Women Characters in My Antonia and Giants in the Earth

Women Characters in My Antonia and Giants in the Earth

Many women characters appear in fiction who have been damaged by or disintegrate under the stresses of life. Just as in life, however, many fictional characters survive, adapt, and triumph; these characters may never be recognized within a larger world, but they are vitally important to other characters and are the objects of deep love and respect. Creating this woman in fiction can often be difficult, because the writer must present a whole character, not one trivialized by sentimentality or stereotyped by convention. Willa Cather in My Antonia and O.E. Rolvaag in Giants in the Earth have developed such characters.

As Michael Peterman points out, Antonia is "a celebration of vitality and of human potential within the context of natural and mortal limitations" and teaches us to "value the irrepressible, genuinely generous, life enhancing aspects of human nature" (98). Antonia also shares these characteristics to a large degree with another fictional character, Rolvaag's Sorine from Giants. Both women emerge as people of great strength, women who are touchstones for those around them.

Before considering the similarities, it might be well to review the apparent differences between Sorine and Antonia. In the first place, there are differences in their style. Sorine appears to be a conventional, Old World peasant woman fulfilling conventional roles: devoted mother and loyal wife, helping her husband achieve his dream. Furthermore, we see her only as a mature woman. In contrast, because we follow Antonia's development to maturity and centeredness, we see sides of her life which we can only speculate about in comparing her to Sorine. For example, Antonia works first as a boy might in her family's fields. Then she is brought into town to learn more "proper" roles--housekeeping skills. In town she gives herself to the social pleasures denied her thus far in life and eventually falls prey to the blandishments of an unprincipled charmer. When that relationship ends disastrously, she makes a new life for herself, marrying and happily raising a large family. At this point she is clearly important, not only to the narrator, Jim Burden, but also to many others. Life's path may have been different for her than for Sorine, but its destination was the same: the esteem, admiration, and love of those she held dear .