Abstract This paper explores how "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott, has shaped the way women since the Victorian Era have defined womanhood, family, and girlhood. The novel has a sense of realism because it is based on the author's family. The paper details Alcott's experiences while writing "Little Women" and summarizes the story. The paper argues that the novel is beloved throughout time, because it is a landmark in female self-expression unique for the late-19th century literature.
Table of Contents
I. Introduction
II. Louisa May Alcott III. Synopsis
IV. Media Adaptations
V. Conclusion
From the Paper "Barely one generation after Charles Dickens had popularized the observance of Christmas, as a festive day in Protestant America, one of the most famous opening-lines in American literature became Jo March's lament, ?Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents!? Little Women (1868) is one the best loved classics of its time. Written by Louisa May Alcott this is the story of four sisters set in the nineteenth century England. Girls by the thousands, later millions, fell in love with it, and then passed it on to their daughters in turn, and so on."
Tags: louisa, may, alcott, little, women, feminism, victorian, era, 19, century, nineteenth, charles, dickens, america, literature
Abstract This paper relates the story of "Little Women" which centers around the character Jo who is Alcott's impersonation. This paper points out that Alcott uses certain symbols to heighten her message in the novel such as umbrellas, used by men to protect women from inclemencies of the outside world. The author feels that, through her works, Alcott advocates feminism, political equality and the dignity of work, represented by her feminist and psychosexual themes, which jibed with the American social reformers of her time.
From the Paper "Alcott first wrote sensational short stories from the 1840s to the 1860s, published anonymously through a pseudonym in New England periodicals. The publishers were in agreement that the characters are colorful and well conceived and the plots, tightly woven and complex. In most of her anonymous stories was a mysterious and vindictive woman who seeks to manipulate and to destroy. Alcott also includes ghosts, opium eaters and mercenaries in her series. She took advantage of writing these very popular works as means of steady income for her family. Then she wrote the series on "Little Women", which was most successful in illustrating the life-sized struggles between adolescence and maturity among the sisters. It was the novel's faithful and lifelike depiction of the March family in a realistic way and Alcott's representation of New England manners and beliefs with accuracy that brought it fame and victory. Critics ascribed its success to the organization of the novel, wherein each chapter had an entire episode with a moral commentary, as one whole treatise on adolescent psychology. These critics praised Alcott's characterization and viewed as the strongest basis for its popularity then and even now."
Abstract This paper discusses the main influence in Louisa May Alcott's life-- her parents. During the 1800s, her father was one of the major leaders of the transcendentalist movement and her mother worked for equal rights and other worthy causes of the time. Her parents' beliefs were passed on to their daughters. This paper shows how Alcott's parents influenced her writings and her life.
From the Paper "She had a decided mouth, a comical nose, and sharp, gray eyes, which appeared to see everything, and were by turns fierce, funny, or thoughtful" (Alcott, Little 14). The author of this passage, Louisa May Alcott, describes Jo, one of the characters in her novel Little Women. The character she describes in this passage is modeled after herself. The other characters in the novel depict her mother, father and sisters as they were in her own home. The novel deals with the four sisters? struggles, modeled after her own sisters and herself, of becoming women in the mid-1800s. After repeated suggestions from her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, Alcott published this autobiographical story of her family and childhood in 1868. The publication of this novel was an immediate success and made her an important American writer. Since her time, the novel has never been out of print and ranks in the top ten bestsellers of all time (Powers). Alcott's success can be traced back to the influences she had in her childhood. It is clear that Alcott's father and mother had the most influence on her success and her writings."
Abstract This paper explains that Louisa May Alcott's novel "Little Women", which is about four sisters growing up during and following the Civil War, entertains and instructs the reader about many issues such as true love, charity and family loyalty. The author points out that the most powerful comment Alcott makes throughout the book is her argument that marriage should be motivated by love and not money. The paper describes the marriages of the parents and three of the sisters to illustrate that people can be happy without money as long as they have love. The paper includes several quotations from the book.
From the Paper "All that is left is for Jo's feelings to become clear. She was never in any danger of marrying for money as appearances and finery had never held any attraction for her. She had also had the earlier chance of marrying the well-off Laurie and had turned him down because she was not in love with him. Her new suitor, Professor Bhaer, takes the chance of proposing to Jo and confessing, "It was not easy, but I could not find the heart to take you from that so happy home until I could have a prospect of one to give you, after much time, perhaps, and hard work.""
Abstract This paper will compare and contrast the book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, and seek to understand this textual relationship with the film's made on the book in 1933 and 1994.
