-
Essay / 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 a novel, initially distributed in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, in two books. Little Women transcends many of the gender stereotypes of the 19th century. In Little Women, Alcott challenged the clichéd meaning of stereotypical gender roles in society and pushed the boundaries of expectations placed on women and men to conform to society's standards. Alcott wanted his writings to expose the injustices suffered by humanity and urge society to end this constraint. Alcott breaks many stereotypes by giving two of his main characters, Jo and Laurie, names that would typically mean someone of the opposite sex. Alcott also uses Beth's disappearance to represent the death of the perfect woman. In doing so, Alcott challenges the idea that such a position constitutes a woman's primary dignified way of life. Eventually, the Jo person changes as much as possible, becoming extra feminine and much less tomboyish thanks to stopping being unconventional. Alcott's surprising advancement of Jo's individuality affirms that women can be more effectively married and feminine, but also happily impartial and autonomous. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In addition to granting her literary fame, feminist scholarship has mentioned Alcott's role in advancing liberal feminist ideas. These values advocated equality within girls' homes as well as in the public sphere, manifested in the rights to personal development, work, and voting. Alcott's vision, as reflected in Little Women, evolved into the creation of a democratic home where both sexes could shed gender stereotypes. In this way, women could work and participate in politics and men could be partners in running the household, raising and educating children alongside women. This is a women's coming-of-age novel that follows the four March girls as they become functional residents of society, fulfilling their feminine and spiritual duties. They are girls on the home front, in their homes, even though their father is on the front lines, fighting for the North in the American Civil War. They are ladies in waiting, waiting for their destiny partner, trying to be “good” and “obedient” in accordance with the Protestant values advocated by the book. They would be equipped with the spatial enclosure that characterizes their lives and would make their domestic law a vibrant world, a space of love, kindness and support. However, Alcott's comprehensive portrayal of flawed girls, particularly the independent and ambitious tomboy Jo, as well as her exceptional resistance to the conventional "marriage plot" of her time, gave the novel an enduring, if conflicted, relationship that dates back to feminist thought. If Little Woman has a radical and rebellious spirit, it is anchored in the image of Jo March. Jo is a fun, witty tomboy with a wild personality, a powerful will, and a burning desire to be a novelist. Jo is defined at the beginning of Little Women as having a "gentleman" attitude. She tells her sisters that she has no desire to “stay at home and knit, like a grotesque old woman!” » but fight in the civil war with their 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 typework she does due to Jo March's tomboyish perception of herself as a man who could replace her father when her father was in service, she worked hard to help her mother raise money in order to to provide for the needs of his family. “I'm the eldest,” Meg began, but Jo interrupted decisively: “I'm the man of the family. family now, dad is away. In the novel, Marxist feminism suggests that the characters flaunting the price of women's labor and encouraging greater equality and capitalism are the goal of women's oppression which is depicted through the function of individual positions in the novel . Alcott decided to write a novel that offered women more choices than just marriage and babies. Meg is engaged at the end of part one, but all the women are still single. Alcott tried to show that the girls had their whole lives ahead of them, and in particular Jo, would not buy into the traditional "marriage plot". After facing much criticism from her writers and editors, Alcott published the book's second volume, which depicted all women facing more traditional domestic fates. Meg married and quickly became pregnant, Amy married Laurie, a boy next door, and Jo married Professor Bhaer, a rather elderly man, and eventually gave birth to two daughters. The only sister who did not marry was Becky, who died at one year old. young age. In many ways, the second volume directly contradicts Alcott's desire to avoid the "marriage plot." Alcott tended to be radical throughout the second volume, mainly in refusing to marry Jo and Laurie. Laurie portrayed him as a traditional romantic character. But as Laurie suggests, Jo denies all standard romantic ideals to preserve her freedom and identity. She claims that she does not want to marry, because she "loves liberty too much to be in a hurry to give it up for a mortal." And even if she loves Laurie, she is not ready to give up her desire to be a "good wife" for him: you will get over it after a while, you will find a pretty, accomplished girl, who will 'll love it, and get a good deal. mistress of your beautiful house. I shouldn't. I am simple and clumsy and strange, and you would be ashamed of me, and we would have to quarrel – there is nothing we can do about it, even now, you see – and I would not like elegant society and you would like it, And you. I would hate my doodles, and I couldn't live without them, and we would be unhappy, and wish we hadn't done it, and everything would be horrible! Alcott hadn't really wanted to marry Jo, obviously. But she did it in the most untraditional way possible, because her hand was forced. For a 19th century novel, Bhaer himself does not represent a standard romantic interest. He is Jo's senior by around fifteen years, he has a dramatic German accent and terrible table manners. He can't get down on his knees like he suggests to her during a storm because the ground is so muddy and because his hands are full, he can't lend her his physical hand. Jo looked "far from beautiful" at the moment, as she is drenched in dirt and the rain ruins her clothes. And then, "Mr. Bhaer considered her the most beautiful woman alive, and she found him more 'Jupiter-like' than ever, even though the brim of his hat was quite soft with the little grooves running from there over his shoulders …and every finger on his gloves needed repair. More troubling than Jo's decision to marry is her overall character arc, which sees her transform into a gentle "feminine" version of herself from a spirited "wild" girl. But at.