The Lamplighter

I do not think that things have changed much in regards to the social expectations of women as well as what women strive to achieve. I think there is still a struggle for women to find their true identities. Although there are many successful well-known businesswomen, there is often controversy for the things women do or say. Women must still fill the motherly, housewife role while working out in the real world.

Since birth Ellen Montgomery was taught how to become a lady, including household chores and the way she was supposed to dress. Gerty began learning a little bit later because of the obvious neglect she faced at such a young age. Mrs. Sullivan teaches Gerty to be a lady and teaches her ways to help out True. “A girl at eight years old can do a great many things…I could teach you to do a great deal that would be useful, and that would help your Uncle True very much. You could sweep the room up every day; you could make the beds, after a fashion, with a little help in turning them; you could set the table, toast the bread, wash the dishes” (Cummins 108). I noticed that both Ellen and Gerty were expected to be able to do household chores not only to be independent to do things on their own, but also to please someone else. This is the same today because girls are usually expected to be able to cook for their husbands or families.

I think one major difference in the way things are now and in the nineteenth century is that women now strive to “be like men”. By that I mean in the working world and that their sole purpose is not just to stay at home and raise the children and help out the husband. They want to be the breadwinners of the family, which challenges the traditional views of families.

The girl in Amy Pohler’s show says “Don’t think about what you have to do for people to like you, you want people to like you for who you are” This really stuck out to me because in the Wide Wide World Mrs. Montgomery tells Ellen “it will be your own fault if she does not love you”(page 34). She does not say to be yourself but rather to be who her Aunt Fortune wants her to be. This same thing happens in The Lamplighter when Emily Graham says, “But you can be good and then everybody will love you” (Cummins 141). At this time I believe that it was very important to please people and fit a certain mold. It was out of the question to be anything but a “good, well behaved woman.

If Gerty were to appear on Amy Pholer’s TV show she would also say that she likes balance in her life. The little girl in the show says “you should try your best and try harder”. That is similar to what Gerty would say because she must keep trying when learning how to do household chores. She makes mistakes a lot or forgets to do things but she keeps trying. Gerty actually compares to this contemporary girl more than I first thought.