Art In Paul's Case Sparknotes

In Willa Cather story Paul's case, art in Paul's case acts as a dangerous drug, and because of Paul's addiction to it, he suffers endless troubles. Even though Paul feels the happiest and most alive when he is surrounded by art, such as at the theater, when he is listening to music, or when he is gazing at paintings, his happiness is an illusion since he does not utterly understand what he is seeing. In Paul's case Cather argues how art changed him, how his attachment to art provided him with a helpful escape, and how it contributes to his delusional thinking.

Cather illustrates Paul's attachment to art provided him with a positive and negative escape because as we were reading the story his attachment at the beginning of the story was positive.

Even though Paul feels the happiest and most alive when he is surrounded by art, such as at the theater, when he is listening to music, or when he is gazing at paintings, his happiness is an illusion since he does not utterly understand what he is seeing. In Paul's case Cather argues how art changed him, how his attachment to art provided him with a helpful escape, and how it contributes to his delusional thinking. Cather illustrates Paul's attachment to art provided him with a positive and negative escape because as we were reading the story his attachment at the beginning of the story was positive. His relationship with art became his downfall and led him to his ultimate demise. He feels as if "all sensations" from art and life to the degree that "he burnt like a faggot in a tempest"(53). When he gazes at the painting in the Carnegie Hall gallery and again when he listens to the symphony, he is described as losing himself. At dinner: "the lights, the chatter, the perfumes, the bewildering middle of color" overcomes him to the degree that he feels "not...able to stand it"(54). His addiction to art lead him to be delusional and act on impulse more than he had done previously. His addiction to art lead him to be impulsive in his