65 pages 2 hours read

Willa Cather

My Antonia

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1918

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.

Book 2, Chapters 8-15

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Book 2: “The Hired Girls”

Book 2, Chapter 8 Summary

In the spring, Jim and the Harling children help Mrs. Harling and Ántonia plant in the garden and work in the orchard: The boys and girls are growing up, and the summer that will “change everything” (193) is drawing nearer. In June, several travelling Italian dance teachers come from Kansas City and set up a dancing pavilion on a vacant lot. Mrs. Vanni, who wears lavender with black lace, teaches the little children, and her husband, a harpist, teaches the older ones. Popcorn and lemonade are sold by vendors outside and the “vacant lot soon became the most cheerful place in town” (195). The Progressive Euchre Club arranges for the exclusive use of the pavilion twice a week. However, anyone who pays and is orderly can dance at other times. Jim never misses a Saturday night dance when the tent remains open until midnight. Country boys come from distant farms and all the country girls, the Danish laundry girls, and the other friends dance. Jim thinks these dances with the immigrant girls are more fun than the others, but young men from the Progressive Euchre Club sometimes risk societal disapproval and come in late to waltz with “the hired girls.

Related Titles

By Willa Cather

Study Guide

logo

A Lost Lady

Willa Cather

A Lost Lady

Willa Cather

Study Guide

logo

A Wagner Matinee

Willa Cather

A Wagner Matinee

Willa Cather

Plot Summary

logo

Coming, Aphrodite!

Willa Cather

Coming, Aphrodite!

Willa Cather

Study Guide

logo

Death Comes for the Archbishop

Willa Cather

Death Comes for the Archbishop

Willa Cather

Plot Summary

logo

Lucy Gayheart

Willa Cather

Lucy Gayheart

Willa Cather

Study Guide

logo

Neighbour Rosicky

Willa Cather

Neighbour Rosicky

Willa Cather

Study Guide

logo

One Of Ours

Willa Cather

One Of Ours

Willa Cather

Study Guide

logo

Paul's Case

Willa Cather

Paul's Case

Willa Cather

Plot Summary

logo

Shadows on the Rock

Willa Cather

Shadows on the Rock

Willa Cather

Study Guide

logo

The Professor's House

Willa Cather

The Professor's House

Willa Cather

Study Guide

logo

The Sculptor's Funeral

Willa Cather

The Sculptor's Funeral

Willa Cather

Study Guide

logo

The Song of the Lark

Willa Cather

The Song of the Lark

Willa Cather