Mrs. Lapham Character Analysis in Johnny Tremain

Mrs. Lapham is Mr. Lapham’s daughter-in-law. She has four daughters, Madge, Dorcas, Cilla, and Isannah, and she manages her father-in-law’s apprentices as well. A coarse, thick woman who’s very loud, Johnny appreciates Mrs. Lapham but doesn’t like her much. Mrs. Lapham is extremely interested in securing her family’s future, so she encourages Johnny to work on the Sabbath so he can finish John Hancock’s sugar basin on time. When this backfires and Johnny burns his hand, rendering him unable to work silver, Mrs. Lapham becomes cold and cruel to him—she uses the same mean names for Johnny as Johnny once used against his fellow apprentices. She also begins entertaining a Mr. Tweedie to become Mr. Lapham’s business partner and marry one of her daughters—though ultimately, she marries him herself. All of this leads Johnny to hate Mrs. Lapham. It’s only after he’s been out of the Lapham house for a while that Johnny can appreciate how hard Mrs. Lapham works for her family, making sure everyone is fed and that there’s enough money coming through the silver shop to support everyone.

Mrs. Lapham Quotes in Johnny Tremain

The Johnny Tremain quotes below are all either spoken by Mrs. Lapham or refer to Mrs. Lapham. 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:

Fetching water, sweeping, helping in the kitchen, tending the annealing furnace in the shop were the unskilled work the boys did. Already Johnny was so useful at the bench he could never be spared for such labor. It was over a year since he had carried charcoal or a bucket of water, touched a broom or helped Mrs. Lapham brew ale. His ability made him semi-sacred. He knew his power and reveled in it. He could have easily made friends with stupid Dove, for Dove was lonely and admired Johnny as well as envied him. Johnny preferred to bully him.

Related Characters: Johnny Tremain, Dove, Mr. Lapham, Mrs. Lapham, Dusty Miller

Page Number and Citation: 4-5

Explanation and Analysis:

Even Mrs. Lapham now did not seem so bad. Poor woman, how she had struggled and worked for that good, plentiful food, the clean shirts her boys had worn, the scrubbed floors, polished brass! No, she had never been the ogress he had thought her a year ago. There never had been a single day when she had not been the first up in the morning. He, like a child, had thought this was because she liked to get up. Now he realized that there must have been many a day when she was as anxious to lie abed as Dove himself.

Related Characters: Johnny Tremain, Dove, Mrs. Lapham

Page Number and Citation: 173

Explanation and Analysis:

Mrs. Lapham Character Timeline in Johnny Tremain

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

...ring, hundreds of sleepy women wake their households. In a little house on Fish Street, Mrs. Lapham stands at the bottom of the attic ladder, shouting for Johnny to get Dove and... (full context)

...Mr. Lapham is still in his bedroom reading the Bible, and in the other bedroom, Mrs. Lapham ’s daughter Cilla is brushing little Isannah’s hair. As they do every morning, Cilla and... (full context)

Patriotism and the Revolutionary War Theme Icon

...can have the sugar basin done by Monday. Mr. Lapham starts to refuse, but seeing Mrs. Lapham peeking into the shop excitedly, Johnny interjects and tells Mr. Hancock they can get it... (full context)

...Mr. Hancock doesn’t get his silver on time. Shaking, Johnny goes into the kitchen where Mrs. Lapham , Dorcas, Cilla, and Isannah are cooking. Johnny shares what happened. In a whisper, Mrs.... (full context)

...are going well on Sunday afternoon. Johnny prepares to cast his handles with Dove and Mrs. Lapham ’s help. When asked, Dove fetches a crucible—but he grabs one that’s cracked. It’d serve... (full context)

...of Johnny’s hand. Johnny’s thumb and palm have grown together. Dorcas screeches in horror, while Mrs. Lapham says that it’s a shame Johnny is “ruined.” Leaping up, Johnny jams his hand into... (full context)

5. At first, Mrs. Lapham humors Johnny and lets him stay in the birth and death room. The only problem... (full context)

...can’t keep his bargain anymore, since he can’t teach a “cripple-handed boy” to work silver. Mrs. Lapham , he continues, thinks it’s ridiculous to keep Johnny when the family is so poor,... (full context)

...idea what he’s even asking to do. He never goes home for dinner, especially once Mrs. Lapham begins negotiating with a Mr. Tweedie to become Mr. Lapham’s business partner. Cilla often slips... (full context)

...was in charge. In a voice loud enough for Mr. Tweedie to hear, Johnny tells Mrs. Lapham that Mr. Tweedie is a terrible man who’s probably just “somebody’s spinster aunt dressed up... (full context)

...been arrogant, but it used to show up in his pride in his work. Now, Mrs. Lapham is convinced that Johnny is engaging in criminal activity—and some passersby think the same. Johnny... (full context)

...Cilla a book about martyrs and pastel crayons. He happily enters the Lapham kitchen, but Mrs. Lapham is annoyed and accuses him of stealing his shoes. Once she’s gone to tell Mr.... (full context)

...up after dawn, feeling entirely at peace. Will he be calling Merchant Lyte “Grandpa” later? Mrs. Lapham will be shocked when Johnny drives up in the Lytes’ coach. Johnny will take Cilla... (full context)

...comfortable future as he walks to the Laphams’ house. He’d hoped to sneak in, but Mrs. Lapham calls him into the kitchen. There, she says that Mr. Lapham won’t let her kick... (full context)

...Laphams’ earlier; Johnny was signed to Mr. Lapham as “Johnny Tremain,” not “Jonathan Lyte Tremain.” Mrs. Lapham also insisted that Johnny owned nothing, while Mr. Tweedie insisted Johnny is “evil.” With this,... (full context)

...showed it to Cilla on July 3rd, and though he’s sure she’ll vouch for him, Mrs. Lapham won’t. The next day, Rab returns: Mr. Lyte has ordered silver from the Laphams and... (full context)

...to marry Cilla. Johnny protests that Cilla is only 15, but Cilla continues her story. Mrs. Lapham didn’t like the idea of Cilla marrying Mr. Tweedie, so when Miss Lavinia Lyte stopped... (full context)

...hate Dove so strongly. Mr. Lapham recently died. Johnny remembers the man fondly, and even Mrs. Lapham doesn’t seem so bad now. These days, Johnny realizes that she wasn’t mean—she was just... (full context)

...he finds Madge in a tiny British sergeant’s arms. Madge laughs (she’s glad Johnny isn’t Mrs. Lapham ) and introduces Johnny to Sergeant Gale. Johnny takes a seat as Madge explains that... (full context)

...orchard, catching up on the Lapham family gossip: Madge ran off with Sergeant Gale, so Mrs. Lapham married Mr. Tweedie herself. She’s Mrs. Maria Tweedie now, which isn’t so bad—a girl has... (full context)

...to go. Izzy will go with the 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 her take Isannah, who appears from behind Miss Lavinia’s skirts. Cilla gently tells... (full context)