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Little Women: Female Bildungsroman and Female OppressionKyungtaek MinThe purpose of this article is to analyze the problem of female oppression concealed in Little Women, Louisa May Alcott's female Bildungsroman, from the perspective of feminist theory. Alcott forms and describes the contents of Little Women by imitating the plot of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Little Women is a story of growing up female of four little sisters such as Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. These four sisters go through their adolescent periods with heavy burdens that are depicted as 'bosom enemies' by their father who fights in the Civil War. Alcott symbolizes 'bosom enemies' as their characteristic weaknesses which they must fight and conquer to grow up, and their mother and father help their daughters to overcome them.In the second part of the novel, the little girls are old enough to get married, and their marriage becomes the main theme of the part. But Alcott uses their marriage as a device to control and tame the girls. After their marriage, Jo and Amy give up their dream to be an artist and a writer. Although she loves independence and liberty, Jo falls in love with old professor Bhaer too easily. Because she never seems to get married with anyone, readers feel embarrassed by Jo's radical change. Alcott shows female oppression through Jo's unnatural and awkward marriage different from readers' expectation. In order to make them gentlewomen or ladies according to social standards, Alcott makes little women abandon their desires and dreams. It seems to be Alcott's obsession to throw into relief her moral concerns and lessons in the novel.
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female oppression, female Bildungsroman, Little Women, marriage, Alcott, The Pilgrim's Progress
