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 w

Cather expanded upon the feminism demonstrated by Antonia through Tiny

outcomes for her characters that don't have to involve love stories and births; her stories

In Sapphira and the Slave Girl Cather makes the same distinctions between her

ideals for women, she does not abandoned the traditional values of husband and family.

Christian ideals of her small Mid-Western town and is nonjudgmental. She is pure of heart

options for her life before becoming the "mother-woman." As a young girl Antonia was

role of conformity in the other aspects of life that result in a woman's "respectability."

Instead of conforming to society's notion of the woman's role as wife, she explores the

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Approximate Word count = 1322
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)