Louisa May Alcott: Little Women in a Man's World Essay

Freeman is able to portray Louisa in a way that relates to most women during this time. She uses quotes such as, “She had been peacefully sewing at her sitting-room window all the afternoon. Now she quilted her needle carefully into her work, which she folded precisely, and laid in a basket with her thimble and thread and scissors. Louisa Ellis could not remember that ever in her life she had mislaid one of these little feminine appurtenances, which had become, from long use and constant association, a very part of her personality” (Freeman 1322). Freeman says this to portray the typical life of a New England woman following the Civil War. She wanted to show how for many women, their professions became apart of who they were as a person. This use of language portrays the New England woman in a way that is entertaining to the reader and easy to

The wording in Little Women is really hard to understand for many of today’s eighth graders. The book was written in 1869 the wording that Louisa May Alcott uses is hard for kids to understand. Even though eighth graders are about thirteen or fourteen years old it is hard for them to comprehend the word in this time period. “ have regular hours for work and play, make each day useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well.” While this a very important quote for children to know, Many may not understand the full meaning of this quote. It also depends on how high of a reading level that eighth graders now have. If they have a low reading level they won’t understand the meaning of many things that Little Women has to say.

In most books that we read, we find there is at least one character that we can relate to or compare ourselves to. In the play, 'Inherit the Wind', I found Rachael Brown was easy to compare and contrast to myself. The setting for this play was during the mid-1900s, which allows me to find many differences with Rachael. Surprisingly, I was able to find many similarities as well.

Book Theme: In the arduous journey from childhood to adulthood, a young woman is faced with two things that need great attention and balance - the progress of her individual social standing, and the welfare of her immediate family.

Think of our society today and the role that women play in it. Women impact people’s lives every single day. In The Things They Carried, there were a couple of women that were brought up in the book, and it showed the enormous effect that the women’s presence had on the men during the war. Mary Anne and Linda were two girls who played huge roles, yet were not even the main characters. Their roles consisted mainly of altering the soldier's personalities and perspectives life during this time. The women brought about the idea of love, humanity, and strength. All of these ideas were put into major effect in the book in many ways.

Louisa May Alcott is an American Novelist best known as the author of the novel “Little Women”. Louisa was born in November 1982, grew up in Germantown- Washington D.C and was known to be an abolitionist, feminist and also a naturalist. Being a naturalist meant that she believed that nothing existed beyond the natural earth i.e. no such thing as spirituality or the supernatural. Her family suffered from financial difficulties and so Alcott had to work to support her family in an early age. She penned the story “My Contraband” (1869) which was formerly known as “The Brothers” (1863). Contraband was a black slave who escaped to or was brought within union lines (Alcott 759). In “My Contraband”, Louisa

Men did not want women that held opinions because if they thought for themselves they could defi their husbands. Men did not want woman to interrupt their work or interactions so they belittled them into thinking that they were never going to be able to live on their own or be as good as men. The women in this time period did not have lives of their own, or if they did they were considered outcasts of society. Freeman uses the story “ A New England Nun” to show that it was out of society's norm for a woman to be on their own and be able to take care of themselves. Louisa was different from all of her neighbours because of the reason of her living on her own without the help of a man and doing things out of character. Louisa lives a very prim and proper life, she needed things to be a certain way that would give her comfort “ Louisa used china every day-something which none of her neighbors did,” (Freeman). The dog in the story represents the role of women. The dog is kept chained and is thought to

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

Little Women is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888), the title of the book was meant to highlight the inferiority of women as compared to men, or, alternatively, describe the lives of simple people, "unimportant" in the social sense. This novel was written in New England during and after the American

"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.

Throughout the book entitled Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Jo March and Theodore Lawrence, or Laurie, become great friends. Although Laurie is very amicable with the whole family, undoubtedly his favorite is Jo. When Laurie ultimately decides he wants to marry Jo, she refuses his proposal. Her decision to reject him, as much as a shock as it may have been to Laurie, was very beneficial to their futures. It may very well have saved them both from a life of misery and disappointment.

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.

Feminity is different from this novel to reality with the old ways changing of women and how they work. Women have always been considered to be seen as weak but superior. There are many main characters who are women such as Mrs. Joe, Ms. Havisham, Biddy, Estella, and others. These four play major roles with Pip and how they influence him throughout the novel. The women are shown through this novel to be housewife’s while the men go to work. They are seen as women who are supposed to be cooking and taking care of the children. The women are portrayed in this book as women who don’t move from where they live or how they are confined to their homes or the role they play in the households. The men seem to have more freedom in going place to place as they see fit, while the women stay in the home to be housewives.

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.

Books, plays, and movies that depict culture and social life often make statements about social issues such as gender roles, racism, and class distinction. Stories set up a context in which characters relate, often representing “stock” characters chosen from society and placed in situations where their stereotypical behaviors—and sometimes their breaking of these stereotypes—are highlighted. As feminism became a popular movement in Western countries in general and the United States in particular, female voices were naturally heard through fictional characters. Social and political issues commonly fuel entertainment; feminism, racism, and classism—recurring themes in entertainment through the 20th Century and into the modern day—have