Family Happiness and Independence

Abstract

Little women, written by Louisa May Alcott, is a family novel with the nature of autobiography. It is one of the best loved books all time which has been translated into dozens of languages.

As the key in interpreting the feminist literature, female consciousness is presented in Louisa May Alcott’ Little Women, in which we can see the female figures pursuing marriage with love, independence and equality as well as the time limitation in the description of traditional female characters. Anyway, Alcott’s awaking female consciousness of independence and equality is of great realistic significance. In this article, I will talk briefly about the writer and the book plot and characters, while most important, I will concentrate on the female consciousness of independence.

Key words: little women, female consciousness of independence and equality, family happiness.

About the author

Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832-March 6, 1888) was an American novelist. She is best known for the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo’s Boys.

Alcott was the daughter of noted transcendentalist and educator Amos Bronson Alcott and Abigail May Alcott. Though of New England heritage, she was born in Germantown, which is currently part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the second of four daughters: Anna Bronson Alcott was the eldest; Elizabeth Sewall Alcott and Abigail May Alcott were the two youngest. Alcott’s early education included lessons from the naturalist Henry David Thoreau. She received the majority of her schooling from her father, as well as some instruction from writers and educators such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Margaret Fuller, who were all family friends. She later described these early years in a newspaper sketch entitled “Transcendental Wild Oats”.

 Alcott had done many works to support her family at early age. But it was her writing career that indeed released the pressure. She wrote many works before her masterpiece Little Women appeared, including Flower Fables (1849), a selection of tales, Hospital Sketches collected from her being nurse during American Civil War, brought her first critical recognition for her observations and humor, as well as some passionate, fiery novels and sensational stories under the nom de plume A. M. Barnard.

Alcott's literary success arrived with the publication by the Roberts Brothers of the first part of Little Women: or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, (1868) a semi-autobiographical account of her childhood with her sisters in Concord, Massachusetts. In Little Women, Alcott based her heroine "Jo" on herself. But whereas Jo marries at the end of the story, Alcott remained single throughout her life. She explained her “spinsterhood” in an interview with Louise Chandler Moulton, “because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man.” Alcott, along with Elizabeth Stoddard, Rebecca Harding Davis, Anne Moncure Crane, and others, was part of a group of female authors during the Gilded Age who addressed women’s issues in a modern and candid manner. Their works were “among the decided signs of the times”.

After that, she continued to write novels and stories, creating a series of Little Women, including An Old Fashioned Girl, Little Men, Eight Cousins, Rose in Bloom, Under the Lilaos, Jack and Jill, and Jo’s Boys. What’s more, she devoted herself to advocating for women’s suffrage Temperance Movement. In 1888, she died in Boston.

Plot

Little Women describes the four March sisters’ twist but happy family life and fate living in a small New England community during American Civil War. Although confronted with the imperfect life, suffering many privations because of the war and their poverty, the March girls’ optimistic and selfless love make them all grow up being brave and tough towards life, contriving to be happy by performing charitable services for neighbors, staging home theatricals, and attending parties.

Meg, the eldest, though is a governess who wishes she were rich, but she finally chooses to be with her lover, Laurie’s tutor John Brooke, sharing living pressure together. At last, they have twins, a boy and a girl, named Daisy and Demi. Jo is a true, frank and affettuoso girl. Her unconstrained nature makes her so cordial to life. On the way being mature, she overcomes her careless and irritable temper and insists on realizing her dreams. The wealthy next-door neighbor, Theodore Laurence, makes their acquaintance and falls love with Jo. After he graduates from college and he proposes to Jo. However, she doesn’t want to marry him. Jo goes to New York to try to make something by herself, but she realizes that her writing dream might be unattainable. But she meets her lover, Professor Friedrich Bhaer, who comes to visit the March family and proposes to Jo. They marry and open a boy’s school. Beth is like an angle born with holiness and pureness, tenderness, and tolerance. She is Jo’s pet; she is shy, quiet, and very musical. All she ever wants is to be at home. However in order to help others, unfortunately she is infected with scarlet fever which causes her death, leaving the forever regret to readers. Amy is the youngest sister. She has an old head on her young shoulders, but sometimes she is a little captious. In addition, she has excellent percipient. Under the sponsorship of her aunt, she has a trip and be take care of as she tours all over. She is all alone in a foreign land until Laurie comes to her. They spend months together and a love blossoms. They marry and have one daughter, Beth. In a word, Amy eliminates the vanity quietly and becomes a dignified and graceful perfect woman, with elegant manners, being strong but gentle. At last, she wins herself both love and respect.

