My Antonia, Wide Sargasso Sea, And Roselily By Willa Cather

The most poignant struggle within female literature is, almost always, the relationship that women have with power. It presents itself in many forms—through a relationship, within the workplace, or even self-imposed, women are always juxtaposed against the structure of power for one reason or another. However, despite the uplifting narrative development that generally occurs within these stories, the concern about power struggle is never truly resolved—the problem remains. Through My à ntonia, Wide Sargasso Sea, and â€Å"Roselily†, the reader can see that the influence of power and its negative and toxic consequences proves fatal within class, race, and gender boundaries. Willa Cather’s My à ntonia displays the gender-focused concern about power within the female character’s life. The narrator, Jim Burden, is immediately introduced to the reader as a man who sees the world through rose-colored glasses. That is, he’s got a romantic disposition on life and sees things the way he wants to see them, rather than the way they actually are. The most complicated area that concerns Jim, though, is his relationship with à ntonia. Throughout the novel, there’s a clear longing for her that Jim seems to exude—he never really attempts to kindle a romantic relationship with her, but she’s a highly- romanticized figure in his eyes and someone who he holds very dear. So it’s clear, then, that because of this closeness that Jim feels towards à ntonia, he holds her to standards that have significant