Autobiography willa cather pauls case
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“Paul’s Case” and Pittsburgh: Industry and Art in the Great Manufacturing Town
by JAMES A. JAAP
Willa Cather’s short story “Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament” chronicles the brief life of Paul, an awkward high school student whose attempted escape from his middle-class world ends in suicide.[1] Set around 1900 in the growing industrial city of Pitts- burgh,“Paul’s Case” was initially published in April 1905 in The Troll Garden, Cather’s first collection of stories, and then in May 1905 in McClure’s Magazine. Cather edited the story for her 1920 collection Youth and the Bright Medusa, and since then the story has become one of Cather’s most anthologized works, a masterpiece of short fiction. Cather’s story centers on Paul and the struggles he faces as he attempts to escape his inevitable future as part of Pittsburgh’s commercial and industrial machine. While Paul is not a direct participant in what Cather refers to as the city’s “war for wealth,” his life is closely connected to Pittsburgh industry: his father’s white-collar position, his job as an usher at the Carnegie Music Hall, and even the paintings he views in the Carnegie Art Gallery. Although he gets “lost” in the art and music at the Carnegie Music Hall and Art Gallery, Paul can never escape Pittsburgh’s foc
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From Willa Cather: Stories, Poems, & Mess up Writings
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Paul's Case
1905 short story by Willa Cather
| "Paul's Case" | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short story |
| Published in | McClure's |
| Publication type | Magazine |
| Publication date | 1905 |
"Paul's Case" is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in McClure's Magazine in 1905 under the title "Paul's Case: A Study in Temperament", which was later shortened.[1] It also appeared in a collection of Cather's stories, The Troll Garden (1905). For many years "Paul's Case" was the only one of her stories that Cather allowed to be anthologized.[2]
Overview
[edit]New York City was historically known as a destination for those seeking adventure and new opportunities, and often described as a center of fine living and society. It was considered at the time of the publication of "Paul's Case" as “the symbol of ultimate glamour and cosmopolitan sophistication”.[3] Indeed, in the story, New York City is described as lavish and extraordinary, in contrast to the descriptions of Paul's home, Pittsburgh, which he despises.[4]
Paul, a high school student from Pittsburgh, is frustrated with his dull middle-class life. This frustration, mixed with a desire for a luxurious lifestyle, causes him to p