Differing Challenges: Comparison and Contrast of Magdalena and Dona Isabella Anonymous 10th Grade

Willa Cather’s Death Comes for the Archbishop focuses on the efforts of a priest and a Catholic Bishop to start a diocese in the New Mexico Terrain covering themes of religion, violence, hypocrisy, and race. The novel entails two intriguing characters in the book Magdalena, the wife of Buck Scales and Doña Isabella, the wife of Don Antonio Olivares. We see Magdalena as the spouse of Buck Scales when Father Latour and Vaillant stop by their home to rest. Her husband is abusive to her, murderer and thief. She later reports her husband to the authorities and arrested for multiple homicides. She then dedicates her life to the church and becomes a nun at a convent in New Mexico where she is happy with her life and begins to enjoy life once more. Dona Isabella Olivares is the second wife of Don Antonio Olivares who is among the wealthiest people in New Mexico. We first encounter her when her husband Antonio decides to fund the establishment of the church in New Mexico. As depicted in the novel, both women face trials in their lives; however, how they address them contrasts their personalities and personal qualities.

Magdalena is the definition of a focused woman who knows what she wants in life and what is the right thing from the...