Following "Modern Woman" (1893) and the “tree of knowledge� themed paintings, Cassatt's painting "The Banjo Lesson" (1894) likewise depicted the instructive gestures which supported her belief that mothers should be someone and not something (Broude, 1.) Specifically, in "The Banjo Lesson" Cassatt depicts a mother as an instructor not only of knowledge but of culture. The daughter's closeness of gesture, leaning up to her mother's cheek, reveals how the girl is enamored by her mother and looks up to her. The daughter's hands rest appreciatively upon her mother's shoulder and her eyes follow her mother's in admiration and respect. Seen through the figure's synchronized gaze, it is easy to examine the respect the daughter maintains for her instructor. Clearly through these gestures, Cassatt is enhancing the notion of motherhood by lending it new meaning and significance as a mentor, something critics such as Broude failed to recognize in condemning Cassatt's progressive paintings as paintings of domestic patriarchal ideals. Broude proclaims that “in France, as elsewhere during the nineteenth century Paris, women were defined primarily by their maternal capacities, and motherhood within the parameters of the patriarchal family was the virtuous norm for the respectable woman� (Broude, 2.) This was something Cassatt sought to distinguish and that is why her paintings sustained significance beyond assumed domestic roles.