The Professor's House

Infobox Book |
name = The Professor's House
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = Willa Cather
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Alfred A. Knopf
release_date = 1925
media_type = Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
pages =
isbn = NA
preceded_by =
followed_by =

"The Professor's House" is a novel by American author Willa Cather that was first published in 1925.

Plot summary

When Professor Godfrey St. Peter and wife move to a new house, he becomes uncomfortable with the route his life is taking. He keeps on his dusty study in the old house in an attempt to hang on to his old life. Also the marriages of his two daughters have removed them from the home and added two new sons-in-law. The novel is in three parts, the central one deals with an exploration of an ancient cliff city in New Mexico by a former student who died in World War I, whose life and death are pivotal to the narrative.

In the final section, the professor, left alone while his family takes an expensive European tour, narrowly escapes death due to a gas leak in his study; and finds himself strangely willing to die. He is rescued, by the old family seamstress, Augusta, who has been his staunch friend throughout his trials. He resolves to go on with his life and make the best of things.

Characters

*Godfrey St. Peter - the professor, protagonist.
*Lillian St. Peter - the professor's wife
*Augusta - the old family seamstress
*Rosamond - St. Peter's eldest daughter
*Kathleen - St. Peter's youngest daughter
*Louie Marsellus - Rosamond's husband
*Scott McGregor - Kathleen's husband
*Tom Outland - was once St. Peter's student and Rosamond's fiancé before his death, the story focuses on his memory

Names

Cather quite clearly took care in selecting a few of the names for her characters:

Godfrey St. Peter

Godfrey comes from Godfrey of Boulogne, the conqueror who took Jerusalem (A. S. Byatt): St. Peter is the rock on which the Roman church was built: St. Peter is writing about pioneers, when he himself is an intellectual pioneer and every bit of his name comes from famous pioneers in history.

Louie Marsellus

Marsellus is named after the French monarch, and the Roman general who fought Hannibal. Also, the last part of his name, 'sellus' ties in with (mainly) Scott's idea that Louie is only interested in materialism..

Major themes

The novel explores many contrasting ideas: that of loneliness, idealism vs. materialism, the sadness and resiliency of old age - the old vs. the new in the old house and the new house, the Professor or old generation vs. the new generation. Also, Tom Outland's values vs. Louie Marsellus', the idea of the Professor as a scholar vs. his family relations, Indian tribes vs. the current world (of the 20s).

Background

ociological

"The Professor's House" was written in 1925, in post-war America. In a similar fashion to F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby", Cather narrates a story about the moral decline of a money-driven society.

Examples of this moral decline can be seen in Rosamond, especially, as she spends copious amounts of money on goods, at one point wearing her father out on a shopping trip. The result of Rosamond's good fortune leads to family bickering between the McGregors (Scott and Kathleen) and the Marsellus' (Louie and Rosamond), although Louie is the only one to not enter into the rivalry. There is even an example of this materialism in Rodney Blake's selling of the artifacts, which shocks Tom immensely.

Psychoanalytical

In this text there is an emphasis on the houses, as is evident from the title, which prompts the question - why is the 'house' so important? Also, why is there such emphasis on death and memories?

The similarities between Cather's real life experiences and her fictional character St. Peter are quite interesting.

Willa Cather, much like St. Peter, was a displaced child, their careers were quite similar. Cather shared a house with a woman named Isabelle McClung, who it is believed she had a lesbian relationship with. While there, Cather worked in an attic, as St. Peter did, which also had mannequins in it. Isabelle married a man named Jan Amborge, and Cather could not move on.

At this point, Cather experienced a mental and psychological paralysis, as St. Peter does. This explains why, when Isbelle and Jan offered room for Cather to move into their new house, she did not. Also, this mirrors exactly what occurs in the text.

The quote preceding the story is, "A turquoise set in silver, wasn't it? ... Yes, a turquoise set in dull silver." This was Louie talking about the gift Tom gave to Rosamond, which could quite possibly be directed at Isabelle as a reminder of the better days of their relationship.

Critical analysis

Part One

The first section of the novel is an introduction to St. Peter's life through the relationships within his family. It connects with the last part of the novel, providing background to the Professor's later issues with his own life.

There is an obvious rivalry between Kathleen and Rosamond, as Rosamond has inherited a large sum of money from Tom Outland - once her fiance, "who was killed in Flanders, fighting with the Foreign Legion" (Louie Marsellus, p. 40).

It is uncertain whether or not Kathleen envies Rosamond solely for the inheritance, or perhaps that Rosamond moved on from Tom so quickly to marry Louie ("Her father believed she couldn't forgive Rosie's forgetting Tom so quickly" p. 89), or even that Kathleen herself had a relationship with Tom - as it may be construed from Kathleen and Scott's conversation in which Scott says, "Awful nice of you to have told me all about it at the start, Kitty." p. 109.

Nowhere in the novel does Cather explain what 'it' is, exactly - one of the many aporias in this text.

Rivalry is not exclusive to the sisters, Scott clearly has trouble accepting Louie as a part of the family, and as a part of society. Perhaps to gain a sense of superiority, Scott blackballed Louie for the Arts and Letters society, thereby casting Louie as an outsider more so than he already is.

Part Two

This section of the text changes from St. Peter as the focal point. As the title "Tom Outland's Story" suggests, it is about Tom Outland. Also, this section is written in the first person rather than third person. Interestingly enough, this middle section of the book was in fact written ten years before the rest of the novel.

Cather apparently has a liking for the Dutch-style square windows, which let in the healthy breeze from St. Peter's clotted study. This section of the text acts as a window, away from the crowded city life seen in the first and third sections of the text.