Louisa May Alcott Little Women in a Mans World Essay

Louisa May Alcott shows a great deal of herself throughout the novel, Little Women. She shows many parallelisms between the fictional character Jo and Louisa May Alcott. The novel is an example of their similar personalities, appearances, and life experiences. Louisa was very dramatic and comical throughout her life time. Jo March is the perfect character for Louisa to portray. She exemplifies how life was during the 19th century in America. Through the characters of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott illustrates her struggle as a woman writer in a male dominated society. Jo March, the protagonist of Little Women, has a similar childhood to Louisa May Alcott. â€Å"Jo is the perfect part for Louisa to play† (Carter). Louisa uses these†¦show more content†¦Lizzy was Beth, who both died. And Amy is the youngest of the sisters and is recollection of Louisa’s baby sister May† (Morrow). In Little Women, the story is created around four sisters and their experiences while growing up in the early 19th century. â€Å"To Louisa, Jo offered certain theatrical advantages. She didn’t need to invent the plays the March girls put on in the parlor. Those were genuine melodramas from her own childhood† (Carter). Louisa portrays her childhood through literature. Jo March, the heroine in Little Women, is quite different from her three sisters. In the novel, Jo is portrayed as this masculine and adventurous means of thinking and acting, unlike her sisters’ proper lady behavior that society expects of women. Because her father is always away at war, Jo refers to herself as the man of the house. She constantly was told to stop her boyish mannerisms. Jo’s adventurous behavior is recaptured from Louisa’s retellings in her journal. Louisa writes, â€Å"No boy could be my friend till I had beaten him in a race, and no girl if she refused to climb trees, leap fences, and be a tomboy† (Cheney). This just shows the similar behaviors and actions of Jo and Louisa. Other features of Jo in the novel were constantly compared to her prettier sisters. Her best feature is told to be her long hair. In the novel, Jo trades in her hair for money neededShow MoreRelatedTranscendentalism : The American Scholar1658 Words   |  7 Pagessu fficient to make him an inspired prophet.[2] Similarly, they rejected the widely accepted notion that man’s knowledge came primarily through the senses. To the contrary, they believed in internal, spiritual principles as the basis for man’s comprehension of the world. These formed the basis of the â€Å"conscience† or â€Å"intuition† that made it possible for each person to connect with the spiritual world. When man thus moved above or beyond—â€Å"transcended†Ã¢â‚¬â€the cares and concerns of the mundane, lower sphereRead MoreHenry David Thoreau4404 Words   |  18 Pagesand rustic, though courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty .Thoreau wore a neck-beard for many years which he insisted many women found attractive. Early life and education He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, to John Thoreau (a pencil maker) and Cynthia Dunbar.David Henry was named after his deceased paternal uncle. He had two older siblings, Helen and John Jr., andRead MoreChildrens Literature13219 Words   |  53 PagesConclusion 30 8. Summary 31 Children’s Literature Definitions 31 The Ancient World [ancient Rome; 50 BCE to 500 CE] 31 The Middle Ages [500 to 1500 CE] 31 The European Renaissance [1500-1650 CE] 32 The 17th Century 34 The 18th and Early 19th Centuries 35 The Victorians: The Golden Age 36 Twentieth Century: Widening Worlds 38 9. Bibliography 38 1. Introduction In 1817 Robert Bloomfield, author of The History of Little Davy’s New Hat, wrote: ‘The longer I live †¦ the more I am convinced of the importanceRead MoreBelonging Essay4112 Words   |  17 Pagessocieties, by different composers through their use of language modes, forms, and their relevant structural forms and language features engage personally with their texts and draw on their own experience make connections to their perceptions of the world and the worlds represented in the texts. Waverley Library database Log on to the database Literature Resource Centre - HSC English Syllabus via the Waverley library home page either though the internet in the library or at home using your library cardRead MoreA Dialogue of Self and Soul11424 Words   |  46 Pagescollaborated on No Man’s Land: The Place of the Woman Writer in the Twentieth Century, Sex Changes and Letters from the Front with the aim of using feminist criticism to understand the achievements of British and American women in modern times. More recently they have also co-authored a collection of poetry, Mother Songs (1995), for and about mothers. The Madwoman in the Attic was a landmark in feminist criticism. It focuses almost exclusively on the issue of gender in relation to women, though it