel Sapphira and the Slave Girl. In 1883, the Cathers moved to Webster County, Nebraska, joining members of the family who settled there earlier. This crucial move, dislocating and dramatic, introduced Cather to the landscape and to the ways of life she would memorialize in her famous prairie novels, O Pioneers!, My Antonia, and A Lost Lady, as well as in parts of The Song of the Lark. In the small town of Red Cloud, Nebraska, Cather was a notably energetic, intelligent, and outspoken child, while, as her novels show, the town often seemed to her repressive. In Lincoln, Nebraska, where she attended the state university, she began her journalistic career, writing numerous reviews for the local newspapers. There, too, she published her earliest stories, formulated her idealistic and romantic ideals about art, and nurtured her literary ambitions. Those ambitions had to wait for their fulfillment while she earned a living in Pittsburgh as journalist and teacher, and then in New York as an editor for McClure's Magazine. With the publication of O Pioneers! in 1913, Cather became the dedicated writer of her own dreams, in time achieving recognition for her prairie novels and for rare and unique works such as The Professor's House, Death Comes for the Archbishop, and Shadows on the Rock. She led an ordered life, writing stories, novels, and critical essays, traveling regularly, and maintaining valued friendships, among them with neighbors from her childhood, as well as with famous writers and musicians. She was honored for her writings, receiving the Pulitzer Prize in 1923 for One of Ours, a novel about a soldier in World War I. She died at her New York home on August 24, 1947.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION1) What is Cather's message about beginnings and separations? How do these facets shape the life of an individual? Is Thea's separation from her family and primary environment necessary for promoting her growth as an individual or was she simply destined to be different? Does Cather imply by the later lives of the Moonstone people that severing ties is a positive or negative experience?
2) Some critics have characterized Thea as indulgent and self-centered. Is this a fair assessment of the character?
3) Compare the marriages of Dr. Archie and Fred Ottenburg. Is there a common thread between these two men? In what way are they both strivers?
4) What is the significance of Aunt Tillie in the novel? Why did Cather include this character?
5) Why is romance so difficult for Thea? Is Cather at all critical about the artist's renouncing of romantic love? What price is paid for Thea's success? Does Thea nurse any regrets?
6) Does the town's treatment of the "tramp" reflect on their morality or their fear? What does the tramp's spiteful act say about the inherent nature of man?
7) When Thea refuses Fred's monetary assistance with her trip to Germany, she is obviously hurt by his revelation. She elects to borrow money from Dr. Archie because taking money from Fred would make her feel like she was being "kept." Is this her true motivation or is it an act of retribution against Fred for misleading her?
8) Discuss the complexities of Dr. Archie's love for Thea. Why does it never blossom to romance when she is old enough and Dr. Archie is free? Does Thea perceive him as too much of a father figure for this ever to occur?
9) Towards the end of the novel Spanish Johnny reappears, moved to tears by Thea's success. As she leaves the theater he sees her but does not step forward or call to her. He seems to keep his "place." What does this convey about the climate of the country at that time and the characters' own feelings on race, class and propriety?
