Ántonia Shimerda

Ántonia Shimerda is depicted as a young immigrant girl whose appealing innocence, simple passions, and moral integrity define her. She is the eldest daughter of a Bohemian family attempting to establish themselves as homesteaders in Nebraska. A stalwart support to her father, Ántonia becomes friends with Jim Burden, who teaches her English. Following her father's tragic suicide—an event that leaves the family in dire straits—she is compelled by her mother and brother to work the land like a man. Jim's grandmother intervenes, securing her a position as a hired girl in Black Hawk. Here, her deep-seated zest for life leads her to the Saturday night dances, where she meets Larry Donovan. Although she moves to Denver with the promise of marriage, Donovan deserts her, leaving her to return to Black Hawk as an unwed mother. Twenty years later, Jim finds her married to Cuzak, a reliable farmer, with whom she has a large, happy family. Despite the hardships she has endured, Ántonia remains untouched by bitterness, embodying serenity and strength, reminiscent of ancient matriarchs.

James Quayle Burden

James Quayle Burden, known as Jim, provides the narrative voice of the story. Orphaned at ten, he moves from Virginia to Nebraska to live with his grandparents. On the isolated prairie, Ántonia Shimerda becomes his closest companion as they share early meaningful experiences. Though he resents the town life of Black Hawk, Jim ultimately attends the University of Nebraska, where he is deeply influenced by Gaston Cleric, a Latin teacher who opens Jim's eyes to literature and art. Jim later studies law at Harvard, marrying brilliantly yet incompatibly. Despite his success and wealth, Jim remains unhappy, haunted by memories of his youth on the prairie and his enduring bond with Ántonia.

Mr. Shimerda

Mr. Shimerda, Ántonia's father, is a poignant figure of a Bohemian farmer unsuited to the harsh pioneer life. His deep homesickness and inability to adapt to Nebraska's demands lead him to live increasingly in the past, culminating in his suicide. His memory, however, remains cherished by both Ántonia and Jim, who remember his gentle dignity.

Mrs. Shimerda

Mrs. Shimerda is characterized by her shrewdness and ambition, focused primarily on advancing her family's fortunes. Her interactions with neighbors often lack grace, yet her dream of prosperity is ultimately realized. Despite her materialism, she does show moments of gratitude, though often her actions are marred by ignorance or disregard.

Ambroz Shimerda

Ambroz Shimerda, or Ambrosch, Ántonia's older brother, mirrors their mother's insensitivity but is undeniably hardworking. He is driven by a strong attachment to the land, persisting through adversity with peasant tenacity. Though often disagreeable, his dedication to farming earns him a grudging respect from peers.

Yulka Shimerda

Yulka Shimerda, Ántonia's younger sister, is known for her mild and obedient nature. As she grows, she becomes a supportive figure, helping raise Ántonia’s child and contributing to the family’s well-being.

Marek Shimerda

Marek Shimerda, the youngest of the Shimerda children, struggles with mental challenges that eventually lead to his institutionalization. His condition and behavior add another layer of complexity to the Shimerda family's difficult life.

Mr. Burden

Mr. Burden, Jim's grandfather, is depicted as a deliberate and just Virginian who runs an efficient farm. His bearded visage and prophetic speech reflect his wisdom and religious convictions. He provides unwavering support to both Jim and the struggling Shimerda family, embodying a broad-minded and compassionate spirit.

Mrs. Burden

Mrs. Burden, a practical and loving grandmother, extends her kindness not only to Jim but also to the immigrant community. Her assistance to the Shimerdas is crucial for their survival during their first harsh Nebraska winter. Her generous nature and strong work ethic are hallmarks of her character.

Lena Lingard

Lena Lingard, a charismatic daughter of Norwegian farmers, captivates with her beauty and fashion sense. She becomes a successful dressmaker in San Francisco, avoiding marriage to maintain her independence. Lena's friendship with Jim Burden during his university years reveals her influence on his life and decisions, offering a contrast to his bond with Ántonia.

Tiny Soderball

Tiny Soderball works initially in a Black Hawk hotel before venturing to Seattle and then Alaska, where she amasses a fortune in mining. Her life in San Francisco is marked by financial comfort but also a sense of emptiness, with money being her main interest. Her friendship with Lena Lingard remains her only close connection.

Wycliffe Cutter

Wycliffe Cutter, or Wick, is a miserly moneylender known for exploiting his immigrant neighbors. His devious attempt to seduce Ántonia by having her guard his valuables ends comically with Jim Burden in his place. His later murder of his wife and subsequent suicide highlight his sinister and greedy nature.

