My Ántonia (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Willa Cather
- First Published: 1918
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Romance
- Time of Work: The 1880’s to the 1910’s
- Setting: Rural Nebraska
- Principal Characters: Ántonia Shimerda, Jim Burden, Lena Lingard, Tiny Soderball, Mr. Shimerda, Mrs. Shimerda, Ambrosch Shimerda, Cuzak
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Maturation or coming of age
- Locales: New York, NY
Form and Content
Jim Burden, a middle-aged, successful New York railway lawyer with a sterile marriage and a host of nostalgic memories, writes his reminiscences about his rural Nebraska youth. These reminiscences are My Ántonia, a coming-of-age story, but not primarily the story of Burden’s coming-of-age. His early life provides the plot’s framework. After three years on his grandparents’ farm, he moves with them to the prairie town of Black Hawk. From there he will go to college, law school, and his career in New York. Burden’s memories, however, center more...
[The entire page is 2367 words long]
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