초록 열기/닫기 버튼
This paper aims at tracing Thea's upward trajectory with her participation in the cultural business of constructing a higher life for Chicago through the metaphor of "the cliff dwellers." Conveying the dangers of the cultural business for art commodification, Cather researches for something for which contains the intrinsic values of arts. Ultimately cultural uplift of business men in Chicago can threaten an artist's spirit and in turn predicate extinction for the artist. But the natural presence of Panther Canyon and the Indian ruins it contains helps Thea reconstitute and reinvigorate herself. Pander Canyon can function as a regenerative, imaginative place to recuperate and escape from the complexity of the modern civilization. Thea' use of the Native ruins for both self-discovery and self-healing allows her to take her place as in individual in modern America. Cather criticizes the contemporary belief that arts and artists are commodities to be bought, sold, and traded.
