The Song Of The Lark And Youth And The Bright Medusa

In The Song of the Lark and Youth and the Bright Medusa, Willa Cather depicts the equation for an artist, that there is no true art without personal struggle and no success without devotion. Artist’s isolation from society has an effect on the way they think about the world. The tortured aspect that follows true artists, gives them a different perspective on art and the meaning behind the piece. The equation for an artist helps to define the differences of any artistic creation that is presented and show how every piece of art is unique.
The artist’s marginalization from society in The Song of the Lark and Youth and the Bright Medusa, presents the information that the characters are in someway different from the rest of their community. In The Song of the Lark, Thea does not fit the small town of Moonstone. She is seen by her community as wild and does not follow traditional female roles. She is forward and questions what she is told. Thea knows “that there [is] something about her that [is] different” (SOTL 51). She has never fit with children her age. Thea has a quality that does not fit in a small community; this leads her to become

In Youth and the Bright Medusa, Cather shows many elements of an artist but never the full equation as a whole. In “Paul’s Case” Paul is tormented and not understood by anyone. Paul at the end of the story feels like there is no way put and kills himself. In “Coming, Aphrodite” shows fate, the man became a great artist though his struggles and even though he was doubted, he was meant to be an artist. In “A Wagner Matinee” the story shows the independence and creativity due to music. A woman who does not want to die from her illness cries at the end of the story because she knows she is leaving the artistic culture and the love for music she has