The Well of Loneliness

“[H]er spirit grew with a mighty new courage, because a man-child would be born.”

This quote refers to how Anna felt when she believed she would give birth to a son, not a daughter. It shows the association in her culture between courage and masculinity. Having courage is a cause of concern for Stephen throughout the book, and her possession of this quality is one of the ways she defies society’s rigid conception of gender norms. 

“[S]he hated the way Stephen moved or stood still, hated a certain largeness about her, a certain crude lack of grace.”

Anna has these thoughts about Stephen when Stephen is seven years old. The specifics she lists here are all a result of Stephen’s resemblance to Sir Philip. The quote shows the deep-seated disgust Anna feel towards her daughter and implies that she feels this way because her daughter does not conform to gender stereotypes.

“Stephen first became conscious of an urgent necessity to love.”

At seven, Stephen has this revelation. The quote shows that Stephen has a deep sense of unanswered desire, even at an early age. Her “urgent necessity to love” drives her actions for the rest of the book.