The Dance at Chevalier's

The Dance at Chevalier's is a short story by Willa Cather. It was first published in Library in 1900 under the pseudonym of Henry Nicklemann.^[1]

Plot summary

In Oklahoma, Dennis and Signor have driven the cattle back into the corral. There is a dance at Mr Chevalier's this evening. The latter, along with the two aforementioned men and Harry Burns, are playing cards. Denis catches the Signor cheating. Burns warns him against the Signor, saying that Mexicans are treacherous. Signor then finds out Severine likes Denis. He blackmails her into kissing him this evening, or else he will tell her father. The dance begins and Severine dances with several men, one of them being Denis. Signor then asks Severine to get Denis to come up to him for a talk. The Mexican gives him some cocktails he has made himself, and tells him Severine has been playing with them both. He shall see for himself as Signor goes down and kisses her. A little later, Denis dances with her again but he is sad because of what he has seen. He dies on the dancefloor, accusing Signor of giving him poison earlier on. The murderer, however, had left half an hour earlier.

Characters

Denis, an Irishman. He is a 'ladies' man.
Signor, a Mexican boy.
Jean Chevalier, a rich cattle holder. He will only allow someone with more acres than he has to marry his daughter.
Harry Burns, a journalist from the East.
Severine Chevalier, Jean Chevalier's daughter. She went to school in Toronto for two year, and speaks French with a French accent, not patois French.
Alplosen de Mar, a musician who plays the organ.
Peter Sadelack, a musician who plays the violin. He used to perform in theatres in Prague.
Marine Generaux, a French girl.

Allusions to other works

Thomas Moore is mentioned through Denis.

Literary significance and criticism

At least one critic has suggested that this work is "a cross between George Washington Cable's The Grandissimes (1880) and Anthony Hope's Prisoner of Zenda (1894)".^[2]

References

↑ Willa Cather's Collected Short Fiction, University of Nebraska Press; Rev Ed edition, 1 Nov 1970, page 586
↑ Catherine M. Downs, Becoming Modern: Willa Cather's Journalism, Susquehanna University Press, 2000, page 83

External links

Full Text at the Willa Cather Archive

Works by Willa Cather

Novels	Alexander's Bridge O Pioneers! The Song of the Lark My Ántonia One of Ours A Lost Lady The Professor's House My Mortal Enemy Death Comes for the Archbishop Shadows on the Rock Lucy Gayheart Sapphira and the Slave Girl

Short stories	"Peter" "Lou, the Prophet" "The Elopement of Allen Poole" "A Tale of the White Pyramid" "A Son of the Celestial" "The Clemency of the Court" "The Fear That Walks by Noonday" "On the Divide" "A Night at Greenway Court" "Tommy, the Unsentimental" "The Princess Baladina – Her Adventure" "The Count of Crow's Nest" "The Burglar's Christmas" "The Strategy of the Were-Wolf Dog" "A Resurrection" "The Prodigies" "Nanette: An Aside" "The Way of the World" "The Westbound Train" "Eric Hermannson's Soul" "The Dance at Chevalier's" "The Sentimentality of William Tavener" "The Affair at Grover Station" "A Singer's Romance" "The Conversion of Sum Loo" "Jack-a-Boy" "El Dorado: A Kansas Recessional" "The Professor's Commencement" "The Treasure of Far Island" "A Death in the Desert" "A Wagner Matinee" "The Sculptor's Funeral" "Flavia and Her Artists" "The Garden Lodge" "The Marriage of Phaedra" "Paul's Case" "The Namesake" "The Profile" "The Willing Muse" "Eleanor's House" "On the Gulls' Road" "The Enchanted Bluff" "The Joy of Nelly Deane" "Behind the Singer Tower" "The Bohemian Girl" "Consequences" "The Bookkeeper's Wife" "The Diamond Mine" "A Gold Slipper" "Ardessa" "Scandal" "Her Boss" "Coming, Eden Bower!" "Uncle Valentine" "Double Birthday" "Neighbour Rosicky" "Two Friends" "The Old Beauty" "Before Breakfast" "The Best Years"

Short story collections	The Troll Garden Youth and the Bright Medusa Obscure Destinies The Old Beauty and Others Five Stories

Collection of poems	April Twilights

Non-fiction	On Writing Not Under Forty

Collaborations	The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science

Adaptations	A Lost Lady (1934 film) O Pioneers! (1992 film) My Antonia (1995 film) The Song of the Lark (2001 film) O Pioneers! (2009 opera)

Willa Cather Birthplace Willa Cather House Willa Cather Foundation WILLA Literary Award

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