Time’s fool and A Lost Lady

Abstract

When Jim Burden writes My Antonia on the cover of his manuscript, it is not an indication of possessiveness but an acknowledgement of the subjective nature of reality. Paradoxically, though the title A Lost Lady suggests a more objective account, the novel explores the limitations of perception, the failure to recognise that vision is always partial, and the distortions which this imposes. Marian Forrester is a very different heroine from any Cather had created before. Alexandra, Thea and Antonia are all, to a greater or lesser extent, independent, assertive and relatively unambiguous; here, for the first time, Cather portrayed a female character who is vulnerable, capricious, complex and almost wholly reliant on masculine admiration. Men’s eyes are the mirror in which she sees herself but they not only reflect, they can restrict and accuse or look the other way.