why does alcott alternate between stories about each of the four march sisters throughout little women? on the surface, the novel presents us with four different young girls so that every reader can identify with at least one of them and learn from their mistakes. In this way, little women resembles a didactic novel, a work meant to teach moral lessons. Besides showcasing different kinds of heroines, the four march sisters rsquo stories each stand for the different options a woman had in the 1860 s: she could stay at home, like beth she could marry, like meg she could become a modern and successful woman, like amy or she could struggle with her professional life and her personal life, like jo. Many readers claim jo as their favorite, and it seems as though alcott may have been doing more in little women than just introducing and developing four distinct possible female types.

Jo is the only character whose personality most readers like more before she reforms and becomes more stereotypically feminine. With the character of jo, alcott creates a new sort of heroine, one who is flawed and human mdash and infinitely more lovable for those flaws. Rdquo what does the term say about the status of american women in the 1860s? a common term in the victorian era, ldquo little women rdquo is used as a term of endearment in the novel. March calls his daughters ldquo little women rdquo in the letter he sends them from the war. On the surface, the term indicates the time between being a girl and being a woman, a time that the novel portrays in the lives of the march sisters. It is interesting that alcott uses such a word when she seems interested in enlarging the status of women in general.

The novel is also crowded with references to physical size: jo, for example, is always described as large. Additionally, amy tells jo that there is ldquo more of her rdquo than there is of amy. But beyond her physical dimensions, jo dreams big, and throughout the story she is the sister with the most individual, creative promise. Conversely, meg is a very conventional girl likewise, her shoes are described as too tight, and her house with john as too cramped. Alcott mirrors meg rsquo s limitations with the limitations of her surroundings, suggesting that, in general, women are strictly confined. Through the use of the term ldquo little women, rdquo alcott may be suggesting that a woman rsquo s role is too small and confining for jo, as doubtless it was for many women of her day. Who goes to the war, and who wants to? why does alcott deliberately put such a big war so far in the background of her story? the civil war is never even mentioned by name in little women. at the beginning of the novel, all we know is that mr.

Rdquo at the beginning of the novel, jo laments that she cannot participate in the action of the war only men, such as mr. Instead, alcott focuses heavily on domestic issues and personal matters in the lives of the march sisters. This situation is the opposite of that found in many men rsquo s novels of the time in those novels, the war features prominently and matters of everyday life are de emphasized. Since women were usually at home doing something mundane, their stories got lost in such male dominated works. In little women, alcott spotlights the women and the homefront she puts the men aside in order to tell women rsquo s stories.

In one striking example, laurie is shown as the male outsider who longs to join the all female march circle. This situation contrasts with the beginning of the novel, when jo wants to join the men rsquo s circle of fighting. In her novel, alcott documents women and their domestic lives, and shows that they are just as important and worthy of focus as men and their pursuits.

How does jo represent the plight of the female artist in the 1860 s? does amy represent the plight any differently? if so, how? 2. How do these differences lead to laurie rsquo s love for jo but eventual marriage to amy? 3. What are the elements, if any, of transcendentalist philosophy in little women ? 7. How are the twins different from jo and laurie? after part i of little women was published, alcott received many letters from her readers one girl wrote that neither she nor her classmates would forgive alcott if jo did not marry laurie. Alcott’s journal says that, girls write to ask who the little women marry, as if that was the only end and aim of a woman’s life. How does alcott’s refusal to have jo marry laurie reflect on her own life? jo was modeled after alcott, who never married. When alcott urges her readers to be kind to spinsters, she is speaking from her own experience.

Alcott’s refusal to meet her readers’ demands reflects her own stubbornness, like jo’s. Alcott’s decision to have jo marry at all could reflect a compromise with her readers or perhaps a wish that alcott’s life had gone differently. little women describes the experience of christian girls growing up in 19th century new england. What aspects of the book account for its universality? little women applies universal, domestic themes of family, love, and self improvement and to the specific context of the march family. While the girls understand their experiences through the lens of christianity, people of all cultures and religions can relate to their individual struggles. In addition, the beliefs in the book do not degrade other cultures, but rather promote tolerance and kindness toward all people, as shown by the march family’s treatment of mr. Compare the generosity of these figures towards the march family with how this generosity influences their portrayal by alcott and their perception by other characters. alcott describes aunt march as less generous than mr.

Yet aunt march does provide many things to the march family, including giving meg linens through aunt carrol, pays for amy to travel abroad, and leaves plumfield to jo. However, her attitude towards the marches is one of disdain, and she insults their pride – for example, when she offers to adopt one of the girls. Her generosity is therefore less appreciated because it does not come with her respect. Laurence is completely respectful of the march family and finds ways to support them without insulting their pride, such as sending mr. Brooke as an escort on the pretense of business in washington, and sending boys to jo’s school.

many critics celebrate little women’s promotion of women’s rights, yet the characters adopt very clear gender roles, particularly as husbands and wives. Do the march women demonstrate equality with their husbands? the words used to describe the roles of husband and wife often suggest mutual helpfulness, but an assumed role for the husband as head of the house, while the actions of the characters highlight women’s strength and contributions to the family. Marmee is dependent on father, yet she runs the house in his absence for almost a year. She also advises meg to take interest in current events, since they affect her family.