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Women's rights during world war 1
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The story Little Women takes place at a time when women were taking on uncustomary roles like physical laborer, family protector and provider, and military volunteer while their husbands served during the Civil War. Keeping within the boundaries of the time, Louisa May Alcott uses herself and her own three sisters to create this classical novel from personal experiences. Each sister is different. They each set goals and dreams for their selves whether it goes along with their contemporary society or not. With the assistance of their mother, friends and experiences, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy struggle between their personal expectations and society’s expectations as they plan for their future and choose their destinies.
Mrs. March, also known as Marmee, like many women during this era had to learn how to balance working outside the home with raising a family while her husband served in the Union Army. Marmee shows, “that a home can be run successfully without a man supporting it, as hers is while Mr. March is away at war” (Thomason 123). She proves to have a strong influence on her daughters as they weave through their daily lives and dreams of their futures. The young girls, whom are each unique in their personality and expectations, tend to make poor choices throughout the novel. However, Marmee is there with just the right advice each time. The girls decide they would like to spend their summer break doing only the things they enjoy, but soon they become bored. When they are ready, Marmee passes on words of wisdom to her four daughters. Marmee inspires, “Work is wholesome,” she continues, “It keeps us from mischief, is good for health and spirits, and gives us a sense of independence” (Alcott 92). Throughout the sto...
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... Women: Book One. New York: Harper Festival, 2003. Print.
Elbert, Sarah. “Reading Little Women.” Temple University Press (1984): 151-65. Rpt in Novels for Students. Ed. Elizabeth Thomason. Vol. 12. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 144. Print.
Janeway, Elizabeth. “Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy, and Louisa.” New York Times Book Review (1968): 42, 44, 46. Rpt in Nineteenth- Century Literature Criticism. Eds. Laurie Lanzen Harris and Sheila Fitzgerald. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale, 1984. 32. Print.
May, Jill P. “Feminism and Children’s Literature: Fitting Little Women into the American Literary Canon.” CEA Critic 56.3 (1994): 19-27. Rpt in Children’s Literature Review. Ed. Tom Burns. Vol. 146. Detroit: Gale, 2009. n.p. Literature Resource Center. Web. 2 Mar. 2011.
Thomason, Elizabeth, ed. “Little Women: Louisa May Alcott 1868.” Novels for Students. Vol. 12. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 116-129. Print.
Among them are only four women of all ages: the Grandma, the Mother and her two daughters, the pregnant Rose of Sharon and the young Ruthie. Appearing in Chapter Eight, the mother, who is referred to as “Ma”, holds a decisive role in Steinbeck’s novel. She is, along with her son Tom (the main character of the book), present from the early stage of the story until its very end. We will attempt to trace back her emotional journey (I) as well as to analyze its universal aspects and to deliver an overall impression on the book (II). Steinbeck describes Ma as a strong woman, physically “heavy, thick with childbearing and work” (Chap.8).
Harris, Susan K.. "'But is it any good?': Evaluating Nineteenth-Century American Women's Fiction." American Literature 63 (March 1991): 42-61.
The difference between men and women is a very controversial issue, while there are obviously physical differences; the problem is how the genders are treated. It is stereotypically thought that the men do the labor work and make all the money, while the women stay in the house, cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. While this stereotype does not exist as much in the 21st century, it was very prevalent in the 1900s. By using many different literary tools such as character development, symbolism, and setting, Alice Munro’s Boys and Girls and John Steinbeck’s The Chrysanthemums challenge this controversial topic of the treatment of women versus men in the 1900s.
Elbert, Sarah. A Hunger for Home: Louisa May Alcott and Little Women. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1984.
138. The. Detroit: Gale, 2003. http://www.gale.com/ Literature Resource Center -. Web.
Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. 8th ed. Vol A. New York: W.
...Chrie, D., (ed.), Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Company, 1986. Vo. 13, pp. 53-111.
Watson, N. (2009) ‘Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868-9) Introduction’, in Montgomery H and Watson N (eds), Children’s Literature Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan in association with Open University, pp.13-17
... Now that people of all economic groups were becoming more educated and more importantly literate, society changed. The first great, American, woman authors began to write. Lousia May Alcott wrote Little Women. This was a story attempting to give a realistic and sentimental view on life. This story was, like the works of Twain, relating everyday experiences and romanticizing mundane daily life, making her stories popular to the common person and most importantly, the children of the time.
Abbey, Cherie D., ed. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Vol. 14. Kansas City, MO: Gale Research, 1987.
Bradstreet, Anne. "To My Dear Children." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York: Norton & Company, 1999. 144-147.
Brown, Rosellen. “Honey Child.” Women’s Review of Books. Vol. 19. No. 7. Philadelphia: Old City Publishing. 2002. 11. Print.
A. Women in Modern America: A Brief History. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1974. Glaspell, Susan. A. Trifles. Making Literature Matter: An Anthology for Readers and Writers. Ed.
“Girls wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it is okay to be a boy; for a girl it is like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading” (McEwan 55-56). Throughout the history of literature women have been viewed as inferior to men, but as time has progressed the idealistic views of how women perceive themselves has changed. In earlier literature women took the role of being the “housewife” or the household caretaker for the family while the men provided for the family. Women were hardly mentioned in the workforce and always held a spot under their husband’s wing. Women were viewed as a calm and caring character in many stories, poems, and novels in the early time period of literature. During the early time period of literature, women who opposed the common role were often times put to shame or viewed as rebels. As literature progresses through the decades and centuries, very little, but noticeable change begins to appear in perspective to the common role of women. Women were more often seen as a main character in a story setting as the literary period advanced. Around the nineteenth century women were beginning to break away from the social norms of society. Society had created a subservient role for women, which did not allow women to stand up for what they believe in. As the role of women in literature evolves, so does their views on the workforce environment and their own independence. Throughout the history of the world, British, and American literature, women have evolved to become more independent, self-reliant, and have learned to emphasize their self-worth.
Throughout American Literature, women have been depicted in many different ways. The portrayal of women in American Literature is often influenced by an author's personal experience or a frequent societal stereotype of women and their position. Often times, male authors interpret society’s views of women in a completely different nature than a female author would. While F. Scott Fitzgerald may represent his main female character as a victim in the 1920’s, Zora Neale Hurston portrays hers as a strong, free-spirited, and independent woman only a decade later in the 1930’s.