Both of them immigrants and hired girls, Lena and Tiny are examples of early immigrants who go out into the world and are successful. Lena learns to be a dressmaker and later moves to San Francisco and has a thriving dress shop. On the other hand, Tiny leaves Black Hawk and starts a hotel in Seattle, later moving to the Klondike and becoming a wealthy woman. Both come into Jim's life, although Lena is definitely the one who influences him the most.
Lena is the sensuous Norwegian hired girl who, like Circe in Homer's Odyssey, distracts men and leaves them dreaming of pleasure. When Jim first meets her she has moved off the farm to Black Hawk and is learning dressmaking from Mrs. Thomas. Her reputation has preceded her: flirtatious and beautiful, she has driven Ole Benson to distraction so that his mentally deranged wife has come after Lena to kill her. Moving into Black Hawk, Lena becomes one of the hired girls who attends the dances and is quite popular with the men of the town. But she has no intention of marrying; she is satisfied to have a good time, make money, and never give her heart away.
In many ways, Lena is a foil for Ántonia. While Ántonia wants a home and family, Lena does not. Fastidious about her appearance, Lena is very fashionable and concerned about her looks, while Ántonia works in the fields and worries little about her clothes and appearance. While Ántonia is brought up strictly and loves to dance for the sake of having a good time and enjoying life, Lena is a woman of loose morals. Ántonia not only warns Mrs. Harling of this, but she also gets angry with Jim for spending so much time with Lena.
