A Study Of The Image Of (?)ntonia In My (?)ntonia From The Perspective Of Narrators

Willa Cather (1873-1947) is famous for her pioneer novels, in which My (?)ntonia is a representative one. As one of the most important works in Cather’s writing career, it has received much attention from different fields and its heroine, (?)ntonia Shimerda, is one of its eternal and inevitable themes. In this novel, the story of (?)ntonia is mainly told by Jim Burden, a fictional narrator created by Cather. As a matter of fact, there are other narrators, including an unnamed narrator, the Widow Steavens and (?)ntonia herself. Therefore, to have a further understanding for the image of (?)ntonia, it is necessary to research this character according to different narratives and this is how this thesis develops.Apart from the introduction and conclusion, there are three chapters in this thesis.The first chapter focuses on exploring the image of (?)ntonia in Jim Burden’s narrative. In consideration of Jim’s disposition and the whole life frame laid out by Jim, the image of (?)ntonia is a combination of stability and variability in Jim’s narrative. The stability lies in her nature of protectiveness and motherhood and her reminiscence for her own country. Meanwhile, the variability lies in her nature as well. Those changing elements in her life are reflected through her eyes, her languages and her roles.The second chapter deals with the image of (?)ntonia in the narrative of two female narrators, I in the "Introduction" episode and the Widow Steavens in "The Pioneer Woman’s Story" episode. Their narratives are respectively analyzed to complete her image to some degree. Firstly, it presents that (?)ntonia is an image of nostalgia and tranquility in the narrative of I for those who once lived in Nebraska; secondly, it discusses that (?)ntonia gradually grows into an independent woman through various sufferings, that is, the loss of her voice, material and psychological struggles.The third chapter copes with the image of (?)ntonia in her own narrative. (?)ntonia tells stories in this novel. Firstly, it talks about (?)ntonia herself because she is a narrator in it; secondly, it continues to present the self-cognition of (?)ntonia in her covert narrative in the twenty years, which is hidden in her collected photograghs and dialogues of her children; thirdly, it argues (?)ntonia’s repression for despair because of the death she has experienced, which causes her calm and even cold attitude towards death and life to some degree.The image of (?)ntonia, which is shaped by four narrators, is not present separately in different narratives. Various elements are interconnected in this image. With an analysis of the image of (?)ntonia from the perspective of narrators, this thesis provides a new angle for the study the characters in My (?)ntonia.