In Greta Gerwig's lauded adaptation of Little Women, Laura Dern, who plays Marmee, gets her shining moment through a scene centered on emotional repression. In this pivotal scene, the reader (or moviegoer) becomes aware of the emotional repression forced on the March women when, after Amy falls through the ice, Marmee admits, “I am angry nearly every day of my life, Jo; but I have learned not to show it” (79). After this admission, Jo is resolved to be like Marmee and contain her temper. This theme of repression continues as a variety of negative emotions are subdued in the sisters in order to be considered “good” little women. What is interesting is how, in the novel, women are applauded for concealing their emotions, yet men are applauded for revealing them. When Beth is sick the first time, we see this contrast evidenced through Jo and Laurie. The novel describes how Laurie handles his grief, “Laurie drew his hand across his eyes, but could not speak till he had subdued the choky feeling in his throat, and steadied his lips. It might be unmanly, but he couldn't help it, and I am glad of it” (186). Male sadness is qualified with an appreciative statement. In the same moment, when Jo and Laurie are crying together, Jo’s sadness is not complimented, but rather her ability to hold in her emotions. The novel says, “Down went Jo’s face into the wet handkerchief, and she cried despairingly; for she had kept up bravely till now, and never shed a tear” (186). Unlike Laurie’s emotions, Jo’s emotions are not something to be glad of. This passage suggests that men’s natural state is to lack or hide emotion, so showing emotion is valued. This is in contrast to women’s implied natural state being emotional, so repression is valued.
This theme is continued after Jo rejects Laurie and Amy and Laurie meet in Europe. Laurie is depressed and angry after being rejected. Amy notices this and describes seeing Laurie again by saying, “He was changed and she couldn’t find the merry-faced boy she left, in the moody-looking man beside her. He was handsomer than ever, and greatly improved, she thought” (379). Laurie is moody, and subsequently more handsome. Laurie’s negative emotions brought on by rejection have contributed to greater intrigue and beauty because of the obviousness of these emotions on his face. When these negative emotions are applied to Amy instead of Laurie, she hides them, and becomes more beautiful for this decision; “Her anger had a good effect, however, for she hid it under a smiling face, and seemed unusually blithe and brilliant. Laurie’s eyes followed her with pleasure” (385). Amy is made handsome through hiding her anger, yet Laurie is made handsome by his emotions being obvious. This emphasizes the idea presented by the novel that women should contain their emotions to be properly a respectable and beautiful woman.
Though Laurie is not the typical male lead, the societal expectations placed on him are typical of men at the time. In comparing his character and how his emotions are viewed to the March sisters and the perception of their emotions, it is obvious that Little Women values emotional repression in women and glimpses of emotion in men.
Throughout reading the novel I also picked up on the differences between the expression of women's and men's emotions, but the quotes you pointed out referencing Laurie really brought the prevalence of this phenomenon to life. The fact that male sadness "is qualified with an appreciative statement" really struck me, as it's interesting how different this is from the stereotypical expectation of male apathy. While a lot of Alcott's novel tends to be expected in terms of dated gender roles, this seems to stray a bit from the norm. However, I will point out the one exception to this is chapter 41, "Learning to Forget", in which Laurie tries to distract himself from his love for Jo. Alcott points out that "when a man has a great sorrow, he should be indulged in all sorts of vagaries till he has lived it down" (420). Although this does point out the true emotions of the man, it does imply that these emotions are something shameful as they should be "lived down" and distracted from at all costs. In the end, this method seems to work too, as Laurie finds that forgetting his love for Jo "grew easier every day" (423), and begins to accept a more brotherly love for her. However, as we discussed in class, perhaps this was just a way for Alcott to give her readers more confidence in her decision to not marry Jo off to Laurie, as she knew they all wanted.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. The theme of the repression of feelings for women and expression for men is central throughout the novel. I would go even farther in saying that Alcott does not just value glimpses of emotion in men, but for men to show a lot of emotion. Throughout Amy and Laurie’s conversation regarding his change of character, she was restrained from speaking her mind and showing her emotions whereas Laurie blatantly showed emotion (408). Amy was clearly upset and disappointed in Laurie, yet even in private, it was not fully acceptable for a lady to show her emotions.
ReplyDeleteThis theme further continues in the chapter “On the shelf”. Meg is reflecting on the slight deterioration of her relationship with John to her mom. She is upset with herself for not spending as much time with John as she has on her kids. She became sadder as the days went by, only revealing her pain when her mother caught her crying. She did not deem it respectable to show her emotions even to her mother so she suppressed them. John was “quite unconscious that Meg missed him” (390). Only once John realized that Meg missed him deeply did he console her. When he did he showed quite a bit of emotion when comforting his wife and assuming some parental responsibilities over the children (398). Alcott treats suppressing emotions as a good quality for women and showing emotion as a positive for men.