Femininity comes in many unique forms. The depiction of a woman’s femininity is subject to her unique personality and how she expresses herself. The women illustrated in the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, are good examples of the different ways femininity can be expressed. Each character’s personality has a definite impact on their expression of their femininity and the way they interact with the rest of the characters in the novel.
At the beginning of the novel, Scout makes her opinions of being a proper lady clear, she wanted to remain a child and live carefreely. She also seemed to display a sort of fear of women in general as she stated in chapter 24, “Ladies in bunches always filled me with vague apprehension and a firm desire to be elsewhere,” (Lee, p.262). Her aunt believed this was due to her being primarily raised by her father, Atticus, who let her be herself and embrace her childish characteristics,
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As the Finches' long-time housekeeper, she is at the residence quite often, so she becomes a sort of mother figure to Scout. She taught her to write and did her best to teach her good morals. In the novel Scout describes how she taught her to write, “She would set me a writing by scrawling the alphabet firmly across the top of a tablet, then copying out a chapter of the Bible underneath. If I reproduced her penmanship satisfactorily, she rewarded me with an open-faced sandwich of bread and butter and sugar." (Lee, p.21) Despite some other characters’ opinions of Calpurnia, due to the color of her skin, she indeed is a great influence on Scout. Her culinary skills and natural grace made an impact on Scout’s view of femininity, “...by watching her I began to think there was some skill involved in being a girl.” (Lee, p. 132) Calpurnia, in the absence of her birth mother, has done her best to fill the mothering role and she is an exemplary good-natured woman amid Scout’s impending