Abstract This paper discusses some of the writings of Louisa May Alcott, which are some of the most widely read and reproduced of any early American author. The paper looks at her writings that are described as children's literature, for which she is most famous and then focuses on her writing that was published under a pseudonym. The paper describes the connections between the two seemingly incongruent voices of her literature published under her name and that published under a pseudonym.
From the Paper "Louisa May Alcott, recently recognized more appropriately as a critic of her time has become even more widely read and popular as a result of the recognition of her pseudonyms. Alcott had a message, not unlike those who came before her, the Mary Wollstonecraft of her day, that the position of people needed to be analyzed and she utilized her pen to do so. (Johnson ii) Within the work she gives her protagonist the power to influence people, almost to a point that she is a mesmerist, the incongruence of these two feared but real characteristics of women give the character a valid representation of female power, in its feared and real state. (Gaul 835)"
Abstract This English composition essay examines the way the family's poverty in Louisa May Alcott's novel, "Little Women" reflects Alcott's childhood poverty and the implications of her transcendental lessons on that poverty.
Abstract Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" is a fictionalized, autobiographical story. Though she loosely bases the characters on herself and her three sisters, there are differences among them. This paper examines the four sisters and their roles in the family and society, as well as parallels to Alcott's actual life. After analyzing the characters, the paper takes a look at the discrepancies between the film versions and the novel itself.
From the Paper "Jo March appears to be Louisa May Alcott's alter ego in the novel Little Women. Louisa May Alcott's biography bears this idea out. Like the fictional character Jo, Alcott was considered a tomboy. On the Orchard House web site, the site of Alcott's home, attests to her tomboyishness; "no boy could be my friend till I had beaten him in a race," she [Louisa] claimed, " and no girl if she refused to climb trees, leap fences...."" Early in the first chapter of Little Women, Alcott introduces Jo as a tomboy, ""Poor Jo! It's too bad, but it can't be helped. So you must try to be contented with making your name boyish, and playing brother to us girls," said Beth" (Alcott, Chapter 1). Another other obvious similarity between Alcott and Jo, is their love of writing, which goes hand in hand with both being bookworms (Alcott, Chapter 1). Alcott's biography states that she spent her early days with visits to Ralph Waldo Emerson's library and "excursions into the nature with Henry David Thoreau" (Louisa May Alcott). Alcott, using the pseudonym A.M. Barnard, wrote the sensational stories as did Jo in order to supplement the family income and both found joy in making their family's life easier.. In Kim Wells? masters thesis, she describes the works as "gothic potboilers" filled with feminist femme fatales and "smut (at least by Victorian standards)." "
Abstract In this essay, the writer looks at the book "Little Men" and also looks at the influences on the author Louisa May Alcott. The writer points out that the Alcotts, both father and daughter, lived in an exciting time in history, when liberalism was a nascent concept. In this article, the writer studies the novel "Little Men" and maintains that it is a correlation of true-life experience and the "Plumfield School" is built on the ideals and premises with which the author's father experimented at his Boston Temple School. Further, the writer notes that although 'Little Men' is a condensed, highly idealized tale, it reflects the romanticism inherent in transcendentalism. The writer concludes that although Little Men seems sugar-coated by today's standards, it reflects an important movement in education that, in some modified form, could be useful for today's students.
From the Paper "For Little Men, Alcott borrows some characters from her famous book, Little Women, who have now grown up and gone on to live their ideals. The fortunate children at Jo Bhaer's Plumfield School are mostly boys, as well as Jo's own children and her twin niece and nephew. The school also serves as a dormitory, and the children go to their homes only for an occasional visit. Alcott does a fascinating job of attributing a unique personality to each of the children: One is very focused on earth science and botany, one child is mentally slow, one is very pious, one is highly talented in music, one is obsessed with the ocean, one is hot-tempered, one comes from the streets and knows too much about stealing and cursing, one is a food-addict, one loves to cook. Each child in Jo's school is given the opportunity to explore to the fullest his or her own particular talents and interests, including business deals among the boys and a small working kitchen for little Daisy."
From the Paper "Louisa May Alcott was a true "modern" American of the late 1800?s, influenced by and embodying the beliefs of some of the strongest people and trends of her time, and managing to create her own long-lasting influence on American culture through her writing. The universal appeal of her characters allows her books to continue to influence readers today, as she brings to them knowledge of the realities of her life, as well as her beliefs regarding family, transcendentalism, women's suffrage, and abolition. Trends of the day, such as these, affected her greatly and made their imprint upon her work, which in turn immortalized those trends through its unending popularity."
