Topic > Analysis of "Little Women" as a feminist novel

Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott composed shortly after the Civil War in light of a publisher's interest in one novel, which was initially released in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, as two books. Little Women transcends many of the gender stereotypical ideals of the nineteenth century. In Little Women, Alcott challenged society's clichéd meaning of stereotypical gender roles and pushed the limits of the expectations that were placed on both women and men to conform to society's standards. Alcott wanted his writings to speak to the injustices faced by humanity and urge society to end such compulsion. Alcott breaks numerous stereotypes by giving two of his main characters, Jo and Laurie, names that would normally mean someone of the opposite sex. Additionally, Alcott uses Beth's death to represent the death of the perfect woman. In doing so, Alcott challenges the notion that such a position is the primary worthy female lifestyle. Finally, the Jo person changes to the maximum, becoming more feminine and much less tomboyish, ceasing to be unconventional. Alcott's surprising advancement of Jo's individuality affirms that women can be more effectively married and feminine, but also happily impartial and self-sufficient. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In addition to granting her literary acclaim, feminist research has mentioned Alcott's function in promoting liberal feminist ideas. These values ​​supported equality within girls' homes as well as in the public sphere, manifested in the rights to self-actualization, work, and voting. Alcott's vision, as reflected in Little Women, became the creation of a democratic home in which both sexes could free themselves from gender stereotypes. In this way, women could work and participate in political lifestyles, and men could be partners in running the home, raising and educating children together with women. This is a female initiation novel that follows March's four daughters as they become functioning residents of society, enjoying their feminine and spiritual duties. They are girls on the home front, in their families, just as their father is on the front, fighting for the North in the American Civil War. These are women in waiting, waiting for their destiny partner, who try to be "good" and "obedient" in line with the Protestant values ​​that the book proposes. They are said to receive the spatial enclosure that characterizes their lives and transform their domestic entitlement into a vibrant world, a space of love, benevolence and support. Alcott's well-rounded portrayal, however, of flawed girls, the notably ambitious and independent, tomboy Jo, as well as her exceptional resistance to the conventional "marriage plot" of her time, gave the novel an enduring, if conflicted, dating with feminist thought.If Little Woman has a radical and rebellious spirit it is incorporated into the image of Jo March. Jo is a fun, witty tomboy with a wild personality, a powerful will, and a furious desire to become a writer. Jo is defined at the beginning of Little Women as a person with "gentlemanly" manners. She tells her sisters that she has no desire to "stay at home and knit, like an old lady!" but fight in the civil war with his father. In Little Women, Marxist feminism shows that a woman's conception of herself is the result of her social life and is mainly determined by the type of workwhich plays due to Jo March's tomboyish perception of herself as a boy who could replace her father when her father was in the service, she worked hard to help her mother raise money to bring bread to her family. “I'm the eldest,” Meg began, but Jo interrupted her firmly, “I'm the man of the family now Daddy's away. In the novel, Marxist feminism suggests that the characters show the price of women's work and encourage greater equality and capitalism is the purpose of oppression of women which is represented through the function of individual positions within the novel Alcott decided to write a novel that offered more choices for women than for marriage and children Meg is engaged to the conclusion of the first part, but all the women are still single. Alcott tried to show that the girls had their whole lives ahead of them, and especially Jo, they will not adhere to the traditional "marriage plot". part of its writers and editors, Alcott published the second volume of the book, which describes all the women who meet more traditional domestic fates Meg married and soon became pregnant, Amy married Laurie, a boy next door, and Jo married the Professor Bhaer, a rather elderly man, and eventually gave birth to two baby girls. The only sister who did not marry is Becky, who died at an early age. In many ways, the second volume directly contradicts Alcott's desire to avoid the "marriage plot". Alcott tended to be a radical throughout the second volume, mainly by refusing to marry Jo and Laurie. Laurie described him as a traditional romantic character. But rather, as Laurie proposes, Jo denies all standard romantic ideals to preserve her freedom and identity. She states that she does not want to marry, as she "loves freedom too much to be in a hurry to give it up for any mortal man." And even though she loves Laurie, she is not ready to give up her desire to be a "real wife" for him: after a while you will get over all this, and you will find some lovely experienced girl, who will adore you, and make a good impression. mistress of your beautiful home. I shouldn't. I'm a plain, awkward, strange fellow, and you'd be ashamed of me, and we'd have to fight - we can't help it even now, you see - and I shouldn't like posh society and you'd like it, and you... I hate my scribbles , and I couldn't help it, and we would have been miserable, and we wish we hadn't done it, and it would all be horrible! Alcott had not wanted to marry Jo at all, by all accounts. But she did it in the least traditional way possible, because her hand was forced. For a 19th century novel Bhaer himself is not a standard romantic interest. He is Jo's senior by about fifteen years, has a dramatized German accent and terrible table manners. He can't get down on one knee while proposing to her in a rainstorm because the ground is so muddy and because his hands are full he can't give her his physical hand. Jo looked "far from beautiful" at the time, when she was soaked to the ground and the rain ruined her clothes. And then: "Mr. Bhaer thought you the most beautiful woman alive, and she found him more 'Jupiter-like' than ever, though the brim of his hat was rather floppy with little streams running down his shoulders... and every finger of her gloves needed mending. Worrying about Jo's decision to get married is her overall character arc, which sees her transform from a "wild" girl into a gentle, "feminine" version of herself. But instead, when Beth becomes ill, Jo begins a profound change and "sees the nature of Beth's grace and warmth.".