How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Without telling me exactly how I might miss a menstrual cycle, my mother had shown me which herbs to pick and boil, and what time of day to drink the potion they produced, to bring on a reluctant period. She had presented the whole idea to me as a way to strengthen the womb, but underneath we both knew that a weak womb was not the cause of a missed period. She knew that I knew, but we presented to each other a face of innocence and politeness and even went so far as to curtsy to each other at the end (3.24).
There seems to be some weird telepathy going on here. It's kind of sad to think that traditional feminine norms like innocence and politeness can stand in the way of useful honest communication between women.
Quote #5
My past was my mother; I could hear her voice, and she spoke to me not in English or the French patois that she sometimes spoke, or in any language that needed help from the tongue; she spoke to me in language anyone female could understand. And I was undeniably that—female (4.7).
At other times in the novel, Lucy blatantly rejects expectations that go hand-in-hand with being female, but here she's directly claiming the title. What's going on with that?
Quote #6
They were artists. I had heard of people in this position. I had never seen an example in the place where I came from. I noticed that mostly they were men. It seemed to be a position that allowed for irresponsibility, so perhaps it was much better suited to men—like the man whose paintings hung in the museum I liked to visit (4.16).
Burn. Why do you think Lucy claims that the "irresponsible" position of painter is better suited for a man than for a woman?