she hopes to set an
             example. Mrs. Burden is the foundation of society and a foil to the independent girls of
             Antonia is one of Cather's few dynamic characters. She explores all the possible
             options for her life before becoming the "mother-woman." As a young girl Antonia was
             "quick, and very eager" to learn the ways of the new world in which she found herself.
             When she moves to Black Hawk, as a young woman, she is exposed to a larger world.
             She is taken aback by the freedom and opportunitie
             ...