Little Women By Louisa May Alcott

During the nineteenth century, women had few rights, and were often objectified by men. An ideal woman was subservient to her husband, had plenty of children, and was not expected to work outside the home. As the Victorian era progressed, some women

Women in the nineteenth century lived in a time characterized by gender inequality. At the beginning of the century, women could not vote, could not be sued, were extremely limited over personal property after marriage, and were expected to remain obedient to their husbands and fathers.( women’s suffrage movement 1) In most situations, the men would have to go to work and bring home the money, and the women would have no choice but to stay home, clean the

For the longest time, women’s role in society was very narrow and set in stone. Women weren’t given the chance to decide life for their own, and there was a very sharp distinction of gender roles. Women were viewed as inferior, weak, and dependant. They were expected to be responsible for the family and maintainance of the house. But as the 19th century began, so did a drastic change in society. Women started voicing their opinions and seeking change. Trying to break away from this ideology called “cult of domesticity” was a lengthy, burdensome, and demanding struggle.

Women were confronted by many social obligation in the late nineteenth century. Women were living lives that reflected their social rank. They were expected to be economically dependent and legally inferior. No

The article, The Cult of Womanhood: 1820 - 1860 written by Barbara Welter discusses the philosophy towards women in America during the mid 19th century. A set of demands and expectations based upon four principles: piety, purity, submission and domesticity were placed on women as well as certain behavioral expectations left 19th century women feeling guilty. It also left women feeling this way during the industrialization period as well as having a huge presence of incompatibility with society. Welter shares her viewpoint that the Cult of Womanhood was an attempt to preserve pre modern values in the industrial age. Men held a dominant place in society and continued to prevent new opportunities for women to explore. Narrow minded

The next requirement for being a “true woman” was submissiveness. According to society men were superior to women by “God’s appointment.” If they acted otherwise they “tampered with the order of the Universe” (Welter 105). A “true woman” would not question this idea because she already understands her place. Grace Greenwood explained to the women of the Nineteenth Century, “True feminine genius is ever timid, doubtful, and clingingly dependant; a perpetual childhood.” Even in the case of an abusive husband, women were sometimes told to stay quiet

Before 1939, the “ideal woman” was the devoted housewives whose sole purposes in life was to be devoted to her husband, raise the children, and keep a tidy house. However, all

First and foremost, prior to the 19th century, women lived in a patriarchal system in which their views were constantly ignored and ridiculed. They were denied rights that made it difficult for them to gain any opportunity to perform outside their home. The stereotype in which their gender held at the time made them inferior to men. The “Culture of Domesticity” was the term used to describe a set of beliefs about women and gender roles in America and Great Britain (Cummings 1). The set of beliefs described that since men were busy working, women should be at home. An aspect of the Culture of Domesticity describes the ideal woman. This ideal woman, also called “True Woman”, must uphold “4 main principles: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity” (Cummings 1). The combination of these principles expected a woman to be supportive

During the early 1800's women were stuck in the Cult of Domesticity. Women had been issued roles as the moral keepers for societies as well as the nonworking house-wives for families. Also, women were considered unequal to their male companions legally and socially. However, women’s efforts during the 1800’s were effective in challenging traditional intellectual, social, economical, and political attitudes about a women’s place in society.

Thesis: A “true women” in the 19th Century was one who was domestic, religious, and chaste. These were virtues established by men but enforced and taught by other women. Women were also told that they were inferior to men and they should accept it and be grateful that someone just loved them.

In the early nineteenth century, women were expected to be, “‘angels in the house,’ loving, self-sacrificing, and chaste wives, mothers and daughters or they are… ultimately doomed” (King et al. 23). Women of this time were supposed to be domestic creatures and not tap so far into their intellectual abilities (King et al.). The role of women in the nineteenth century is described:

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,

Louisa Alcott’s novel Little Women is posed during the Civil War. There are four girls: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. They live with their mother while their father is away fighting in the war. Little Women displays many themes. However, feminism is one of the important themes displayed. During the Civil War, women were expected to get married, and while Jo portrays feminism, she gets married in the end of the novel. This aspect demonstrates that even though someone wants to change the way something is, it cannot be completely changed because of society’s ideals. In Alcott’s novel Little Women, the author uses Jo to demonstrate femininity through the use of dialogue, imagery, and behavior.

"If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, together women ought to be able to turn it right side up again."

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.