Despite the trajectories and implications that Jim Burden may have imposed on the female characters of My Antonia, each of the "hired girls" ends up succeeding by their own means, proving to same time and challenging the stereotypical roles of women during the late 19th century and, ultimately, solidifying My Antonia as a critical work in early American feminist literature. Willa Cather, an accredited American author famous for her descriptions of pioneer life, has quite brilliantly created a framework for the women of My Antonia by juxtaposing their lives with the critical narrative expressed by Jim Burden and at the same time showcasing the his eloquent writing in this k?ntslerroman that has stood the test of time. By analyzing aspects of Willa Cather's personal life, Jim Burden's hypercritical narration, and the outcomes of said female characters, it becomes quite clear that the women portrayed in My Antonia are feminist heroines rather than rebellious subordinates as Jim may have once thought of them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay After reading the first few My Antonia books, the female characters are tainted by a negative commonality in the way Jim undermines his affection for them with denigration, seeming at first as if Cather's respect for the women was indistinguishable from Jim's. Jim Burden has a very strong idea of ​​how women should behave, and whenever one of these characters challenges his limited perception, he is quick to point it out. Numerous pieces of evidence can be addressed to demonstrate these notions; for example, Jim dictates his superficial contempt for Antonia while she begins to treat him “more like an equal” by saying, “he was four years older than me, actually, and he'd seen more of the world; but I was a boy and she was a girl, and I resented her protectiveness” (Cather 24). He rather brazenly states that Antonia knows more than him in the situation under consideration, but since she is a girl, her help is not required. Later, when Antonia rejects the offer to attend school because she chooses to work on the family farm instead, Jim considers her a boastful person and states that "[everything] [about her] was unpleasant to him, [...] [ s]he had lost [all his nice manners]” (Cather 61, 62). Antonia is not the only character to be examined in this way “a threat to the social order,” noting that they are not refined and often comparing their actions to those of boys (Cather 98 Although Jim thinks fondly of the women discussed in this essay, he holds them all to a rigid standard and objectifying. Having a first-person perspective in this regard is crucial to showing how Antonia and her female counterparts challenge the stereotypes placed before them. Jim is simply a delegate of the society in which he was enrolled; how America as a whole felt about women during the late 19th century and, by illustrating how these women far surpassed Jim's initial impressions, challenge the relevant social implications of women of their generation. In demonstrating that My Antonia is an iconic work in feminist literature, it is also important to establish the difference between Cather's point of view and Jim's. In exploring Cather's background, it makes sense that she held her female characters in high regard as most of the important relationships in her life were with women (Koss). While several critics cameto discuss the potential of Cather being a lesbian, the only point that really matters is that Cather respected and admired the women she kept in her life. Knowing that Cather wrote primarily from personal experience further demonstrates her adoration and importance of female characters in her novels (Koss). However, critics often argue that Willa Cather was not a feminist at all. It's easy to point out examples where Cather portrays a sexist voice in her writing. Pointing out Cather's challenge to femininity as a young adult is also a credible reason to argue that Cather is far from being a feminist, but as English and humanities expert Elaine Aprthorp points out, Cather's writing is a reflection of "her subsequent conscious evaluation of that period from the point of view of a different consciousness, itself the product of its previous evolutions", essentially stating that Cather's negatively implicative voice is a projection of "her adult voice embarrassment over her actions as a young” (Apthorp 8). From here, it is easy to assume that Jim Burden's narrative may simply be a reflection of Cather's early views and rejection of femininity in combination with the gendered dispositions she felt as a 20th century woman. . Evidence of Cather's respect for women in her story is evident simply in knowing that Antonia's lovelorn character comes from a woman Cather personally knew and respected wholeheartedly as a child, Anna Sadilek; Cather stated in an interview that "[Anna] was one of the truest artists [Cather] has ever known in the sharpness and sensitivity of her fun, in her love of people and in her willingness to care", later stating that Anna's strong personality was always something she wanted to write about (Koss). While Cather's work may seem sexist or critical of women, Cather simply used Jim's voice as a brilliant framework to juxtapose the strength of the women in her story. The use of this device should not be misunderstood as Cather also holds women to a stereotypical standard, but as a highly crafted way to highlight the roles of female characters in her story, conclusively providing further reason as to why My Antonia it is clearly brilliant feminist prose from the perspective of early American literature. In addition to the aspects of Cather's life that influenced the structure of the text, it is essential to also talk about the characters themselves who solidify the importance of the piece. The three main female icons in My Antonia referenced are Tiny Soderball, Lena Lingard and Antonia Shimerida, the "hired girls" as Jim calls them. As Erika Koss, administrator of the National Endowment of the Arts, notes, "since the most popular American novels featured upper-class women and gentlemen, it was a radical aesthetic move for Cather to present employed lower-class, immigrant characters." girls” (Koss). From the beginning, these girls are considered outsiders, working for the wages of the citizens who let them live among them. While Jim often portrays these factors as components of weakness by regularly establishing his class differences among the girls, these factors that are seen as unfavorable are ultimately the foundations of what brings them success. Tiny Soderball, who previously held a volatile job in a men's boarding house, could be considered the most successful girl after finding fortune in her passionate independence in Alaska. Lena Lingard most closely portrays modern feminist ideals. To numerous male characters in the book, Lena is an icon. 2015.