B. CLASSICS
FEMINIST APPROACH
England faced civil war since the 16th century and it lasted for hundreds of years. The battle between the parliamentarians and the royalists have caused struggles to the English people specially the poor ones and women. This is illustrated in Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”, a novel which tackled the life of 4 sisters and their parents who are very kind and supportive to each other. Their story revolved in England during the civil war where the struggle for them to earn a living was undeniable. The author depicted the life of teenagers during this era and illustrated how women prepare their whole life to marry and eventually become wives and mothers. Also, the author highlighted the importance of education and ambition. All of the sisters attended school and worked so hard to hone their strengths. They supported each other in the best way possible. Eventually the girls had to separate ways to pursue their ambitions. Two of them got married while the other two pursued their education and passion.
The author of the novel clearly emphasized her strong belief for equality, that human beings should have an equal stand in the society. Her perspective on womanhood was a clear motivation towards gender equality that should open doors to equal access to education and equal rights to suffrage. During this era, most of the well-educated are men while women are trained to be housewives. Men get to be educated to look for a decent job to provide for their families and women took care of the household chores and the children. Perhaps, the author lived the same life which motivated her to tell the story. The family in the story was Christian and strongly believed and practiced equality. Such religious beliefs were strongly criticized because the abolitionist perceived women to be inferior to men. No wonder why, the ideas on gender were best revealed as the author narrated the story of the four sisters who from being wives became mothers. The author clearly captured what goes on in the mind of a woman and her ambitions. The narrator supported the independence of a woman and gender equality as indicated by Alberghene & Beverly (1999). She portrayed women as capable of competing with men since they were created equal. She advocates for intellectual as well as emotional liberty. In the story, Jo, one of the sisters, remained unmarried for long and later marries the professor, after she has achieved a lot on her own. Further, the novel revealed that during the era, women were not given the right to suffrage. They were not involved in political process, hence the dominance of men in the political and leadership positions. In accordance with Alberghene & Beverly (1999), the novelist encouraged women to get more knowledgeable, be informed and participate in development.
One example situation in the novel that clearly revealed the issue of gender equality was when Jo’s father refused for her to join fighting during the war. Women of this time were not allowed to take part in the war and that they should remain at home doing household chores: the so called duties of a woman. The novelist portrayed how women are seen in the society, that they are just emotional beings who are not capable of what men can do.
The novel itself focused on a dilemma that society had a hard time addressing. Even up to today, there are still signs of gender inequality maybe just in different aspects. On a lighter note, it led to the awakening of people’s mind to the need of promoting equal opportunities on genders. It somehow emphasized that one’s ability should not be defined by his/her gender. Women deserve to be the image of strength in the society the same as men. Women deserve to prosper in their careers the same way men succeed on their pursuits. We all deserve to be treated right. We all deserve to have a chance.
References:
Panda, I. (2020, April 27). "Little Women" by Louisa Alcott Literature Analysis. Retrieved from https://ivypanda.com/essays/little-women-by-louisa-alcott-literature-analysis/
Lewis, J.J. (n.d.). Feminist Literary Criticism. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/feminist-literary-criticism-3528960
Little Women Summary. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/little-women/summary
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