Abstract Both Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, written in 1911, and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, written in 1868, have remained among the most read and best loved children's classics for decades.
From the Paper "Both Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, written in 1911, and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, written in 1868, have remained among the most read and best loved children's classics for decades. Although both novels are set in the times in which they were written and therefore do not provide modern readers with an intimately familiar setting, the characters and values the novels present are as real and as relevant today as they were when first created, and it is this quality which charms children of the 1990's as much as it charmed their great-grandparents. This research will explore the similarities between The Secret Garden and Little Women and identify the factors which make them such enduring children's classics.
One reason the books likely remain so popular is that both of them feature strong, independent-minded girls as their central ..."
Abstract This paper discusses the similarities between Lilly in Edith Wharton's novel, "The House of Mirth" and Jo in Louisa May Alcott's novel, "Little Women". The paper explains that in the beginning of these stories, both women have very clear ideas of what they think will bring them happiness and success. The paper claims that by the end of each novel, each woman discovers, through experience and maturity, that what they once believed to be true was no longer so.
From the Paper "The experience of life fosters maturity and certain realizations that are almost always a surprise. Two literary female characters that demonstrate how this notion operates is Jo March from Louisa May Alcott's novel, Little Women and Lily Bart in Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth. In the beginning of these stories, both women have very clear ideas of what they think will bring them happiness and success. However, by the end of each novel, each woman discovers, through experience and maturity, that what they once believed to be true was true no longer. In Little Women, Jo discovers that her success lies in being a wife and a mother. In The House of Mirth, Lily realizes that marrying a rich and successful man will not bring her the happiness she longs for."
Abstract The paper discusses how American literature is filled with examples of the American impulse toward self-analysis, especially within autobiographical writings. The paper explores the idea of analyzing one's life, as contained within various works of 17th and 18th century American literature. The paper draws examples from two authors from the Puritan/Colonial Period; Mary Rowlandson and Jonathan Edwards, two authors from the Enlightenment period; Benjamin Franklin and Olaudah Equiano and one author from the Romantic Period; Louisa May Alcott.
From the Paper "In her autobiographical account of being captured, along with her young children, and mistreated by Indians "The Narrative of the Captivity and the Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson" (1682), the author states, self-reflectively, at the beginning of her narrative: "Oh, I may see the wonderful power of God, that my Spirit did not utterly sink under my affliction: still the Lord upheld me with His gracious and merciful spirit, and we were both alive to see the light of the next morning. Rowlandson's quest for self-analysis and self-revelation in this account centers on her relationship with God, before, during, and after her ordeal, and explores how the painful events she describes have in fact helped her to better understand her relationship to God."
Abstract The paper examines how Louisa May Alcott explores issues of class status including issues concerning the wealthy and the poor in her work, "The Inheritance". The paper focuses on the life of the protagonist, Edith Adelon, born into what many would consider the lower class and eventually works her way into nobility. The paper calls it a typical tale of rags to riches. The paper concludes that, while class and status do have some role in society, they will never have a more important role than being a lovable character, such as Edith.
From the Paper "Next comes the lower or "servant" class. Louisa May Alcott may fall into this class too, because she did serve her tenure during part of her life as a servant; many may consider her work as a writer of The Inheritance and of other books including Little Women enough to categorize her as "working" class or as "middle" class depending on whom you talk too. The same could be said of Edith. While she was taken in by the Hamilton's and lived much of her life in a way that suited them because she was eventually treated as their servant, she nonetheless did have some liberties, although few are outlined in the start of The Inheritance. Edith was not however, without money. This is the sole point that one may argue, makes her indistinguishable. The nobility are assumed to be part of the aristocracy. They have money because they are "born" into it and thus they have privileges that may include marrying the cream of the crop in society."
A psychoanalytic study of whether the protagonist surrenders her integrity in order to achieve happiness and success in the novella and whether she is an hysteric.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 6 sources, 2000, $ 47.95
From the Paper "This study will psychoanalyze the integrity of Jean Muir's happiness and success in Louisa May Alcott's novella Behind A Mask; or, A Woman's Power. The question is whether Jean surrenders all of her integrity, or even all of her true identity, in performing the various roles she plays as a governess, an actress, and an engaged woman, in order to achieve that success. The answer is that she may have lost some or much of her integrity, or even her identity in her reliance on the masks of her different roles, but in order to achieve success in the patriarchal, deception-ridden society in which she lives, she makes the choice to do whatever she has to do. This answer can only be appreciated if the reader accepts the world as portrayed by Alcott, and believes, as this reader does, that Alcott means Jean's tactics to be a sign of necessary strength, and not..."
