Eric Hermannson's Soul
Encyclopedia
"Eric Hermannson's Soul" is a short story by Willa Cather
. It was first published in Cosmopolitan
in April 1900.
, Eric Hermannson gives up on girls after seeing a rattlesnake
whilst on a date with Lena, and stops playing the violin
shortly after; he becomes a good Free Gospeller as his mother wants him to be. Later, Wyllis comes back with his sister Margaret. She sings to Eric, thus reawakening his passion for music. Later, she is riding a mustang
from St. Anne back to her village with Eric. She asks him to go to a dance and he agrees, although this would breach his Church's covenant. The horses go wild, and he saves her from injury. Back in her house, she receives a letter from her husband from the East Coast. Later at the ball, Margaret and Eric dance together, then go out and up a hill. She tells him she is soon to leave and never come back again. After she has left, Eric talks to his pastor and confesses to dancing.
Willa Cather
Willa Seibert Cather was an American author who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, in works such as O Pioneers!, My Ántonia, and The Song of the Lark. In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours , a novel set during World War I...
. It was first published in Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
in April 1900.
Plot summary
In rural NebraskaNebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Eric Hermannson gives up on girls after seeing a rattlesnake
Rattlesnake
Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...
whilst on a date with Lena, and stops playing the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
shortly after; he becomes a good Free Gospeller as his mother wants him to be. Later, Wyllis comes back with his sister Margaret. She sings to Eric, thus reawakening his passion for music. Later, she is riding a mustang
Mustang (horse)
A Mustang is a free-roaming horse of the North American west that first descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but there is intense debate over terminology...
from St. Anne back to her village with Eric. She asks him to go to a dance and he agrees, although this would breach his Church's covenant. The horses go wild, and he saves her from injury. Back in her house, she receives a letter from her husband from the East Coast. Later at the ball, Margaret and Eric dance together, then go out and up a hill. She tells him she is soon to leave and never come back again. After she has left, Eric talks to his pastor and confesses to dancing.
Characters
- Asa Skinner, a guru of the Free Gospel.
- Eric Hermannson, a Norwegian. He likes to play the violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
. He is taciturn. - Mrs Hermannson, Eric's mother.
- Genereau, a saloon-keeper.
- Lena Hanson, a local girl Eric goes on a date with.
- Wyllis Elliot
- Margaret Elliot, Wyllis' sister. She is twenty-four years old and about to get married to a man from the East coast.
- Jerry Lockhart, a local man.
- Mrs Lockhart, Jerry's mother. She organises the ball.
- Olaf Oleson, an accordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
player. - Jack Courtwell, someome Margaret's husband mentions in his letter.
- Miss Harrison, someome Margaret's husband mentions in his letter.
- Gerard, someome Margaret's husband mentions in his letter.
- Constant, someome Margaret's husband mentions in his letter.
Allusions to other works
- Literature is mentioned with The Bible (especially SaulSaul-People:Saul is a given/first name in English, the Anglicized form of the Hebrew name Shaul from the Hebrew Bible:* Saul , including people with this given namein the Bible:* Saul , a king of Edom...
and LazarusLazarusLazarus may refer to:*Lazarus , a surname and given name -People:* Lazarus of Bethany, a figure in the Gospel of John, which describes him being raised by Jesus from the dead...
), Paul BourgetPaul BourgetPaul Charles Joseph Bourget , was a French novelist and critic.-Biography:He was born in Amiens in the Somme département of Picardie, France. His father, a professor of mathematics, was later appointed to a post in the college at Clermont-Ferrand, where Bourget received his early education...
, Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron TennysonAlfred Tennyson, 1st Baron TennysonAlfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, FRS was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular poets in the English language....
, William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, and ThorThorIn Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
. - Sculptures are alluded to with DoryphorosDoryphorosThe Doryphoros is one of the best known Greek sculptures of the classical era in Western Art and an early example of Greek classical contrapposto...
. - Music is mentioned with Pietro MascagniPietro MascagniPietro Antonio Stefano Mascagni was an Italian composer most noted for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece Cavalleria rusticana caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the Verismo movement in Italian dramatic music...
's Cavalleria rusticanaCavalleria rusticanaCavalleria rusticana is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a play written by Giovanni Verga based on his short story. Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on May 17, 1890 at the Teatro...
, Stefano RossettoStefano RossettoStefano Rossetto was an Italian composer of the late Renaissance, born in Nice, who worked mainly in Florence for the powerful Medici family, and in Munich.-Life:His life has not yet been thoroughly studied...
, Franz SchubertFranz SchubertFranz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
, and Edvard GriegEdvard GriegEdvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
.
External links
- Full Text at the Willa Cather Archive