Mrs. Cutter

Mrs. Cutter shares her husband Wick's miserly traits, constantly nagging him. Ultimately, she becomes a victim of his murderous plan, designed to prevent her family from inheriting his wealth.

Larry Donovan

Larry Donovan, a charming yet unreliable railroad conductor, courts Ántonia with promises of marriage in Denver. His true nature reveals itself when he abandons her, leaving her to face societal scorn and motherhood alone.

Mrs. Steavens

Mrs. Steavens, a widow renting the Burden farm, serves as a storyteller to Jim upon his return from Harvard, recounting Ántonia's betrayal by Larry Donovan. Her perspective adds depth to the narrative of Ántonia's struggles.

Otto Fuchs

Otto Fuchs, an adventurous Austrian, works as a farmhand for the Burdens, showcasing skills as a carpenter and raconteur. His colorful past includes roles as a cowboy, miner, and bartender, making him a vivid character in Jim's memory. Eventually, he leaves to pursue new adventures in the West.

Jake Marpole

Jake Marpole, accompanying young Jim to Nebraska, is a kind-hearted farmhand with a fiery temper. Despite his limited education, he is well-regarded by Jim for his loyalty and good nature. Faced with the move to Black Hawk, Jake departs in search of fortune elsewhere.

Christian Harling

Christian Harling is a no-nonsense grain merchant and cattle buyer, representing stability in Black Hawk. His household's dynamics shift around him, and he maintains a firm hold over family matters, especially concerning Ántonia’s employment.

Mrs. Harling

Mrs. Harling, a devoted wife and mother, hires Ántonia and influences her positively with her strong character. However, her disapproval of Ántonia's dance attendance leads to a painful parting. Despite this, she eventually forgives Ántonia, acknowledging their shared strengths and values.

Pavel

Pavel, one of the Russian neighbors, is burdened by a dark past in Russia where he had to make a grave decision to survive. His confession to Mr. Shimerda of sacrificing a bridal couple to wolves haunts him until his death. Pavel's tragic story underscores themes of guilt and survival.

Anton Jelinek

Anton Jelinek is a supportive Bohemian who assists the Shimerdas after Mr. Shimerda's death. His warmth and spontaneity make him a friend to the Burdens, and he later becomes a saloon proprietor, maintaining ties with the community.

Cuzak

Cuzak, Anton Jelinek's cousin, marries Ántonia and becomes a pillar of strength for her. Despite past hardships, his good-natured and dependable character complements Ántonia’s spirit, creating a fulfilling family life.

Martha

Martha, Ántonia's daughter by Larry Donovan, eventually marries a prosperous young farmer. Her life reflects a turn towards stability and societal acceptance, contrasting with her mother's earlier struggles.

Gaston Cleric

Gaston Cleric, Jim's Latin teacher, plays an instrumental role in shaping Jim's intellectual pursuits. His passion for literature and art captivates Jim, influencing his decision to follow Cleric to Harvard, marking a pivotal point in Jim’s life journey.

Genevieve Whitney Burden

Genevieve Whitney Burden, Jim's wife, remains a background figure, yet her influence on Jim's emotional state is significant. Her independent and restless nature contributes to the complexity of Jim's personal life, highlighting his nostalgia for his simpler past with Ántonia.

My Antonia features two protagonists, simultaneously telling Antonia Shimerda's story and narrating how Jim, the narrator, comes to see her as a symbol of his childhood and the pioneer era. From their arrival in Nebraska on the same train—Jim, an orphaned boy from Virginia moving to live with his grandparents on their prosperous farm, and Antonia, an immigrant from Bohemia facing the challenges of a first-generation pioneer—the story unfolds until their reunion in middle age. Throughout, Jim serves as a poignant parallel to Antonia. Being male, American-born, and Protestant, he enjoys economic privilege, education, and the opportunity to explore the world. Antonia, on the other hand, is female, an immigrant, and a Catholic, living in poverty, uneducated, and tied to the land. While Jim is reflective, Antonia is proactive. Jim achieves professional success but finds solace only in the past; Antonia, despite her numerous mistakes, is able to cherish the present and look forward to the future, always honoring the past.

