LITTLE WOMEN by: Louisa May Alcott
SUMMARY
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March are raised in genteel poverty by their loving mother, Marmee, in a quiet Massachusetts town while their father serves as an army chaplain during the American Civil War. They befriend Theodore Lawrence (Laurie), the lonely grandson of a rich old man next door. The vital force of the family is Jo, a headstrong tomboy who is the emotional centre of the book. In the course of the novel, beautiful, vain Meg marries Laurie’s tutor, John Brooke, and starts her own family; quiet, sickly Beth dies from scarlet fever; artistic Amy marries Laurie after he is turned down by Jo; and Jo marries Professor Bhaer, whom she meets while living in a boardinghouse, and together they set up a school for boys.
ANALYSIS: FEMINISM
Little Women talks about March family who has four daughters with different characteristics. The four daughters named Margaret, Josephine, Elizabeth, and Amy. In the novel Little Women, we can find the main function of literary works that is to describe, reflect human life, while human life itself is always experiencing growth, as well as the equality of women who will be depicted through the novel Little Women. Women’s movement is to reach the equality of right with men in many aspects, such as politic, social, economy and culture (Rosenstand,2006). Everyone should be treated as equals unless special circumstances apply regardless of the role of men or women. According to Handayani and Novianto (2004), men are more competent, good orientation, strong, active, competitive and confidence than women. This condition is unfair for women, since it portray that there is gender discrimination in the past. It happens from the generation to the next until they realize the injustice happening. That is why, feminist movement, called feminism have emerged.
“Little Women is a testament to why stories about women deserve to be told by women.” In the year 2019, it happened to have movie reboots, remakes, and questionable sequels. In fact, Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women proves that some stories do deserve to be retold. The film was released, and it considered as the way to have most impact for modern audiences. Little Women is always been a relatable story about the particularities of female experiences. Although the story is set in the mid-nineteenth century, the March sisters’ trials, burdens, and aspirations resonate with a modern audience. Meg struggles with the sacrifices that come with raising a family; Beth’s kindness is unwavering in the face of personal struggle; Amy’s ambition to leave her mark is a force to be think with; Jo fights for her voice to be heard as a writer in a discipline dominated by men. "Jo struggle in maintaining her woman rights to have similar equal in terms of women's nature, the social treatment of women, women's performance and equal opportunity to have higher education", (Rahmi, A. & Santi, N. Y.,n.d.). Their battles and triumphs may seem ordinary, but they were still important. Jo’s frustration at being told what a woman can and cannot do is tangible. The four sisters showed the four types of feminism namely: liberal, Marxist, existentialist and radical feminism. First, they reflected the Liberal feminism because of what they are doing to fulfill their own life to earn money through hard work. Second is the Marxist feminism, wherein the characters show the value of women's work and encourage more equality and capitalism is the cause of women's oppression which is depicted through the role of character positions in the novel. Third is the Existentialist feminism, in which it reflects the character who have tomboyish and a woman must become a subject, transcends definitions, labels, and essences, and need for total freedom. Lastly, Radical feminism, wherein it reflects the characters who had a corporal punishment as well as all the manifestations of sexual violence or as one who insist the sex or gender system is the fundamental cause of women's oppression. Furthermore, the most highlighted person among the four was Jo. She was the main character who has a struggle in maintaining woman’s independence and in her efforts challenging the normative patriarchal society. With this, Jo proves that women should break the silence when it comes to maintaining rights. Indeed, she had tribulations and those tribulations brought to many women in the world to empower their own selves amidst difficulty in raising the family lives.
Little Women is one of Alcott's most popular books. In this novel, Alcott makes the characters of Little Women that has a problem with their poverty, the stereotypes of women, also the marginalization of their rights. Alcott was strongly talking about the feminist story behind the characters in a novel. After watching the story, I found some important points in the feminist analysis of Little Women. The first one is about value of equality. Little Women novel dominantly tells about the equality values in which the figure of Jo is needed to have similar equality between women and men. The second one is the value of choice wherein it maintains the women's right to have their independently choice based on herself. In conclusion, as woman in the society, I would not hesitate to be like Jo. If you know to yourself that you are in the right track, you did not overpower others right, you do your best out of it to fight for your own rights, then, there is no reason to be left behind with. Raising our efforts and voice are important things to show to the world that we are empowered women. Say NO to gender inequality because we are in today’s world, encouraging one another to grow up holistically.
REFERENCES:
Handayani & Novianto (2004). Analysis of feminism in the Novel of Little Women by Louisa Mat Alcott. Retrieved from https://ejournal.gunadarma.ac.id/index.php/sastra/article/download/2487/1949
Rhami, A. & Santi,N.Y. (n.d.). Feminisim Values in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Retrieved fromhttps://ejournal.uinib.ac.id/jurnal/index.php/imlah/article/download/1216/1013#:~:text=The%20result%20of%20this%20research,on%20this%20novel%20is%20Equality.
Rosenstand (2006). Analysis of feminism in the Novel of Little Women by Louisa Mat Alcott. Retrieved from https://ejournal.gunadarma.ac.id/index.php/sastra/article/download/2487/1949 .
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