Little women by Lousia May Alcott is a classic book about four women who live in poverty but are still kind and compassionate. The main characters are Meg, jo, Beth, and Amy while their mother is named Marmee. Their father is working to support their family along with other members of the family that also work. The four girls have different personalities, Meg is vain. Jo is a tomboy, the opposite of a stereotypical woman, Beth is a musician, and Amy is pampered. This results in their different marriage preferences, career pursuits and overall, different endings. They all go on adventures of their own but rely on each other.. Meg marries and starts a family. Jo writes stories for newspapers. Beth gets sick and soon dies. Amy goes to Europe and studies arts.At the end of the story, the whole family has a reunion. This story talks about the stereotypes of women, the true meaning behind richness, and the different perspectives on marriage.
Women in the 1800s were stereotypical, and faced social limitations along with demanding expectations. Women were expected to be polite, rely on the male, and be responsible for household chores. In Little Women, Amy is one of the only ones to want to be a “perfect woman” and therefore wants to marry a rich man and be beautiful. This is an example of a woman at that time, normal to everyone. Even though Meg wanted to be like this, Jo was the complete opposite, she challenged everything to the image of women he was like a boy, not soft or gentle, and wanted a husband with the same interests as her. Usually, the male is the dominant one in the family but as shown, there can be two types of woman, women like Jo or Amy. Some women are independent and others are dependent, their choice of careers can also change their status in the family. Finance is important when viewing the status in a family which is usually why the male dominates. Even though back then people expected women to fulfill their stereotypical roles, some women were still questioning their socially prescribed roles and they actually possessed deeper capability beyond expectations.
True wealth lies not in one's possession but in one’s virtue. Even in poverty, some choose to help others with limited sources they have instead of envy those with more. The march family is generally poor after an unwise loan and the father is fighting in the civil war but even though they are poor, they still help other immigrants or their neighbors. They still give to their even poorer neighbors when they can barely support themselves, this is selflessness. The march family is friends with some rich family but they treat them like normal people, respectfully, and not with the intention of greed and jealousy. They are not overwhelmed by how higher their friends are financially and are still rich in family love. Laurie on the other hand, a stereotypical woman wants to marry one of them for their family connection and wealth. But the other family members don't want to use the rich family and aren’t like Laurie. Even in the face of financial difficulties, those struggling but still treat others with care and kindness demonstrates where the true richness lies.
People have different perspectives on marriage and what makes the perfect marriage partner. Some people marry for financial stability while others look for partners with the same interest or love and emotional connection. Amy is one of those women that marries to become rich. Her logic is that when she marries, she is basically losing her freedom so she might as well be paid for it. Jo on the other hand marries people with the same interest as her, she married Friedrich who they got along nicely and rarely had arguments. Marrying for love instead of money is Jo’s idea of a successful marriage. Ms.Maarch is a lot like Amy and before they were poor, they were just a normal family so she wants to go back to being rich. Wanting to marry for money was what the stereotypical woman wanted back in the day. While people may have different views on marriage, what truly matters most are the values and goals they have.
Little women by Lousia May Alcott is a classic book that has deep themes like the stereotype of women, poverty, and marriage. The idea of a perfect life for women at the time was someone who was beautiful, polite, and married to a rich male. While most women wanted to be like that there were some rebels that strived for independence. People in poverty will have less money than others but it depends on the characters actions to show their personality. Marriage is a very controversial idea among women. Some people want to marry rich men for their money while others want their independence and marry people for love with the same interest. Little women have very deep ideas about feminism and this made the book inspiring to me. Books that break the idea of a stereotypical woman like Little woman is a great depiction of feminist literature.
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