Jerusha, a feminist heroine.
Daddy-long-legs by Jean Webster is a tale of Jerusha Abbott, who has been brought up in an orphanage. According to the orphanage policies, when a student completed high school, he was required to leave the orphanage, but Jerusha was an exception because she was allowed to extend her stay for two years (Webster 12). Daddy-Long-Legs is a novel that emphasizes on female education and female voice. Most of the trustees who visited the orphanage only supported boys, and this shows that girl’s education during that time was not considered necessary. Jerusha is a feminist heroine because she became the first girl to be sponsored by the benefactor to go to college. When Mrs. Lippett calls her to the office, she says to Jerusha, “the letters you will write describe your studies progress will be addressed to Mr. John Smith and they will be sent in care of the secretary”( Webster 13). Jerusha’s academic excellence and hard work made the headmistresses refer her to the benefactor who she nicknamed “Daddy-Long-Legs.”
Webster’s novel combines the features of the letters Jerusha writes to the benefactor and Jerusha’s college life. When reading “Daddy-Long-Legs,” one can identify the importance of the character’s developing voice. It is through her school essays that the benefactor realizes that Jerusha is a good writer. Jerusha can discover and explore her literary voice by writing the letters to her trustee. Her relationship with the people around her and her college life enables her to identify herself to the extent of changing her name to Judy.
Jerusha is a feminist heroine because, in her, the readers can see a girl with aspirations and dreams, a person who wants to succeed in life regardless of all the life challenges. She has strong convictions, and her writing skills are displayed in the letters she writes to the benefactor. She is a hardworking girl who is willing to make the world a better place. Even after completing school, she works in the orphanage by cooking for the visitors and taking care of the other pupils. Jerusha’s patience and perseverance opened doors for her to study and become a writer.
Works Cited
Webster, J. Daddy-Long-Legs. Courier Corporation, 1912.