Feminism analyzed through the film Little Women
By: Julianna Hawley
In the film Little Women, many themes are mentioned that have become a big part of our society. This film, when it was released became a sensation to the public bringing the novel back into the conversation. Greta Gerwig, the director, was able to create an adaptation that wasn't forced to conform to societal expectations. She made a film that she resonated with and reflected on her personal story. Through the film, Gerwig reflected on girls and brought the study of girlhood into the conversation of the movie. Gerwig shows the March sister's when they are younger in their home where we can see the girls let down their guard and show their personalities. In the film, Little Women, Greta Gerwig was able to make a compelling version of the novel that responds to the topic of girlhood, showing the struggles of young girls in a difficult society.
The film follows the four March sisters; Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy as they go through the transition from girls to women. This film tells the story of young women finding themselves in the world and society and their journey to finding love, either through passions or a significant other. While the girls find themselves in a world that is against them they have one another to help them navigate through the challenges. The audience can see that all the girls have different passions and don't want the same things for their future, which they all come to terms with in the film. They show that not everyone has to be the same and that exploring their interests can be hard in a world that doesn't want them to succeed.
The Making of the Film
The film Little Women was released in 2019 to the public, and directed by Greta Gerwig. In this adaptation, Gerwig wanted to create a story where, "the author isn't Alcott but the novel's protagonist, Jo March" (Brody, 2019, para. 1). The film highlighted women and their experiences through a woman's storytelling showcasing their hobbies and strengths but also hardships. Gerwig created this film based on the book but changed the direction to conform more to the public's needs. She reflected on personal experiences that she could bring into the creation and used Jo March, the main character, as a key part.
Greta Gerwig in numerous interviews talks about her fascination with this text and how inspired she felt to create her own rendition. Gerwig has created other films highlighting feminism such as Lady Bird and more recently the Barbie movie. As an actor and director, Gerwig has created films that are tailored to understanding the deeper meanings of girlhood in today's society. This film is no different as Gerwig took the novel Little Women and deconstructed the deeper meanings behind the text. Gerwig explains in an interview with Kim Morgan for Beverly Cinema:
There's a sadness underneath the text that I think has to do with this distance between what Louisa May Alcott's life had been and what this fictionalized March family was. But, also, this distance from childhood and sisterhood and togetherness that's now gone for her. And, then, beyond that, Louisa [in real life] is more radical than her characters are allowed to be. And, that she is, in some ways, constrained by these pre-Victorian standards of morality that she doesn't live by. But, because she wants to sell books, she has to kind of tie everything up with a bow – particularly in the early chapters – how everything has to be a lesson to put these women back on track, in a way. (para. 7).
In this interview, Gerwig continues to explain the girls portrayed in the novel and how they develop throughout the book. She understands what Alcott is not able to say, in the film she doesn't give the girls perfect endings she leaves them to follow their dreams.
The Family Home and Sisterhood
Throughout the film we see the girls in their home with their mother, there are no males as their father is off fighting in the Civil War while they grow up. This gives the girls a space where they can be themselves and don't have to worry about what they are saying. They spend a lot of time in the house and many things happen but they all accept each other for who they are. In the home, they are all able to explore themselves and their hobbies leading into their later career endeavors. Ashton and Patel's article on Girls' Bedroom Culture was about how the bedroom is "primarily a site for cultural consumption and a space for girls to explore their self-identity and experiment with self-beautification" (p. 1). This can also be applied to the March's house as a whole as they are not surrounded by men and their every move isn't being watched.
While their father is off at war the girls are left with no financial support and Jo gets a job to support her family. The girls are very close through the whole film, Jo specifically has different views and aspirations for her life and becomes different from her sisters. While her sisters explain what they want for their lives either traditional or exploring their passions, Jo learns to respect their decisions acknowledging that they are all different people. They share many memories, good and bad, going through life and supporting each other's decisions even when they seem unattainable. The sisters become very close through financial struggles and sacrificing personal growth for their families and they come together when their sister Beth dies from the effects of Scarlet Fever. They show their full support for every decision and the loyalty they all share taking care of one another through the ups and downs of growing up.
Jo March's Journey to Self-Discovery
While the girls explore themselves they also navigate their way through the patriarchal expectations they must endure in their everyday lives. In An Analysis of how Women's Struggle Portrayed from the Main Character in the Movie "Little Women (2019)", the authors create a study based on three struggles. The three struggles are; the struggle to accept facts of life, the struggle to achieve a dream, and the struggle in the form of affection. The struggle to accept the facts of life shows us that we should look at someone's life with no personal feelings. The struggle to achieve a dream is how each individual deals with problems and reflects on them personally. The struggle in the form of affection is how we see love because to have a passion we need to know how to love. Through the study, these struggles are used to deconstruct Jo March and her life through the film regarding the path she took.
