In The Rise of Silas Lapham, the eldest daughter Penelope represents the intelligent but discreet romantic woman. Like many heroines, Penelope finds herself in the awkward situation of being in the middle of a love triangle. Although their respective families believe that Tom would be better suited to his sister Irene, described as "innocent" and incredibly attractive, it is Penelope that Tom chooses as his wife. Like many literary heroines, Penelope tries to end her love affair, as a sign of self-sacrifice, but she ends up agreeing to marry Tom. Penelope is quite unusual for a character in 19th-century American literature in that she is intelligent and bookish, and, more importantly, frank and witty. She is depicted realistically; she is not written as a standard single-faceted character like the virginal maiden or the fallen whore. Howells writes Penelope as his version of the new type of woman who was rapidly emerging in the late 1800s. Women were quickly flourishing: they were leaving a life of abject domestic servitude through marriage and becoming more educated and more liberated. Penelope, as a character, represents the social change in the role of women and their increasing importance. The romantic hero, by definition, is one who rejects and has been rejected by the established norms and conventions of his society. Penelope embodies this definition because she does not submit to the demands of her socially disadvantaged family and avoids seeking a romantic partner; Penelope is happier to be alone enjoying the great literature of the moment. It is Tom's progressive views that ultimately represent a shift in how women are viewed in history. Tom doesn't... middle of paper ... l, because she chooses to live her life for herself, rather than for the socially accepted masses. Penelope was encouraged by her family to marry Tom as a way to improve her position in society, although this ultimately leads to her leaving her family, and the society the Laphams aspire to be accepted into, to move to Mexico. One of Tom's sisters said: "As [Penelope] is quite poorly formed socially, there is a chance that she will be trained in the Spanish way, if she stays there long enough, and that on her return she will have the charm of, not olives, perhaps, but tortillas, whatever they are: something strange and foreign, even if it's borrowed. (373) Although Tom seems happy to be with Penelope, he cannot reconcile the differences between his family and his own. Like the tortillas, Penelope becomes something strange, foreign and borrowed..