Lorelai Gilmore Character Analysis

Lorelai Gilmore was born in Hartford, Connecticut and lived a privileged life up until she was sixteen. Her family lived a wealthy and luxurious lifestyle, fed Lorelai with a silver spoon, and expected her to live up to her expectations and obligations as a member of the Gilmore family. Having a bright indignant flame within, Lorelai often butted heads with her parents and acted out in rebellious ways. At the prestigious high school she attended, Chilton, she became romantically involved with a boy named Christopher, which eventually led to a pregnancy at the age of sixteen. Without departing on good terms, Lorelai had the baby and moved out of her parents’ household and moved to Stars Hallow to work as a maid at a local inn. Despite the

She then finds a new location to have their cook make a complimentary breakfast for all of them, to keep the guests happy. By having the ability to think quickly, Lorelai eventually managed to find temporary places for the guests to stay for a night until they were cleared by the fire department to go back to the hotel to gather their things. This scene demonstrates how Lorelai possesses both agentic and communal traits. As Etaugh and Bridges (2013) stated, communal attributes are “personality characteristics associated with women, such as sympathy, kindness, and warmth, reflect a concern about other people” (p.23). By taking the time to ask how the guests were fairing, as well as maintaining a warm disposition, demonstrates Lorelai’s communal traits. While these seem to uphold the stereotype that women are communal, Lorelai breaks the mold by having agentic traits. These agentic traits are described as “a group of instrumental traits associated with men, including achievement orientation and ambitiousness, [which] reflects a concern about accomplishing tasks” (Bridges & Etaugh, 2013). Lorelai confirms these specific characteristics when she succeeds in her task of finding temporary places for her guests to reside at and a new place to have breakfast

Coming from a strained relationship with her parents, Lorelai finds herself propelled and driven to succeed in her career. This phenomenon was noted by psychologist Edwin C. Lewis who stated, “There is the possibility that a career orientation among girls grows out of personal dissatisfactions, so that the career becomes a frustration outlet” (p.34). Since Lorelai has a seemingly never-ending source of energy, working at the inn provides not only an income for the family, but also as an outlet to put her talents to use. In fact, according to Buehler (2011), “mothers with jobs tend to be healthier and happier”. Lorelai exceeds this statement because for the most part, she upholds a positive disposition and good health. This happiness typically stems from a successful day at the inn, a new love interest, or quality time with her daughter. Women juggle their many roles as mothers, career women, love interest, PTA volunteer, etc. This can lead to role overload, or “role demands that exceed one’s available time and/or energy” (Bridges & Etaugh, 2013). Lorelai faces moments where she finds herself overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities she has from each different role. To ease the stress, she develops strong friendships (such as Luke and Sookie) and relationships. Despite the obstacles, Lorelai eventually opens and co-owns an inn alongside her business partner and friend,