In the end, because Mary Cassatt was never a mother herself, it would seem more reasonable to view her work through the eyes of a daughter. Cassatt understands a child's need of guidance and support through an impressionable time and recognizes the importance of a mentor. Investigated by Nancy Mathews, Mary Cassatt, “imbued with a cosmopolitan outlook from childhood,…surrounded herself with men and women who, like her looked beyond accepted truths� (Mathews, 6.) Clearly, Cassatt placed great importance on the influential people who surrounded her as a child and this significance of a mentor is reflected through her paintings. She looked beyond the “accepted truths� of women as domestic slaves. Rather, Cassatt painted and advertised the importance of a maternal role model. Cassatt recognized the mother as a key role model and one who is able to teach knowledge and instill morality, which are essential roles in society. Through her late nineteenth-century paintings of women and children, Cassatt represents the role women can accomplish in order to help their children grow. In Mathews study on Mary Cassatt he points out that is was “because of her keen intelligence and humanity,� (Mathews (2), 26) that she was able to encourage women back to the home, an act she considered essential in order to help the family growth France. Mathews recognizes that “in light of the difficulty women have in fixing a firm position in the history of their age, this is an extraordinary achievement worthy of an extraordinary woman� (Mathews (2), 26.) Mathews statement is accurate and it is clear that through her paintings Cassatt was able to impact Paris in a positive way by bringing importance back to the revered role of a mother and fusing the family structure back together.