The American Dream And The Pioneer Wowan--On Willa Cather's My Antonia

During the Mctorian era, men were the primary support of the family. Theirmale-oriented philosophies dominated all aspects of society WOmen did nOt take pat inbusiness and contributed little to the economic stability of their families. They weredesignated subservient roles such as socialites, children's mothcrs and husbands' wives WhOdo nOt have their own profession. Confined to these specific roIes, women had no opPOthenityto develop their personal talents and determine their own selfhood. Their deStinies werepredetendned by society.As a well-educated female writer with a strong sense of individualism, Wlla Catherredelled against women's predetermined subservient roles throughoat her 1if e and al8othrough her Iife1ong writing. ln her nove1s she created female protagonists Who strUg8l toeStablish their own identities in defiance of society's expectations.My Anbota is recognized as the most POpular novel of Wil1a Cathef, and it is also arePresentative work of AInerican pioneer novels. The boundless Nebraska prairies become the- background of the story rather than the subject of the story The sickle-in-hand male pioneersin the "Song of Myself' by Walt Whitman were transformed ioto female figUres. These- female pioneers were transcendental figUres peculiar to any Other Mctorian women. They'threw off tbe fetters of social prejudice and broke the restriGtion8 qain8t women. It was thevirgin land in the West that bestowed them vast free space to develop their individualism andestablish their own identities. The successful portfait of these femaIe figUres also alignedWilla Cather with Edith Wharton and Ellen GlaSgow as the best women writers in Americanliterary history.The protagOnist Antonia Shimerd' a Bohemian girl, immi8rated with her family intO theNew World----Anerican Mid-west prairies----by crossing the Atlantic Oasn frOm herEuropean homeland. As she matured from childhood to adulthood in the New Worid, thisyouop girl experienced a series of loss, disappointment, and failure fOllowing an archetyPa1pattem of a heroine. Battling against the strict rules of society she was not thwnd bydifficulties and eventually grew up into a successful farmer and a produotive mother HeWl exPerience i8, in some sense, an AInerican natonal expereneq an 9itome of theexPerience ofpur8uit and thent of the AInedcan Drcam.,:'ACCOrdingly there are five developmen pbo in Anonia Shimerda's Iife. Tbe foStphase is her transplantation with her family from Europo to the New WOrid. That boher joumey towars a new atiStic model of self And it i8 the preParaton ~ of the- AInerican Dream. The second phasc is her taking the resPOnsibility on supponing her fndIyll'ty4her journey towards a new artistic 111odel of self Al1d it is the preparation stage of the. American Dream. The seco11d pl1ase is l1er taking the responsibility on supportin8 her familyafter her father's death, far111il1g on the 1and of which she was proud, she adapted herself tothe New WOrld and fOund I1er roje. Sl1e is the mythical figure of American "Adam". The thirdphase is her co11t1ict witl1 tl1e "civilization" of Black Hawk society where she became thehired girl. This is a period of her awareness of her own identity. ln the fourth phase althou8hpregnant and abandoned by I1eI' lover, she was not defeated. She was like a phoenix of hoperising out of the ashes of despair. This is the period of her selfactualization. ln the last phase,Antonia successfully managed the farm with her husband and bred eleven children. This is theperiod of her self fulfillment.WilIa Cather redefines the American Dream and detaiIs the archetypal heroine'sAmerican Dream on account of her concern with the splitting of people's physical andspiritual world during the First World War. She wanted to admonish people that theconstruction of I1uman's spiritual world was as significant as that of the material world.By using the culturaI studies, fbminist criticism and...