Quote 7
"So really, we’re equals, except that Harold makes about seven times more than what I make." (III.1.67)
In the most "equal" of relationships, Lena still conforms to a traditional support role. And her husband is her boss AND makes seven times as much as she does.
Quote 8
At home, my mother looked at everything around her with empty eyes. My father would come home from work, patting my head, saying, "How’s my big girl, but always looking past me, toward my mother. I had such fears inside, not in my head but in my stomach. I could no longer see what was so scary, but I could feel it. I could feel every little movement in our silent house. And at night, I could feel the crashing loud fights on the other side of my bedroom wall, this girl being beaten to death. In bed, with the blanket edge lying across my neck, I used to wonder which was worse, our side or theirs? And after thinking about this for a while, after feeling sorry for myself, it comforted me somewhat to think that this girl next door had a more unhappy life." (II.2.81)
The juxtaposition of one silent family next to a noisy family allows Lena to speculate that her life could be much worse.
Quote 9
I lay down on my bed waiting to hear the screams and the shouts. And late at night I was still awake when I heard the loud voices next door. Mrs. Sorci was shouting and crying, You stupida girl. You almost gave me a heart attack. And Teresa was yelling back, I coulda been killed. I almost fell and broke my neck. And then I heard them laughing and crying, crying and laughing, shouting with love. (II.2.99)
The Sorcis’ love for each other manifests itself very differently than in the St. Clair household. This leaves Lena in doubt about her own family. She had always assumed that Teresa’s life was awful, and used it as proof that he own life wasn’t so bad. Now Lena realizes that the opposite might be true.