Little Women
If you, like many young girls, were a fan of Louisa May Alcott’s timeless classic, “Little Women,” then you may be surprised to learn of the author’s true intentions. Alcott herself was the headstrong product of a philosopher father and bedraggled mother. She used her young self as the model for Jo, and her three sisters as the inspiration for the other March sisters (Meg, Beth, and Amy). Her sweet but overburdened mother is of course the basis for Marmee. And perhaps it was her tempestuous relationship that caused her to omit a father figure from much of “Little Women.”
It is easy for us as fans of the novel to imagine that Alcott wrote it with great emotion. Certainly the book has touched young women for over a century with its lively characters and the complex relationships they share with each other. The shocking truth is that Alcott did not write “Little Women” as a nostalgic ode to her childhood, but simply to make some money. The same is true of the book’s sequel, “Good Wives.” Not only that, but she held great disdain for the girls genre the book is modeled after. The irony of course is that “Little Women” remains today one of the most successful examples of this genre.
The book centers around the aforementioned sisters and their mother as they struggle to make ends meet with their father away serving as a chaplain for the Union Army. Many critics argue that the story’s depiction of family life, and specifically of an all female household in Victorian times, is too idealistic. In truth, Alcott’s novel and its characters were quite progressive compared to the content of other popular genre pieces at the time.
Each of the girls demonstrates one outstanding character flaw. These flaws alone and the girls’ unabashed embracing of them prove that Alcott was not idealistic but if anything too liberal in the portrayal of the sisters. After all, young women at the time were expected to be without traits like vanity, selfishness, temper, or introversion (each of which was personified by a March sister). No, Victorian women were expected to pursue beauty but remain humble. They were to serve their husbands and elders without consideration to themselves. They were to be submissive in every way, and they were to remain reserved but accommodating.
In Victorian society, a family of girls like the March sisters would no doubt have been shunned, and their mother too for not raising proper ladies. Of course, it is the hallmark of fiction that lovable characters get a happy ending, and no avid young reader of “Little Women” is likely to complain about the historical discrepancies. Just like many of her fellow women authors (Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, etc), Alcott presents a female dominated story full of well-realized characters that defy social norms and still find happiness. It may be a familiar formula, but it is one few starry-eyed girls (and even women) ever tire of. Whether she intended to or not, in pursuing fame and fortune Louisa May Alcott also earned an honored place in literature as a writer capable of creating a story whose characters remain memorable and whose moral remains relevant long after the author has perished.
Alana Morgaine
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