The Willing Muse

The Willing Muse is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in Century in August 1907 and immediately became a bestseller^[1].

1 Plot summary
2 Characters
3 Literary significance and criticism
4 References
5 External links

Plot summary

Kenneth is leaving the fictional town of Olympia, Ohio and moving to New York City with his bethrothed Bertha. Before leaving for Paris, his friend Philip warns Bertha that Kenneth may not like the hurly-burly that she is trying to impose on him. However, they do get married. Philip comes back sometime later; Bertha has become very successful, whilst Kenneth has stopped writing. Philip is then to go to China for work; Kenneth is sad to hear from Harrison that Olympia is not the quiet town that it used to be, and muses that China must be quiet. Later, as Philip is on his way back to New York from Canton, he reads a letter from Harrison saying Kenneth has disappeared. Back in America, he meets with Harrison and tells him he saw their friend in China. The two men vow not to say it to anybody and remain trustworthy to their friend, who evidently needed to get away.

Characters

Kenneth Gray, a writer. He has written two books, Charles de Montpensier and The Wood of Ronsard
Bertha Torrence, Kenneth's wife, a successful writer.
Harrison, a music critic. He went to college with Kenneth and Philip.
Philip, the narrator, a writer. He went to college with Kenneth and Harrison.

Literary significance and criticism

Eleanor's House has been deemed to be clumsily Jamesian^[2].

References

^ Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction (Revised ed.). University of Nebraska Press. 1 Nov 1970. p. 123.
^ Bennett, Mildred R. (1 Nov 1970). Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction (Revised ed.). University of Nebraska Press. p. xxxvii.

External links

Full Text 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