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Essay / A thought on the book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning to sail my ship. » (Louisa May Alcott, Little Women). This is a quote from the character Amy March in Louisa May Alcott's classic novel, Little Women. I first fell in love with Little Women when I read it with my mother in elementary school. I then had to reread it for a high school assignment and recently reread the novel ahead of the latest film adaptation in December. Little Women is one of my favorite books of all time and I hope this talk gives you a better understanding of what has made this story stand the test of time. It was published in 1868 and 150 years later this book continues to be a cultural phenomenon. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Little Women was revered and gained excessive popularity as it appealed to the masses by following the lives of four young sisters through a realistic and vaguely biographical lens. Unlike most of the wild and sensationalist stories circulating at this time, Little Women follows rather ordinary events, but explores relevant and timeless themes. The book begins with the four sisters, Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth, in their teenage years and follows them into adulthood. Although some argue that the book is slow and unspectacular, as a reader you will quickly fall in love with the sometimes strained but deeply honest relationships between the sisters. The book explores the trials that many teenagers face, such as love, jealousy, conforming to society and finding their own identity. Perhaps the reason Little Women doesn't seem like just another silly story is that it's based on the real life of Louisa May Alcott. Each of the sisters in the novel is based on one of Alcott's own sisters and the character of Jo is actually based on Alcott herself. One of the themes that I think made the book so realistic is that by the end of the story, each of the girls' lives turned out to be very different from what one might have expected . Many of them had to sacrifice some of their childhood ideals or dreams, but each of them eventually found a sense of contentment in their own lives. As a reader, I always sympathized with the character of Jo, who felt constrained by the expectations placed on her and felt an irresistible desire to make something of herself. Knowing that the book was based on Alcott's own feelings about his life made me identify with the character even more. Little Women was revolutionary because it reflected the daily struggles of growing up and Louisa May Alcott allowed each reader to feel their own personal experiences. Not only was this book amazing for its realistic style, but it was also notable for its early feminist themes. Little Women was a groundbreaking novel that began to tell and unravel the expectations placed on women and gave them an honest voice that they had often not possessed. within literature. Little Women was ahead of its time in that it challenged common notions and ideals of what a woman should be. Little Women was one of the first highly popular novels to focus solely on the lives of young girls. In September 2018, Alice George of Smithsonian Magazine quoted Louisa May Alcott herself as saying that the idea of writing a book for girls was "stifling" to her, as she never got along well with many girls. Little Women was popularized not only as a story for girls,.