My Antonia Essay Independence and Belonging - 670 Words

Independence and Belonging in My Antonianbsp;nbsp; In My Antonia there are two types of women, those who want to have a man and those who donsup1;t. The key word is want, at no point does a woman need a man in the entire course of the novel. From the Hired Girls to Tiny Soderball and Lena Lingard women are capable of self sufficiency and happiness. The majority of the truly contented people are either alone or living without the opposite sex. Antonia and Cuzak are the only example of a sup3;normalsup2; happy couple, all others have some problems that prevent a normal relationship. In the Hired Girls Antonia and Lena are depicted as strong, independent women who work to support themselves and their families and enjoying†¦show more content†¦The hired girls are the draft horses, the people who accomplish things, of female society in Black Hawk, while the daughters of the merchants are the show horses, wanted only as long as theysup1;re pretty. The ultimate examples of non-dependance on males in the book are Lena Lingard and Tiny Soderball. Lena Lingard is a successful dressmaker who has no desire for the standard womanly duties of childbearing and housekeeping. #338;sup3;Well, itsup1;s mainly because I donsup1;t want a husband. Men are all right for friends, bu as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers, even the wild ones. They begin to tell you whatsup1;s sensible and whatsup1;s foolish, and want you to stick at the home all the time. I prefer to be foolish when I feel like it, and be accountable to nobody.sup2;sup1;(My Antonia, Willa Cather, p.234) Lena, despite her views maintains an air of femininity due to her work in one of the few female dominated industries of the time. Tiny Soderball, however differs greatly from Lena despite their similar independence. Where Lena continued in a field that she knew well and merely embraced a nonstandard philosophy, Tiny broke the established stereotypes. Both the se women are content with their lot in life and donsup1;t complain