The stories of their domestic adventures, their friendship with the neighboring Laurence family, and their later love affairs remain as fresh and beguiling as ever. As young adults they must face up the inevitable trials and traumas of everyday life in their search for individual happiness. Such four girls, in their ways of growing up, always reveal the feminist spirit, and expose the girls’ willingness to break through the secular fearlessly.

Characters---Little Women and Their Mother

Margaret “Meg” March: “the eldest of the four, is sixteen, and very pretty, being plump and fair, with large eyes, plenty of soft, brown hair, a sweet mouth, and white hands, of which she was rather vain.” As she herself says, she is “fond of luxury”, and her chief trouble is poverty. Even though she attempts to change this mind, the previous leisure time and the present other family’s wealth still disturb her to accept the reality. At that time, she “had not yet learned to know how rich she was in the blessings which alone can make life happy”. But she is considered the beauty of the March household and she is well-mannered. She could succeed in running the housework and dealing with sisters’ quarrel. Meg is employed as a governess for the Kings, a wealthy local family. Because of the genteel social standing of her family, Meg is allowed into society. However, she finds the up class is not so good as she dreams. Under the help of Laurie and the guide of her mother, she realizes that true worth does not lie with money, which sets a good foundation for her loving story with Mr. John Brooke, Laurie’s tutor. Meg gives up her aunt’s temptation and insists in marring with Mr. John. She gives birth to children, Margaret "Daisy" and John Laurence “Demi”, and then has a second daughter, Josie. Although their family life is not such rich as Meg previously has dreamed, they adapt to each other and devote their efforts to a harmonious and happy family life.

Josephine “Jo” March: being fifteen years old. She always wishes she were a boy or man so that she can say what she wants to express, do what she thinks can help the family, go wherever she wants and what’s more, learn what she wants to know. Thus she always wears, speaks, acts like a man. “She had a decided mouth, a comical nose, and sharp, grey eyes, which appeared to see everything, and were by turns fierce, funny, or thoughtful.” “the uncomfortable appearance of a girl who was rapidly shooting up into a woman, and didn’t like it.” What’s mostly attracts Jo is a large library of fine books and “her ambition is to do something very splendid”, even though she has no idea of how to realize it. She gives me an impression of bold, outspoken, brave, loyal, cranky, principled, and real. She often has creativity both in family activities and her own works. Jo is quite different from the other female images in many other great works, which they almost show a mild, or gentle feminization while Jo largely expresses her independence and tendency to masculinity. She is eager to be equal in society, and then she depends on writing in order to get economic independent in reality. Her resistance and refusal to the common customs are deeply depicted in the story, the most unexpected would be her refusal to Laurie’ proposal. Many readers feel sad and regretful about this, but truly, this is Jo’s real reveal of her independence and the summit of her resistance. She devotes whole-heartedly to the fiction creation world. She flies to New York to be a governess where she meets Professor Friedrich “Fritz” Bhaer, her husband in her life. In the atmosphere of literature, they fall in love with each other. They have both values and feelings in common, share interest in education reform and in new ideas. So they can work together and build a school like a family. They have two children named Rob and Teddy.  In their lovely and happy “school”, the large family together will have a good harvest

Elizabeth “Beth” March: “was a rosy, smooth-haired, bright-eyed girl of thirteen”. She is too shy to go to school, so she gives it up and does lesson at home with her father. What’s more, she always “had a peaceful expression”, even her father calls her “Little Tranquillity”. However, she loves music so dearly, tries so hard to learn, and hopefully believes she can get her music if she is good enough. With the help of her sisters and her friend Laurie, she overcomes the shyness and makes friends with Mr. James Laurence, who later gives her a cupboard piano as a gift, and she is deeply happy. That the most important thing is “she was a housewife little creature”, “never thinking of any reward but to be loved”. She undertakes much of the housework and always does favors for the sick people. Unfortunately, she is infected with scarlet fever and dangerously ill. Very ill yet peaceful and content to be with her family, she dies quietly on a spring night just before dawn. But in her last year, Beth is still trying to make it better for those who will be left behind. She is never idle, except in sleep. “There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind.”

