Women Empowerment

In the third article of the Symposium, Deeksha Muralidhar enlightens us on how the value of ‘women empowerment’ is portrayed through the novel ‘Little Women’:

“For most of history, Anonymous was a woman.” Little Women, published in 1868 was one of the most influential books of the time. The plot veered from the traditional adventurous plots and stories, with males as central characters. The book deals with a number of themes such as domesticity, work and love but one of the most important themes of the book is women empowerment. The book with women as all of its major characters, caused the normalization of ambitious women in the American middle class.

The story revolves around four sisters and their mother, trying to build their lives and make ends meet after their father went off to war. Each of them is talented in their own way. Meg, the oldest earns money by working as a governess. Jo is an incredibly talented writer, Beth, helps in domestic duties and Amy is an artist. As the girls grow up, they are forced to adopt social norms and behave ladylike, something all the sisters dreaded especially Jo, being the tomboy of the family, as they did not want to give up their individuality and their families to get married, as was expected in the society.  The book introduced concepts such as a democratic household which were previously unheard of in middle class American society and encouraged domestic reform. This liberated the women of the 19^th century as they no longer had to be a victim of gender stereotyping by the society and carry out gender specific duties. Instead, women began to alter their daily routines and no longer had to do all the housework. They started venturing out in the world of employment and started carving out a name for themselves in the previously male – dominated world.  The author made the basic rights of women a very important part of her plot thus allowing young girls to dream to do something different and allowed them to build their own lives and futures instead of being a passive part of the society and depending on men. Louisa May Alcott believed that women can be successful and can make their way in the world even by staying away from the social arrangements and that by starting from the roots and having gender equality in the domestic sphere, democratic households would eventually lead to a feminist society, ensuring that women get all the basic rights that men enjoy.  

In the book, Mrs. March is portrayed as a brave and strong willed woman as she manages to make ends meet and care for all of her four children with limited resources, while her husband was away at war. Despite all of the financial troubles her family faces, Mrs. March still manages to help people with worse living conditions. Through this character, Alcott describes utopian women, who are independent and can manage families without help from men. Alcott challenged the preconceived notion existing in those days that women could not manage families as well as practice a vocation and earn money to support their families. It was believed that women should be restricted to the domestic sphere, a practice that Alcott tried to change by the means of her novels. Meg, the oldest sister is portrayed as conventional and good. She tries to change herself and follow the social practices to please other people in the process sacrificing her identity. She gives up her girlish weakness for luxury and money and marries a poor man, thus following the conventional social practices, became an agreeable housewife. Through this character, the author describes how the young girls of the 19^th century gave up their identities and followed customs and practices put forward by the society no matter how much they wanted to retain their individuality and remain independent. Girls usually agreed to this so that they would not be excluded from the social circles for not adhering to its principles. Jo, the second oldest sister is portrayed as an exact opposite of how girls were supposed to behave in the 19^th century. She is tomboyish and has a passion for writing. Women tried to respond to the ideas of social changes within the familiar construct of domesticity while some rebelled and wanted drastical improvements to their lives, which I believe was instrumental in creating the strong-willed free women of the 21^st century.

Meg and Beth conform to the traditional expectations of society, Amy and Jo initially attempt to break free from these constraints and try to develop their individual abilities and talents but eventually both get married and settle into a more customary life. Jo even gave up her writing and loses her headstrong independence. However, at first,  she struggled to live a family and a meaningful professional life. Through this, Alcott proves the strong expectations and stereotypes that existed in the 19^th century. Women, no matter how successful or talented they are individually, everyone were eventually coerced into molding themselves according to the society’s rules. Alcott compares the more realistic model of womanhood versus the unrealistic, by highlighting the different aspects of the lives of the four sisters. Women had to emphasize on domestic duties and family thus leaving very little time for them, to grow personally and professionally.

19^th century was a particularly difficult time for women to thrive socially. When Alcott wrote the novel, it was the time when women’s status in society was slowly increasing, thus progressing toward gender equality. It centers on the conflict between two most important things in a woman’s life. Through the four sisters Alcott tries to explore how women dealt with the constraints of social expectations. The novel also questions gender stereotypes and in many instances portrays traditional gender expectations being reversed. She states the importance of work, not only as a source of income but also to create happiness through proper use of time and productivity. Alcott also tries to convey the message of being genuine. Meg and Amy tried to be like their rich friends, pretending to be happy in the presence of wealth, whereas they were quite content and happy with their family and loved ones around them. It is books like these that planted the seed of freedom in the minds of women, causing them to rebel against society. Women were now no longer afraid to dream to move out of the domestic sphere, to live lives as free individuals without social barriers. It inspired young women to have their special individuality and not conform to what the society wanted them to be, by accepting the existing social norms and thus in the process sacrificing a visceral part of themselves. Women, now being a part of a democratic household, could spare time practice a vocation and earn both fame and money. Many factors such as literature instigated them to change their lives and become active citizens, thus trying creating a world where gender specific roles did not exist, something I believe women even in the 21^st century are still trying to achieve. Even girls who were vain and had a weakness for wealth and luxury began changing their mindset and looked at the bigger picture, that is freedom, recognition and empowerment