The Prodigies

For the 2011 French film, see The Prodigies (film). For other uses, see Prodigy.

"The Prodigies" is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in Home Monthly in July 1897.^[1]

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.
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, Pegasus, Alphonse Daudet, Daniel Defoe'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 (through a relative of his, Frau Cosima Wagner), Sybil Sanderson, and Hector Berlioz's La damnation de Faust.

Literary significance and criticism

"The Prodigies" has been deemed to be Jamesian.^[2]

References

↑ Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, November 1, 1970, page 439
↑ Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, November 1, 1970, "Introduction" by Mildred R. Bennett, page xxix

External links

Full Edition at the Willa Cather Archive

Works by Willa Cather

Novels	Alexander's Bridge O Pioneers! The Song of the Lark My Ántonia One of Ours A Lost Lady The Professor's House My Mortal Enemy Death Comes for the Archbishop Shadows on the Rock Lucy Gayheart Sapphira and the Slave Girl

Short stories	"Peter" "Lou, the Prophet" "The Elopement of Allen Poole" "A Tale of the White Pyramid" "A Son of the Celestial" "The Clemency of the Court" "The Fear That Walks by Noonday" "On the Divide" "A Night at Greenway Court" "Tommy, the Unsentimental" "The Princess Baladina – Her Adventure" "The Count of Crow's Nest" "The Burglar's Christmas" "The Strategy of the Were-Wolf Dog" "A Resurrection" "The Prodigies" "Nanette: An Aside" "The Way of the World" "The Westbound Train" "Eric Hermannson's Soul" "The Dance at Chevalier's" "The Sentimentality of William Tavener" "The Affair at Grover Station" "A Singer's Romance" "The Conversion of Sum Loo" "Jack-a-Boy" "El Dorado: A Kansas Recessional" "The Professor's Commencement" "The Treasure of Far Island" "A Death in the Desert" "A Wagner Matinee" "The Sculptor's Funeral" "Flavia and Her Artists" "The Garden Lodge" "The Marriage of Phaedra" "Paul's Case" "The Namesake" "The Profile" "The Willing Muse" "Eleanor's House" "On the Gulls' Road" "The Enchanted Bluff" "The Joy of Nelly Deane" "Behind the Singer Tower" "The Bohemian Girl" "Consequences" "The Bookkeeper's Wife" "The Diamond Mine" "A Gold Slipper" "Ardessa" "Scandal" "Her Boss" "Coming, Eden Bower!" "Uncle Valentine" "Double Birthday" "Neighbour Rosicky" "Two Friends" "The Old Beauty" "Before Breakfast" "The Best Years"

Short story collections	The Troll Garden Youth and the Bright Medusa Obscure Destinies The Old Beauty and Others Five Stories

Collection of poems	April Twilights

Non-fiction	On Writing Not Under Forty

Collaborations	The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science

Adaptations	A Lost Lady (1934 film) O Pioneers! (1992 film) My Antonia (1995 film) The Song of the Lark (2001 film) O Pioneers! (2009 opera)

Willa Cather Birthplace Willa Cather House Willa Cather Foundation WILLA Literary Award

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