Miss Lavinia Lyte Character Analysis in Johnny Tremain

Merchant Lyte’s daughter, Lavinia Lyte is one of the most beautiful—and wealthiest—young women in Boston. She splits her time between London and Boston, and she’s a fashion icon in Boston. Miss Lavinia is unconventionally beautiful, as she has dark hair, is quite tall, and has an odd scar on her forehead. The scar, however, doesn’t stop men from adoring her—Johnny included. Johnny has something of a love-hate relationship with Miss Lavinia. He nurses a crush on her, but he also resents her for being so wealthy and powerful. Indeed, even Miss Lavinia’s servants, like Mrs. Becky, aren’t very loyal to their cruel, fickle mistress. Additionally, Johnny takes issue with Miss Lavinia’s interest in beautiful Isannah; Miss Lavinia spoils the child and turns her against Cilla, her family members, and the working-class people she grew up with. Ultimately, Miss Lavinia becomes something of an ally, as she looks into Johnny’s claim that he’s a family member and tells him the truth about his mother (who was Miss Lavinia’s cousin). She also promises to attest to his relationship to the family in writing. This way, Johnny can attempt to claim land and property after the war. Discovering that Miss Lavinia is actually an aunt dissolves Johnny’s crush on her.

Miss Lavinia Lyte Quotes in Johnny Tremain

The Johnny Tremain quotes below are all either spoken by Miss Lavinia Lyte or refer to Miss Lavinia Lyte. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Johnny liked the old woman all the better that in the end she had been unable to see a considerate master, whom she had served for thirty years, a young woman whom she had taken care of since she was a baby, humiliated, tossed about, torn by a mob. Sam Adams might respect her the less for this weakness. Johnny respected her more.

Related Characters: Johnny Tremain, Cilla Lapham, Miss Lavinia Lyte, Merchant Lyte, Mrs. Bessie, Samuel Adams

Page Number and Citation: 188

Explanation and Analysis:

Miss Lavinia Lyte Character Timeline in Johnny Tremain

The timeline below shows where the character Miss Lavinia Lyte appears in Johnny Tremain. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Johnny has been guiltily watching the Lytes for years. Today, Lavinia Lyte is returning from London, and he watches her gracefully disembark the ship. She’s a lovely... (full context)

...see Merchant Lyte. But as two of them tease the third about his crush on Lavinia Lyte , the embarrassed clerk tells Johnny to go into Merchant Lyte’s office once some captains... (full context)

...fancy brass knocker. A maid shows him into a drawing room, where the Lyte family—including Miss Lavinia and Sewell, all of them like “wax candles”—is assembled. Mr. Lyte studies Johnny and then... (full context)

...Justice Dana deal with case after case. Mr. Lyte and Sewall arrive first, followed by Miss Lavinia . Rab and Cilla slip in soon after. Then, Mr. Justice Dana calls Johnny’s case.... (full context)

Patriotism and the Revolutionary War Theme Icon

...suggests going to a tavern to celebrate, but Isannah has slipped away and is holding Miss Lavinia ’s hand. When Isannah returns to the group, she kisses Johnny’s burned hand. Johnny almost... (full context)

...warns Johnny to watch out for proud Mr. Lyte. Isannah goes on about how much Miss Lavinia liked her, which annoys Johnny—Isannah is so full of herself. After dinner, Johnny decides to... (full context)

...the Lytes’, who are Mr. Hancock’s neighbors, just to see what they do on Sundays. Miss Lavinia gallops into the courtyard, even though it’s illegal to ride on Sundays. Nobody is there... (full context)

...her story. Mrs. Lapham didn’t like the idea of Cilla marrying Mr. Tweedie, so when Miss Lavinia Lyte stopped by for some silver work, saw Isannah, and insisted on taking her, the... (full context)

...changed, too. Suddenly, he looks forward to seeing her every Thursday (and he sometimes sees Lavinia Lyte too). He doesn’t think highly of Isannah, though: she’s becoming snobbish and cold. (full context)

...When Johnny gets to the Lytes’ on Thursday, Mrs. Bessie says that Cilla is busy: Miss Lavinia has lots of officers in the parlor. Johnny knows that Mrs. Bessie isn’t loyal to... (full context)

...flying and exposing her body further. Everyone laughs as Lieutenant Stranger picks the girl up. Miss Lavinia laughs so hard she calls for Cilla, who waves smelling salts too close to the... (full context)

...officer helps Mr. Lyte out of the coach; the old man is clearly gravely ill. Miss Lavinia asks for Dr. Warren, since he’s the best. Then, Cilla approaches Miss Lavinia to say... (full context)

Miss Lavinia clearly doesn’t care about the silver, but Johnny approaches Cilla. Cilla explains that Mr. Lyte... (full context)

...was sent on a “little business” last night. He spent all night writing letters to Miss Lavinia ; Lydia has his torn-up attempts. (full context)

...own gun. Rab wraps his in discarded invitations and love notes that Cilla steals from Miss Lavinia . (full context)

...Lytes, though Cilla argues about this—she insists that Mrs. Lapham won’t give Isannah away to Miss Lavinia like a kitten. (full context)

Just then, Miss Lavinia appears in the doorway in a black cloak. She reveals that Mrs. Lapham is letting... (full context)

Calling him Jonathan Lyte Tremain, Miss Lavinia says that Merchant Lyte honestly thought Johnny tried to swindle him out of the cup—but... (full context)

Miss Lavinia explains that she began looking into all this when she noticed Johnny’s widow’s peak. She... (full context)