The gender stereotypes during the nineteenth century controlled the lives of women and in this study previously mentioned, the authors confront these stereotypes. Jo March was a big metaphor for the movie as she went against what a stereotypical woman was at the time. She didn't want to be a part of the stereotypes, she wanted to be free to explore who she was and create a career for herself. Jo focused on her passion for writing over finding love and getting married she wanted to make a name for herself outside of a man. Stereotypically girls were to be ladylike, but Jo preferred the company of males and would dress in clothes that girls normally wouldn't wear. She prioritized her writing career and made money for herself not relying on a male to care for her financially. Jo March as a character is an inspiration to the viewer to defy societal norms and find their way in the world as depending on others isn't always necessary.
Comparisons to other forms of entertainment
In many other movies and TV shows, we see very similar stories that send a specific message to the audience. There aren't many forms of entertainment with a primarily female cast or main character and the majority that do aren't feminist. Many representations point to females as mean and rude not characterizing the daily struggles of real-life girls. These films have become very popular because they are aimed toward females, "these stories constitute a near total objectification of the girl creating a binary which normalizes male physical aggression while pathologizing what is understood as female forms of aggression" (Gonick, 2020, p. 853). If females aren't portrayed as the bully they are portrayed as needing someone to save them as if they aren't capable of helping themselves. Most stories have a happy ending which is what the audience wants but in real life, there isn't always a happy ending or a boy to save the day.
In the film, Little Women, the girls aren't tied to these societal norms of entertainment and aren't recreated to fit other forms of entertainment that the audience enjoys. This film specifically depicts themes that the audience isn't used to seeing in these other movies and shows. Gerwig was able to create characters that all had deeper meaning; especially Jo March who outwardly went against everything a woman was supposed to be during the nineteenth century. While the novel gave all the girls a happy ending Gerwig did not want the girls to have the stereotypical endings. The girls were still young hence the title Little Women as they transitioned from girlhood to womanhood. While their stories were technically over in the aspect of the movie, they still had more life to live and more to explore as they all were still on the search for happiness. Gerwig does end the film with Jo potentially having a romantic interest but puts more emphasis on Jo's achievement of publishing a novel. The film ends leaving space for love but also shows that all of Jo's hard work paid off and working to make a spot in society for herself was worth the pain.
Concluding Words
Throughout this film, there were many struggles faced by all the characters especially seen through Jo March. These young women have become a big conversation and clips of the film still pop up on social media as this has been a very enlightening movie to the audience. As a society, we aren't used to seeing entertainment that sparks a topic of feminism and young girls navigating through the struggles of their lives. Jo didn't want to find love throughout the whole film and prioritized herself and her family. The sisters supported each other but also explored what they wanted for their futures even if that was marriage. This film represents the hardships of girlhood and brings up numerous topics of oppression against women.
Greta Gerwig did a good job at bringing these young girls' stories back to life while challenging societal norms. She wanted to create a story that resonated with her journey but also was accurate to the novel by Louisa May Alcott. This movie inspires young viewers to not settle and feel comfortable expressing themselves without feeling the judgment of others. Jo March was able to get out of her comfort zone leading her to become successful in her life on her own. The March sisters supported each other and became more to understand the struggles of their siblings. They never settled for less than they knew they were worth the girls were smart and they had dreams and did everything they could to reach them.
References
Ashton, D., & Patel, K. (2020). Girls' Bedroom Cultures. In K. Ross (Ed.), The International Encyclopedia of Gender, Media, and Communication. Wiley.
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Brody, R. (2019, December 31). The Compromises of Greta Gerwig's "Little Women". The New Yorker 100.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-compromises-of-greta-gerwigs-little-women
Desmawati, E. (2018). Analysis of feminism in the novel of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Journal of Language and Literature, 6(2), (pp. 91–96).
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Gonick, M. (2020). Girls. In D Thomas Cook (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Girlhood Studies (pp. 852-855). Sage Publications.
Helgren, J. (2020). Girlhood. In D Thomas Cook (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Girlhood Studies (pp. 841-845). Sage Publications.
Morgan, K. (2020, January 12). Little Women with Greta Gerwig. Beverly Cinema.
https://thenewbev.com/blog/2020/01/little-women-with-greta-gerwig/#:~:text=As Gerwig%20said%2C%20%E2%80%9CI%20do,book%20that%20I've%20loved%E2%80%A6
Paris, N., & Samad, P. (2024). Feminist Perspective of Life's Struggle: A Literature Review of the Movie Little Woman (2019). Innovations in Language Education and Literature (pp. 30-34). Universitas Sulawesi Barat. https://doi.org/10.31605/ilere.v1i1.392910
Sutrisno, B., Nurhasanah, N., & Rachmawati, B. (2023). An Analysis of How Women's Struggle Portrayed from the Main Character in the Movie Little Women (2019). JELL (Journal of English Language and Literature) STIBA-IEC Jakarta, 8(01), (pp. 97-110).
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Webb, W. (2019). Photograph of Greta Gerwig. Columbia Pictures.
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Webb, W. (2019). Photograph of Jo March. Columbia Pictures.
Webb, W. (2019). Photograph of March Sisters. Columbia Pictures.
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