My Antonia Essay: The Character of Lena Lingard -- My Antonia Essays

The Character of Lena Lingard in My Antonia Lena Lingard is the best example of a non-domestic profound character which appears amidst the domesticity of My ntonia. Often the sections which feature Lena instead of ntonia are seen as enigmatic divergences from the plot line of a novel that purports to be about the cleaning lady named in the title. However, since Lena appears in the novel almost as often as ntonia, and more often than either other character except Jim, she is a central character. Lena is a working woman who refuses to accept the constraints society places upon her. even when society predicts that by becoming a dressmaker instead of marrying she go out fail and become a loose woman, she disrupts their expectations and succeeds. The first image of Lena in the novel is as newly arrived, pseudo-sophisticated country girl who has come to townspeople to learn the trade of dressmaking. However, from the beginning of our knowledge of Lena she is anti-domestic. Lena re cognizes that marriage is difficult-- she is never caught up in the idea of romance which leads ntonia to a disastrous relationship and unwedded motherhood. ntonia takes the dances and socializing much more seriously and ends up in trouble, whereas Lena enjoys move and kissing but is merely having fun. When asked about her mother, Lena responds, Oh, mothers never very sanitary she has too much to do. Shed get away from the farm, too, if she could (Cather, 104). When Frances Harling teases Lena about a petitioner who the town thinks Lena will marry, she responds, I dont want to marry Nick, or any other man, . . . Ive seen a good deal of married life, and I dont maintenance for it (105). It seems impossible for the town to believe that a beautiful gir... ...c plot limits and ignores the non-traditional female person experience which is just as important to analyze. The Nan Princes, Lena Lingards and Tiny Solderalls of the sham world deserve and demand critical attention not for what they dont do (the dishes) but for what they are-- working women. Works Cited Cather, Willa. My Antonia. New York Houghton Mifflin Company. 1995. Gelfant, Blanche H. The Forgotten Reaping Hook come alive in My Antonia. Blooms Modern Critical Views, 103-123. Jewett, Sarah Orne. A Country Doctor. New York The Penguin Group. 1986. Romines, Ann. The mansion Plot Women, Writing & Domestic Ritual. Amherst The University of Massachusetts Press. 1992. Weiner, Lynn Y. From working Girl to Working Mother The Female Labor Force in the United States, 1820-1980. chapel service Hill The University of North Carolina Press. 1985.