Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop: Narrative and Historical Inspiration

The purpose of this study is to look at Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop and investigate Cather's use of history as both a foundation and inspiration for her narrative. Cather uses several "historical" documents for the structure of her book, ranging from the biography of Father Joseph P. Machebeuf to the frescoes of St. Genevieve by the Puvis de Chavannes. It has also been commonly argued that Cather's representations of some historical figures in this narrative do not accurately reflect historical record. This study will examine Cather's representation of certain historical figures against the commonly held historical images of these persons. This study raises questions about the nature of both historical and literary interpretation and the relevance both have in relation to our reading of Cather's historical work.