Cather never allows Antonia to directly disclose herself to the reader. Instead, her growth and self-realization are shown through Jim's observations at various stages of her life: as a child discovering the prairie and shouldering adult responsibilities; as a teenager in Black Hawk excelling in domestic skills and resisting attempts to stifle her vivacity; as a young woman deceived and abandoned by her fiancé; and finally, as a mature woman who fulfills her life's mission by raising many happy children and cultivating a bountiful farm and idyllic orchard and garden. As Jim ages alongside her, each new perspective he provides of her becomes increasingly complex.

The impact of Antonia's story stems from Cather's success in making her a believable character while simultaneously elevating her to a mythic heroine. Her story contrasts conventional frontier myths in several significant ways. Antonia does not speak of "taming" or "conquering" the land; she loves and respects it. Her "heroic" tasks involve creating and sanctifying a home and transforming the wilderness into a farm and garden. Rather than seeking independence and freedom, she finds her identity within a community. In her creation of order, fertility, and beauty on the frontier, and her nurturing of children, plants, and trees, she embodies an earth mother and fertility goddess, as well as a true frontier heroine—unlike the legends of hunters, cowboys, and gunfighters.

Like Antonia, Jim also serves as a symbolic figure. His story begins with a train journey at the age of nine, traveling from his birthplace in Virginia to the unfamiliar terrain of Nebraska. Orphaned, he is set to be raised by his paternal grandparents. This long and arduous trip symbolizes his entry into a destiny that will unfold across various settings. These settings are not only the physical surroundings of his childhood and youth but also serve as metaphors for change, growth, and his evolving mental states. In terms of his personal history, Jim's childhood memories capture the essence of a pastoral life, drawing pleasure and tranquility from the land. His narrative offers a tribute to the beauty of the rural landscape and recaptures the childhood wonder that once imbued the world with the romance of discovery.

Jim's prairie homestead is a well-organized agricultural haven managed by a kind patriarch and a capable farm wife, assisted by respectable and affectionate hired hands. All of them share a reverence for the land and accept its demands, fostering simplicity and goodness. Jim first experiences joy and harmony within the cycles and rhythms of nature in the warm, luxuriant embrace of his grandmother's garden. This sense of unity with nature leaves a lasting impact on him, ensuring he never loses his ability to personally appreciate the prairie or his desire to find happiness amid life's ripeness and fulfillment.

As his name implies, Jim carries a "burden" of guilt for what he and the nation lost during their respective developments. The country's rush toward material fulfillment betrayed the promise and idealism of the pioneer era. By leaving the prairie, Jim unwittingly embarked on a journey toward an empty future. When Jim reunites with Antonia in middle age, he finds himself diminished compared to his youthful self, while she has retained the qualities that made their friendship the pinnacle experience of his life. He clings to her image as the purest embodiment of what was most valuable in America's agrarian past.

While Antonia and Jim are central to the novel, Cather introduces a diverse array of characters, each fully developed regardless of their minor roles. Jim's grandparents resemble the affectionate guardians from a fairy tale. The grandfather stands as an imposing patriarch with a generous heart, and the grandmother is a resourceful and energetic woman, capable of handling any situation—from defending herself against rattlesnakes in her garden to offering a basket of food to seemingly ungrateful neighbors.

Antonia's parents present a stark contrast. Mr. Shimerda, refined and melancholic, is so overwhelmed by the isolation and harshness of frontier life that he ultimately takes his own life, symbolizing the spiritual and physical perils of settling the frontier. In contrast, Mrs. Shimerda is depicted as a grasping, shrewish woman, yet also a frightened mother doing her best to carve out a life for her family in a hostile environment.

The immigrant farm girls, like Antonia, who move to town to earn money for their families, are depicted with affectionate nostalgia by Jim. To him, they embody the frontier spirit. Some, such as the sensual Bohemian waitresses and the giggling Danish laundry girls, marry within their ethnic communities and become efficient managers of prosperous farms. On the other hand, Lena Lingard and Tiny Soderball leave the prairie for the larger world, finding material success but never discovering a place where their lives can achieve moral grounding and spiritual fulfillment.

Through her skills as a dressmaker, Lena becomes a successful entrepreneur in the fashion industry, eventually establishing a thriving business in San Francisco. However, her financial success does not bring emotional contentment, and she remains unmarried, unable to find an outlet for the qualities that once distinguished her among the women of Black Hawk. Tiny ventures to the Klondike, where she opens a hotel for miners, inherits a claim from a romantic Swede, and amasses a fortune during the Gold Rush. Yet, over time, the excitement of her adventures wanes, and she lives "like someone in whom the faculty of becoming interested is worn out."