A Wagner Matinée Essay Questions

What might Aunt Georgiana mean by her advice, “Don't love it so well, Clark, or it may be taken from you"?

This quote makes clear the extent of Aunt Georgiana's sacrifice in giving up teaching music to move to Nebraska with her husband. She cautions Clark against doing the same, a warning that he seems to take seriously, as he becomes a student in Boston instead of staying on the prairie.

What lesson does Clark draw from Aunt Georgiana's final statement declaring, "I don't want to go!"?

Clark interprets Aunt Georgiana's tearful declaration to mean that she does not want to return to Nebraska. In his view, her life on the prairie is one of toil and drudgery. Watching her throughout the Wagner matinée, he concludes that her soul and appreciation for beauty have been reawakened by the music, and now she dreads her return.