COVE

In character:

Thinking back to the younger days of my life as I worked with Gerty, I remember a sermon the father would give our Mother and the four of us. He stated “She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.” For some reason, it resonated with me... Is what Gerty or Lucy would say. I just see it as another passage that Mother would make us listen to because she was religious. I felt as if this somehow affected all 4 of us, being my sisters and I. Ever since my father passed, life has been different. I am not used to having to work with Lucy and Gerty in the photography shop so that we can stay afloat. I feel as if Gerty and Lucy are becoming stronger as individuals but it doesn’t affect Fanny because she has finally fallen in “love” again. Gerty’s writing has become stronger and filled with more emotion and it has more oomph behind it as well. Gerty has more character and isn’t the girl who would write in her room all day. She isn’t the closeted person she used to be and the same applies to Lucy. Personally, I see no improvement in myself as making perfection better has to be a work of God, not a livelihood. In all reality, I feel stronger to a small degree when compared to before and I can get a job done given the chance. In the shop, I have begun carrying my own weight especially when the shop began to open and nearly everyone was needed for work. I feel like the woman in the proverb and I feel better about myself.

Editor:

Proverbs 31:16-17 is seen as a pro-women biblical quote and it shows that Women can and are equal to men in the field of work. Current theologians and feminists, use this line from the bible in order to push for equality and as seen with the author of the commonplace book above, the biblical quote has its reasons. It encourages women to start becoming their own people and that their business ideas aren’t as far fetched as it seems. Besides that, the author of the piece talks about the growth her family takes on after her father’s death and she talks about a family photography shop. As a woman in the late 1800s, opening up a shop was out of the ordinary as mainly Women were housewives or had similar roles. Women rarely began opening their own practices and this would’ve led to controversy and this controversy is seen with the Lorimer’s Sisters photography shop a little after the author wrote this passage. The biblical quote could be viewed as quite radical during the earlier time period due to the message of a woman being able to do everything a man could do. The author above helps show the opening up of shops run by females exclusively as a positive outcome and this helps display the gradual shift in societal values as shops run by women began to function. This passage shows the Victorian era norm of women not normally opening up shops but it also shows the gradual shift of women-run shops becoming more normal.

Citations

The Holy Bible. Standard Version Catholic Edition. Hitchcock 1869.