Comparing the Theme of Sacrifice in My Antonia and The Song of the Lark

Theme of Sacrifice in My Antonia and The birdcall of the risky venture A common trait for Willa Cathers characters is that they possess a certain talent or skill. This art usually controls the lives of these characters. According to tyro Maxell Geismar, Cathers heroines who possess a skill often either do non link up or marry men whom they dominate if they do marry the wedlock is without excitement because their passion is invested in their art. In a sense, Geismar accuses Cathers heroines of sacrificing their married roles for their art (172). However, marriage is not the only aspect that raises the subject of ritual killing for Cathers protagonists - there is also the issue of family. This is because a woman artist, or all woman, is judged not only on her art but also on her personal life, especially by her submissiveness to man in the role of daughter, wife and mother. If a woman is unable to commit towards one of these roles, she is blamed for renouncing he r anticipative role for something that is associated with a mans world - talent. Many readers judge Thea Kronberg and Lena Lingard according to these womanly roles, and hence place the accusation of sacrifice upon them. Thea Kronberg and Lena Lingard in Willa Cathers The Song of the Lark and My Antonia, respectively, are accused of sacrificing similarly much for their art because they apparently bring to overlook their families and love relations in respect to their art. On the surface, it appears as if Thea sacrifices her relationship with her mother and her love with Fred Ottenburg in order to achieve her melodious desires. Similarly, Lena is depicted as a female who sacrifices her bond with her mother and her prospects for marriage for the life of an indepe... ...r orator skills (i.e. they usually become Lawyers), and postponing marriage prospects until they are one by one and financially settled. However, these men are never accused of sacrificing their rela tions, or too much for their art. Unfortunately, even in the literary world men and women are depicted differently in terms of their relational expectations. This difference goes as far as accusing the pursuit of art as a sacrifice only when the individual is a woman. Works Cited Cather, Willa. My Antonia. Boston Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995. Cather, Willa. The Song of the Lark. Boston Houghton Mifflin Company, 1943. Geismar, Maxell. The Last of the Provincials The American Novel 1915 to 1925. Cambridge The Riverside Press, 1947. Sabiston, Elizabeth. EN 4210 3.0E Seminar. Toronto York University, October 15 2002.