Amy March: “though the youngest, was most important person-in her own opinion at least.” “A regular snow-maiden, with blue eyes, and yellow hair, curling on her shoulders, pale and slender, and always carrying herself like a young lady mindful of her manners.” She thinks the greatest trial of her life is her nose even no one minded but herself. Her sisters call her “Little Raphael”, who has a decided talent for drawing. Meanwhile, she is a great favorite with her school mate and possessing the happy art of pleasing without effort. “Amy was in a fair way to be spoilt; for everyone petted her, and her small vanities and selfishness were growing badly.” Meg is her confidante and monitor while her relationship with Jo is a little tense. They have some conflicts but under the help of Mrs. March and Laurie, their relationship becomes much closer. It is the travel with Uncle and Aunt Carrol and cousin Flo to Europe that makes her really overcome the vanity and learns the true woman manners. What’s more, she finds that “something more than money and position was needed to satisfy the new longing that filled her heart so full of tender hopes and fears”. The best position she wants to be is a “livable woman”. Laurie accompanies her in abroad and it is also him to help her analyze herself and pass the pain losing Beth. They generate feeling mutually and fall in love with their hearts closer to expect a happy life being together.

Abigail “Marmee” March: The girls' mother and head of household while her husband is away at war. A good mother who knows how to educate her children will have totally different. Mrs. March is a respectful mother in Little Women and a guide of the family. For her girls, mother is the moral role mode. She has both infinite wisdom to not just teach them, but demonstrated and enforced with kindness and with love, and patience to help them overcome the shortcomings.

Comment

In the 1860s after the Civil War, America was in an important period of transition. All these conservative or progressive, nostalgic or reform, traditional or modern, obedient or personal, constraint or widely known trends of thoughts mingled together, running through this period wholly. Americans expected a new spirit to inspire and encourage them. The freedom and democracy of western spirit became a popular trend meanwhile the feminist movement developed flourishingly; the second time in middle 1860s was the soil of modern feminism. Thus in 1970s, American feminist literature was picked up again, and combined the whole background, the United States in this period needed to re-inspire women’s autonomy as well as re-set up women’s social position to transfuse new energy to American development. However some criticized that feminist literature was merely a kind of “sentimental novels”, a praise of traditional women and a challenge to men’s authority. Objectively, the feminist novels in 1870s have an abundant connotation, displaying many traces of feminism and breeding liberal feminism in America, which largely motivated the development of women’s movement.

Alcott was in such a circumstance, so her works must be influenced by the cultural background, such as her masterpiece Little Women. Little Women is a book of family diary in the form of fiction, a moral family novel. The four sisters pursue the authority of self-independence and the loyalty to family, which consist of the story’s contradiction.

Firstly, in 19^th century, wealth is one of the most important elements in traditional marriage in American, even in daily family relations. But in Little Women, the author points out clearly her attitude towards marriage and wealth: “……marry rich men merely because they are rich, or have splendid houses, which are not homes because love is wanting. Money is a needful and precious thing……but I never want you to think of it as the first or only prize to strive for. I’d rather see your poor men’ wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace.” Thus the sisters have a wind vane among marriage, love and money, which is quite different in that social circumstance. The March sisters implement such view of love and marriage, abandoning money and pursuing true love. Meg gives up the right of inheritance of Aunt March’s wealth. “My John wouldn’t marry for money, any more than I would. We are willing to work, and we mean to wait.” She chooses to marry with poor Mr. Brooke. The couple work together to make their family happier. Amy always knows that she must find a wealthy family, but facing with wealthier Fred Vaughn, she is honest to her inner mind, on the basis of love, choosing Laurie as her lifetime mate. After refusing Laurie’s proposal, Jo meets Pro. Bhare and at last gets married. Even though their lives are not so rich, we also can see their happy and harmonious family life. So wealth is no longer an important element to evaluate marriage and poverty is not so horrible. Kinship, friendship and love are the fountain of happiness. They realize how to gasp fate and happiness by themselves, even if it runs counter with the tradition.

