Talk:Willa Cather

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I'm disappointed there's no information in this article about Cather's assuming a man's identity. I want to know more about that.

Cather's works stand on their own merit, and therefore so should she as a writer, regardless of sexual orientation. However, there are of course corresponding undertones in her works that should be addressed.

[edit] Bold textSEXuality

Okay, people -- this isn't really so hard. Most modern Cather scholarship assumes the possibility if not the likelihood that she was gay, so this article needs to deal with this a little bit better. There are facts about Cather's life, and then there are interpretations of the facts, and it's possible to present them respectfully. I think a lot can be accomplished by a simple rewrite and I'm going to try. Cbc writer 01:02, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

All righty, I did my best as I saw fit; I'm new here but it really broke my heart to see this entry like it was. A more thorough consideration of who thinks Cather was a lesbian and who doesn't think so would, in my view, be better suited to a new section about critical interpretation of Cather's work, rather than battling it out in the biography section. Frankly I only know of one significant Cather scholar who's really defensive about people considering Cather gay, John J. Murphy at BYU; everyone else seems pretty comfortable with the assumption that she probably or almost certainly was homosexual. But I gather people have widely varying standards about what goes into this article. Cbc writer 03:41, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

If Cather's sexuality isn't important enough to be mentioned in the text, she shouldn't be listed in the "Lesbian writers" category - or, if the category is that important, then her sexual orientation should at least be mentioned in the text. | Klaw Talk 00:35, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

I was going to get rid of it, but it looks like there are quite a few sites out their pushing the theory. I can't judge ther reliability, so I'll just leave it be.--Rayc 01:52, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry for jumping the gun and making an edit under discussion, i put it back. but i'm in agreement with the above people: this is a theory, and it highly contested. the source this article quotes from is by no way definitive, I could make a web site just like on some freesite web hosting place, declare her non-lesbian, and then quote it as if it was a source so as to meet wikipedia standards. there is no mention of her deep Roman Catholic sympathies, or her devotion to Christianity, which is a strong influence according to secondary literature. i think either we should erase the mention of her being a lesbian, or at least give a better balanced and nuanced account, sighting sources that do not agree that she was a lesbian. Thelastshallbefirst 22:49, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

The fact that she was a lesbian may be important because when Cather writes Paul's Case, she gives Paul a very feminine character. It is also important to note that when she creates a female character, the character usually has a very doinant role in the story and has a very strong personality.

  "With remarkable skill, she may tell a story from a man's point of  
  view, but her favorite characters are likely to be women of strong 
  will who triumph over obstacles." (Literature, an Introduction to
  Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, Ninth Edition. Page 513. Pearson
  Longman, New York, 2005.)

Rvo91 01:07, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Family

Why isn't her family mentioned? Some of us have to do reserch here!

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