Little Women, written by Alcott, describes the coming-of-age story of four young girls, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. One of the major driving points of this story is the concept of marriage and to whom each girl will get married too. As Mrs. March states, "to be loved and chosen by a good man is the best and sweetest thing which can happen to a woman," (Alcott, 97) marking marriage as somewhat of an end goal for all the girls. This can be seen as once Meg went and got married to Mr. Brooke, the story shifts its focus on to the remaining three girls, occasionally coming back to Meg to tell the tales of her hardships and learning experiences. The story then basically ends with the marriage of Jo and Bhaer, with all three girls now happily married. However, I wonder, did women back during the time of Alcott see marriage as the end goal of their lives? Or did they see it as the final step towards becoming a mature woman?
Throughout the end first half of the book, many of the chapters were dedicated towards the girls learning a lesson from either their mother or others around them in the hopes of them fixing their major flaws. (With Meg and Amy being materialistic, Beth being too shy and quiet, and Jo being too independent and headstrong.) And while all of these lessons did change the girls, the final step into completing their coming-of-age was marriage as each of their marriages characterized how mature each girl became. Meg married Mr. Brooke, a poor man with nothing to his name, and even "put her pride in her pocket, went to Sallie, told the truth and asked her to but the silk as a favor," (Alcott 284) to buy Mr. Brooke his coat. Amy refused Fred's proposal and married Laurie as "she found that something more than money and position was needed to satisfy the new longing that filled her heart," (Alcott 425), a large change from what we've seen of her before. Jo, who had always thought that she would never marry and would be her own independent self, finally married Bhaer at the end, showing change from her character that was presented for the majority of the book.
Though one could argue that Meg was still far from mature during the first part of her marriage with Mr. Brooke, it was through her marriage with Mr. Brooke that she could fix the remainder of her flaws and become a good and mature women. With that being said, however, Beth seems to go against this thought as she was viewed (at least to my eyes) as the most mature out of all the girls and not only did she not get married, she died, implying that after becoming a flawless and mature woman, the next step would be to go to God. All in all, the importance of marriage in this book is an interesting topic to discuss in the modern day.
I think that this is an interesting take on the role of men in the novel. Despite the fact that there are few characters who are men, they still play an important role in driving the maturity and growing of these young women. In fact, at the beginning of the novel Mrs. March mentions that all she wants for her girls is to marry the man that they deserve. It could be argued that, although it is in the back of their mind, marriage is a driving force in the changing and resolving of flaws for the sisters. Even though Jo seemingly stands against the prospect of marriage and leans more towards an independent life, she eventually marries and alters her writing style to mirror what Mr. Bhaer believes is best for her. This outlook on marriage during the 19th century can be contrasted against the beliefs of marriage in modern society. Although there is still a positive outlook on marriage today, there is seemingly less importance imposed on the idea of marriage. It is generally more acceptable for a women to be independent in today's society; something that was considered taboo in Alcott's time. Overall, the idea of marriage in this novel is an interesting theme that could be explored as a driving force in the maturing of these little women.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that marriage plays an important role in Alcott’s novel, particularly in helping the girls fix their flaws. You mention each of the girls, but this is also shown by Mrs. March and her temper. When she is explaining her temper to Jo, she mentions that her “good mother used to help” (68) her control her temper, but after her mother died she had “to struggle on alone” (68). However, once Mr. March “helped and comforted” (68) Mrs. March, she was able to control her temper. So, while I do agree that marriage plays its role, I think that the connections between the girls, including the girls between themselves and the girls with their mother, are more important in learning those lessons.
By making the point that Mrs. March’s problem was not solved by marrying Mr. March and Meg’s hardships did not end when she married Mr. Brooke, Alcott is arguing that marriage does not fix all of one’s flaws and problems. Even so, the marriages and matches in the men do show how marriage is important in forming these connections between others that are right for each individual person. For example, Jo and Laurie were not right for each other, but Jo and Bhaer are; they balance once another, despite the novel focusing on the women’s flaws in comparison to the men’s flaws. Overall, I believe that the connections in the novel were more important than the concept of marriage, but marriage does play an important role within the creation of these necessary connections.