Secondly, in the 1860s, American social life and thoughts were shocked and one of the obvious changes was more and more women went out of their houses to appear in society and political area. But the society couldn’t change immediately, the traditional Victoria lady was the public cherished. In the book, we have a bolshy woman called Jo, characterized on the basis of the author, who doubts the requirements and restrictions on women, wishing she were a man endowed privilege and freedom by society. Her dream is not to be qualified housewife like many other women at that time, but a writer who can earn money. She possesses distinctive creativity and spirit of independence. Her resistance and refusal to common customs are depicted profoundly, being disaccord with the social necessity, her personality is highlighted, for example her independence. She is able to earn money by writing for the family. She is unwilling to violate her life principle to cater to so called lady image, so she wears and talks like a man. By her unremitting hard work, she becomes an excellent writer. Choosing her favorable life style and being independent in economy, this character becomes an unusual figure in 19^th century, who is favored by thousands of women readers. In addition, the sisters build the P. C. and P. O., write plays by themselves and so on. All activities are women’s self-improvement and perfection of lives, which reveal they have the mind of independence, meanwhile to make progress.

Thirdly, women are not obsequious housewives any more, but individuals totally equal with husbands both in spiritual and intellectual. Family becomes the strong point of mutual respect and dependence; cooking and nurturing are not only women’s responsibility, but also husbands’. In the Marches and the Brookes, husbands take active in housework, preparing desserts and looking after babies together. The pattern of Jo’s marriage bears the marriage view of transcendentalism: husband and wife are equal both in family and social life, where they can fulfill the spirit and gain enjoyment in work. It is in accordance with the feminism of men and women should be equal, thus women can realize their social value to set up own career to be independent in spirit and material, and then achieve self-supporting and self-improvement.

Even so, Alcott doesn’t totally get rid of the females’ traditional mind, and in a degree, she supports the society’s necessities to traditional women. The women in March almost are traditional women, characterized filial piety, loyalty, gentleness and family-orientation. They depend on their husbands’ income in economy and males’ guidance in mind. In daily life, they are the main supporter of housework and raising next generation. Even Mrs. March tries her best to make her girls become excellent women in new times who have all women’s virtues. However, all their virtues are made use of how to become an understanding wife and loving mother. In a word, the biggest happiness of a woman should be authenticated by a happy marriage. Meg and Amy both like social contact, as many other girls. But they have their own dreams and goals, much stronger than common girls in self-consciousness awakening. Meg chooses Mr. Brooke firmly to live a poor life by ignoring her aunt’s obstruction. Amy, although being vain and captious, is the one can control her own fate. She is good at taking the initiative, never wasting time on nothing useful. Nonetheless, they have not yet broke away from the fate of going back to family, putting every effort they can to be a mild mother and dutiful wife, even the most independent Jo. She runs a special school with her husband, which surpasses many her contemporaries to spend more time and energy on new generations. However, the real teacher is her husband, she is only in charge of daily life and odd jobs in the school as an assistant, not being an independent woman owning an individual career. Obviously, these are influenced by the temporal cultural background. The characters are pursuing the success of individual and family, the achievement of dreams and reality, as well as the fulfillment of psychology and material.

Conclusion

Little Women is the example of describing family women’s mature process in America, which throwing off the religious sermon. It’s real and direct description of life that contributes to its characteristics in moral novels. Some writers comment on this book that many generations have grown up, and mothers still like to read these sisters’ childhoods, continuing their own childhood happiness. It’s an educating book both to mothers and children. For mothers, the book can help you to understand how to lead children to grown-ups, while for children, it can give you experience of being grown-ups. By using simple writing means to show the four sisters fate, Alcott always reminds of us: the life we want is very simple which itself is a kind of happiness.

Welcome to play the most interesting dora games , we have thousands of fun games,including free cooking games,Dora Cooking Games,Diego Dora Games,Dora Kids Games,Jeux de Dora,Juegos de Dora,Jogos da Dora,also we add new dora everyday,Surely the games will keep you entertained,and we pride ourselves in serving you the newest and best Makeover Games to play everyday so that you will not be disappointed.