THE PROFESSOR'S HOUSE

THE PROFESSOR’S HOUSE is a novel by American novelist Willa Cather. Published in 1925 by Alfred A. Knoff, the novel was written over several years. Written in post-war America, the story explores the moral decline of a money-driven society. Cather first wrote the centerpiece, “Tom Outland's Story,” and then later wrote the two framing chapters “The Family” and “The Professor.” The novel explores many contrasting ideas, dealing with opposites, variously conceived: Marsellus vs. Outland, Kitty vs. Rosamond, the quixotic vs. the pragmatic, the old vs. the new, the idea of the Professor as a scholar vs. his family relations, Indian tribes vs. the contemporary world of the 1920s, and the opposing social roles of the Professor vs. Lillian. Those opposites are not always clear-cut.