Exploring the Gender and Sexuality of Willa Cather and the effect it has on My Antonia.
Exhibit materials currently on display at Reed Library highlight the subject of Willa Cather's lesbianism and the direct effect this had on her literature. I wanted to take a moment to post and share with you an interesting fact that may enhance your interpretation of the novel.
Willa Cather's greatest love affair occurred with Isabel McClung, whom she met in Pittsburgh in 1898 when Cather lived in her families attic. During her time with McClung, Cather wrote four large pieces of creative exposition, including major parts of her well-known novel O, Pioneers!. The great affair continued until 1916, when McClung suddenly announced that she was to marry the violinist Jan Hambourgh. At this point in time, Cather had just finished the first two chapters of My Antonia and was about to write the "Hired Girls" chapter. If we take a closer look at the novel, we can see that Antonia is taken off her pedestal at this point and is led to an advantageous marriage that brings her shame and downfall in the eyes of society. Many scholars would suggest that the character of Jim was formed after Cather herself, but perhaps Antonia is formed after Cather's love for women, instead of one woman in general. Perhaps Antonia simply inhabits all the attributes of the passion and then the heartbreak that Cather and McCung shared.
After learning this fact about Cather's love life, what can we infer about Cather's own emotional state and it's influence on the novel?
Do you believe this further characterization of Antonia could have been a result of Cather's own heartbreak and loss?
Posted By: Jillian Ziemianski
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