Alexander's bridge

The complex intersections of transition, love, and identity

Willa Cather

80 pages, parution le 08/10/2023

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Résumé

Alexander's Bridge by Willa Cather explores the intricate dynamics of change, love, and identity through the life of Bartley Alexander, a successful engineer. The narrative begins with Professor Lucius Wilson visiting Boston, where he reconnects with Bartley and his wife, Winifred. Bartley is portrayed as a man of great professional achievement, having designed significant bridges and gained international recognition. However, beneath his success lies a sense of dissatisfaction and a longing for the freedom of his youth. This internal conflict is further complicated by the reappearance of Hilda Burgoyne, an actress and Bartley's former lover from his time in Paris. As Bartley navigates his professional obligations and personal relationships, he is haunted by memories of his past and the choices he made. The novel delves into Bartley's struggle to reconcile his present life with the person he once was, highlighting the tension between societal expectations and personal desires. Cather's narrative is rich with themes of nostalgia, the passage of time, and the quest for self-fulfillment, ultimately questioning the true cost of success and the sacrifices it demands.

L'auteur - Willa Cather

Willa Cather (1873 -1947) was an American writer who achieved recognition for her novels of frontier life on the Great Plains, including O Pioneers! (1913), The Song of the Lark (1915), and My Ántonia (1918). In 1923 she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours (1922), a novel set during World War I. Despite this critical opposition to her work, Cather remained a popular writer whose novels and short story collections continued to sell well. In 1931 Shadows on the Rock was the most widely read novel in the US, and Lucy Gayheart became a bestseller in 1935. Although Cather began her writing career as a journalist, she made a distinction between journalism, which she saw as being primarily informative, and literature, which she saw as an art form. Cather's work is often marked by its nostalgic tone, her subject matter and themes drawn from memories of her early years on the American plains.