Feminism In Little Women By Louisa Alcott

The two passages, Breaking Tradition by Kathleen Ernest and A Family Affair by Gina DeAngelis and Lisa Ballinger, portray the changing role of women during the Civil War and World War II. Each passage shows how war transformed women’s roles in society in the 1800’s. In the 1800’s, women’s opinions and decisions were restricted during the Civil War and World War II, due to laws and traditions.

Jo March said, “I’ll try and be what he loves to call me, “a little woman,” and not be rough and wild; but do my duty here instead of wanting to be somewhere else.” Josephine ‘Jo’ March is the central character in Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women. Alcott wrote Little Women in 1868, just after the finish of the Civil War. As Jo comes of age, she learns she can still be adventurous and independent yet grow up into a little woman.

Women haven’t always had the freedom that they have today. Women were supposed to live a certain life even though sometimes they didn’t want to. They had to tend to their husbands at all time, stay home and do housework while still taking care of their children or being pregnant. Women were abused physically, emotionally, and psychologically. Although women were perceived to act and present themselves in a certain way, some young women went against the cult of the true woman hood not only to be different, but to escape he physical, emotional, and psychological abuse that they will or have encountered. In novels, The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Path and Lucy, by Jamaica Kincaid both young women have the similarity to rebel against the cult of true

“Women’s degradation is in man’s idea of his sexual rights. Our religion, laws and customs are all founded on the belief that woman was made for man” (Stanton) Believed to be one of the greatest and most influential feminists of not only her generation, but of all time, Elizabeth Cady Stanton paved the way for women and their rights in a time when they had none. Elizabeth, was one of the first feminist theorists in America and through her beliefs that women deserve equality and equal rights, she paved the way for the future of women and her effect on America is still felt today.

Due to the time period, one is raised in there are certain things that are considered to be the norm. In the late 1900’s women had no voice to speak out or give any of their opinions regarding any matters. In those types of society’s, the women are oppressed because the males were dominant. Edna Pontellier from The Awakening by Kate Chopin and Janie Crawford from Their eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston are two women who are oppressed in the society they are brought up in.

Throughout the book, Janie reveals herself as a strong feminist because she searches for love that she always desired ever since she was a little girl. As stated by Zoey Neale Hurston, the author of the book, "She had been spending every minute that she could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days. That was to say, ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery” (Hurston, 11). Janie is captivated by the blooming pear tree in her nanny’s backyard and spends as much time as she can there. She was drawn to its transformation which foreshadows a transformation within herself. For Janie Crawford, it took her three marriages to fully achieve her goal of becoming a feminist. Her

Feminist theory has been around for many years restricting women on how they behave, dress and even what jobs they are ‘allow’ to do. In the short story, “Boys and Girls”, Alice Munro portrays a young girl who is socially and psychologically undermined by her family and the sociality to show her readers how feminist theory took a toll on girls back in 1964 and still happening till this day.

The Victorian Era hailed many prolific authors, which were mostly male. A woman who wanted to be a writer at this time was not respected and would have been accused of being whimsical and flighty. However, women such as Louisa May Alcott redefined the norms and followed her heart with her pen by writing Little Women. The novel follows the lives of the four March sisters – Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March – detailing their passage from childhood to womanhood trying to find their place in society. Even though so much has changed in the last fifty years, gender roles still take a huge toll in society. Unfortunately, breaking down gender roles is not easy; as women are still

Louisa May Alcott's novel, Little Women, tries to illustrate a favorable portrait of the honourable lives that four young girls and their mother lead in their allotted roles in this patriarchal culture. The book becomes almost an instruction of how young ladies should act in order to gain respect, find husbands, and then experience happiness in their further lives. In Little Women, one of the March girls, Jo, is the most resistant to bind, this social opinion. At a very young age, Jo dislikes the restrictions put on her by being a female; "I can't get over my disappointment at not being a boy...I can only stay at home and knit like a pokey old woman" (Clark,

"Four women, taught by weal and woe To love and labor in their prime. Four sisters, parted for an hour, None lost, one only gone..." (365-366). Jo wrote these lines in a poem, after Beth died. This is the most significant struggle for Jo. Jo and Beth are the two middle sisters in the classic novel, Little Women (1869) written by Louisa May Alcott. This is a classic novel about an American family of four daughters, a father who is off at war and a mother who works for the food. Jo and Beth are best friends and Jo sets the example for Beth.

The ideal woman in the 19th century was unproductive and supported a “male literary enterprise” (Harvey 1). The same idealistic woman was found outside the market economy in the domestic space of a home, either as a wife or worker. If a woman did find work outside the rigidly defined domestic space, she was regarded as an anomaly or amateur, and was thus, undesirable (Harvey 2). It is this bit of information which describes much of the work of women in the 19th and early 20th century. Women in the 19th century and early 20th century mostly had aloof lives, or domestic type jobs, were considered abnormal if they worked outside the home, had obsolete jobs if working outside the home, and mainly used their lives to serve their male counterparts.

In some novels, women either have a trivial role or contribute to the overall meaning of the work. In some fashion, women have an obvious or underlying hand in the grand scheme of the storyline. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is centered around the character of Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth’s character in itself is the embodiment of independence and non-conformity. In every aspect and trait of Elizabeth’s being, she constantly goes against the grain of what society perceives to be proper and correct. Through the use of Elizabeth’s appearance, adherence to social status, and concept of marriage, Jane Austen paints a character that has enough strong-will to challenge the strict social rules.

Each relationship has a particular value on it, which is the main reason why individuals aim to protect their loved ones and the bond they share with other people. When people are sharing a mutual feeling on a particular element, there is a high chance that will have substantial value for their relationship, and high regard for each other. Sisterhood, which is the relationship between sisters, is one of the relationships that can lead to the formation of unbreakable bonds, with each sister making the protection of the other her number one priority. Even though the novel Little Women and the poem Goblin Market are different in regards to their primary storyline, genre and writers, they do discuss a similar theme, the value of sisterhood, in

Louisa May Alcott, best known as the author of Little Women, was an advocate of women’s rights and temperance. Published in 1868, Little Women follows the lives, loves and tribulations of three sisters growing up during American civil war. The independence of women is a major theme in Little Women. Since its publication the novel has constantly been read and remembered for its feminist spirit. Little Women examines the place of women in society by presenting the portraits of several very different but equally praiseworthy women. We experience their multifarious interpretations of femininity and we see a range of diverse possibilities for integrating women into the society.

Little Women considers the place of women in society by presenting the portraiture of several very different but equally praiseworthy women. As we read the novel, we experience their different interpretations of femininity, and we see a range of different possibilities for incorporating women into society. Because the novel was written in the mid-nineteenth century, historical setting places limits on what women can do. However, modern readers may be pleasantly astonished by the novel 's tendency to push the boundaries of women 's traditional roles. This book insists that women have a great deal to contribute, certainly to the home and domestic sphere, but also to literature, art, and an honorable society.