Willa Cather's Feminist Tendencies
             Willa Cather tends to portray static characters with little depth, yet she seems to
             approach her female characters with an air of liberalism that allows for a more
             well-rounded exploration of society than is found in the works of other conteporary
             authors. Cather depicts women as both the classic "mother woman" and the independent
             individual. Allowing her to free the female character from heir reliance on men. Her
             women are not just mothers, daughters, or wives; they are characters of their own -- able
             to grow and explore. A flare is given to Cather's pioneer stories by the dynamics of some
             of her female characters. The independent women in Cather's tales expand the window
             through which their society is judged, while the "mother-woman" frame of that window is
             solidified through the traditional values that they represent. In My Antonia Cather
             explores the diversity of the female race through two generations of women. Cather
             further elaborates on the duality of the woman's role of society in Sapphira and the Slave
             Mrs. Burden, the first woman introduced in My Antonia, represents the traditional
             values of society. Her description is that of a bird: "she was apt to carry her head thrust
             forward in an attitude of attention", "she was quick footed and energetic in all her
             movements" and "her voice was high and rather shrill." Mrs. Burden is in a constant flight
             about her home. She is an obedient wife and a "mother-woman.". She is a homemaker, a
             teacher to Antonia, the woman of the farm and the greatest help to her neighbors. Cather
             uses Mrs. Burden to extol the values of the vaguely known townspeople. She respects the
             Christian ideals of her small Mid-Western town and is nonjudgmental. She is pure of heart
             and soul as she accepts the actions and choices of those to whom...