Woman’s Fiction and Little Women as Early Sources of Feminism

“Women could change others by changing themselves, and the phrase ‘woman’s sphere is in the home’ could appear to mean ‘woman’s sphere is to reform the world,” (49). This line from Nina Baym’s Woman’s Fiction speaks volumes when applied to Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. The novel delves into the lives of the March sisters as they navigate through the ups and downs of adolescence that help them grow into young women in the 1800s. In Little Women, Alcott shows the importance of the March sisters becoming better people throughout their lives in all aspects, including becoming stronger and more independent women. What makes Little Women so authentic is Louisa May Alcott’s personal struggles that align with the March sisters with following the expectations of women to be domestic and obedient with marriage as the most important goal. Mrs. March voices that she wishes for her daughters to be “well and wisely married” because “to be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing that can happen to a woman,” (96). Jo, who is representative of Alcott herself, is independent and tomboyish with the desire to be a writer; despite the expectations of society and her mother, the last thing she cares to be is a wife. While we see Meg and Amy act as proper women with the goal of marrying a nice, wealthy man, Jo is outspoken and temperamental with a self-proclaimed “abominable tongue” (256). These reasons are why Jo is such a fan favorite – she is real and presented with lots of depth, which I cannot imagine to be the case for most female literary characters in the 1800s. While she does end up married in the end to Mr. Bhaer, Jo’s determination and spunkiness makes her stand out and can be relatable to feminists of 2020 as well as those in the late 1800s who also did not fit the mold of a “proper lady”.

Little Women was written during the era of “woman’s fiction” that we read and discussed in class, which gives additional insight into why Alcott’s novel was so impactful. In 1868 when Little Women was published, it fit into the genre of “woman’s fiction” as coined by Nina Baym, which includes books written “by and about women in America” from 1820-1870. As Baym describes, central to these stories is “a heroine who, beset with hardships, finds within herself the qualities of intelligence, will, resourcefulness, and courage,” (22), who is also “without a suitor” for much of the novel (38) – is this not very much a description of Jo? Little Women and woman’s fiction are great sources of inspiration for women now and then that are looking for female role models that defy societal expectations of womanhood.