One aspect of Alcott’s writing that caught my attention throughout the entire book was the conflict between her own life and the kind of life she idealized in the book. This is especially evident in how she changes Jo throughout the book and gives her such a different life than Alcott’s own. In addition, she aims to make the domestic life each girl finishes the book with seems like the best possible outcome for a young girl, despite not seeking it out herself.
Jo is modeled off of Alcott herself, particularly in her desire for independence and love of writing. However, much of Jo’s development throughout the novel is the removal or reduction of the traits she shares with Alcott. Jo learns that she will be happier with a husband by her side than on her own and chooses to give up the independence she craves by the end of the book. “She folded both hands over his arm, and looked up at him with an expression that plainly showed how happy she would be to walk through life beside him” (474). In addition, although writing brings Jo joy and a means to support herself, she gives it up for a large portion of the book, a choice which is praised as virtuous and good for her soul. Without trying to write, she becomes “bent on occupying her head with something useful, if not pleasant” (356). When she does resume writing, it is homely novels, similar to Little Women. Alcott creates a “perfect” character by removing the aspects of herself from it. Additionally, Alcott gives Jo a life much different than her own, despite starting out the book with nearly as many similarities as a biography. Jo ends up married, and no longer writes but instead teaches. Despite seeming content in her own independence, Alcott choses to have Jo satisfied in this much more domestic setting.
Alcott pushed this idea of domestic bliss onto the reader through the lives of all of her characters. All of the little women end up in marriages that fulfill them and are shown again and again as joyful. “‘Oh, my girls, however long you may live, I never can wish you a greater happiness than this!” (491). The girls all learn to give up their independence and take on a partner, and are all shown as better off for it. However, Alcott clung to her independence, both in choosing not to marry and in making a living both for herself and her family. This vast difference in the life she wanted her readers to look fondly upon and the one she herself chose to live seems like Alcott preaching what she does not practice. However, Alcott still manages to voice what are likely her true feelings. She takes a moment to speak directly to the audience and plead with them to respect spinsters. “Even the sad, sour sisters should be kindly dealt with, because they have missed the sweetest part of life, if for no other reason” (441). She also sits the girls down early in the book for a talk with Marmee, in which they are told that they should aspire to love, but that no marriage is better than a loveless one. “Better be happy old maids than unhappy wives” (98). Although the girls all end up married off, the fact that they seemed to have the option to remain on their own was at least a scrap of independence Alcott chose to give them.
This conflict in Alcott’s writing likely came from her desire to write works that sold, as opposed to actually wanting to preach the values and lifestyle shown in Little Women. However, it’s still interesting to see how she had to remodel Jo away from herself to make her a suitable, reformed protagonist, as well as the ways she slipped in her own thoughts on independence and womanhood.
Despite Alcott living her life the way she does, I also found it rather surprising to see how Jo ends up as a married woman rather than living her life in a way that parallels Alcott more closely. For Jo to even remark during a conversation with Meg that “marriage is an excellent thing after all” is rather shocking (420). However, I think that there are two main reasons as to why Jo’s ending as a married woman makes sense both in real life and in the context of her character in the novel. Firstly, Jo is defined as the rebellious contrarian to the typical late 19th century woman. She is opinionated, intellectually curious, and resilient – traits that society may frown upon for women at the time. When Jo marries a character such as Professor Bhaer – an individual who acts opposite to the norms for the ideal husband - she still possesses all these traits without sacrificing her sense of “independence”. Professor Bhaer challenges Jo to continue working to improve her writing and carry her dreams forward, which is why it makes logical sense for Jo to take a partner that supports her desires. Secondly, upon learning in class that Alcott faces backlash from publishers about deciding not to marry off Jo, Alcott is forced to listen to the demands of the publishers in order to have her works read. This forces us to think more about the realities faced by women in this time period and the expectations set for women to aspire for marriage.
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