以《小妇人》小说来分析女性主义
03-18, 2013
ABSTRACT摘要
Little Women is American 19th century’s most influential female writer Louisa May Alcott’s masterpiece, is “a book written for girls”. “小妇人”是美国19世纪最有影响力的女性作家奥尔科特的代表作，是“对女孩写的一本书”。The book stems from real life, sets the Civil War as the background, and is written in the form of domestic diary about the growing-up experience of the four March sisters. The author uses the simple realism writing, reproduces the cultural values of American society in the late 19th century, and fully reflects the independent spirit of a new era women. The four March sisters cannot stand staying at home and living their p At last the author summarizes the new women individualism in Little Women.最后，笔者总结了在“小妇人”新女性个人主义。oor life, they go out to work, earn money for the family in order to lessen the pressure of their parents and pursue their economic independence, realize their self-value. The heroines show their artistic talents; Meg goes out to work and earn money for lessen the family burden; Jo goes against with the traditional marriage; they run their own newspaper club together; their husbands take part in the household things; these all present the ideology of new women and feminism.他们运营自己的报纸俱乐部，他们的丈夫则是参与家庭事务，这些都是目前的新女性主义和女性主义的思想。
This article has introduced the feminism in Little Women. Through studies on the reasons and background information of the emergence of feminism, we can see the cultural connotations of feminism. The article analyzes the representation of feminism on the March sisters and discusses the mutual influences of the the March. The article points out that education and morality, friendship and affection play important roles in the growth.文章指出，教育和道德，友情和亲情在人的成长中扮演着重要的角色。
Keywords: feminism, independence, mutual influence 女性主义,独立性,相互影响
CONTENTS
摘 要 I
ABSTRACT II
1 Introduction - 1 -
2 The Initiation of Feminism - 3 -
2.1 True Women Ideology #p#分页标题#e#- 3 -
2.2 New Women Ideology - 4 -
2.3 Feminist Movement in Alcott’s Age - 5 -
3 Feminist Reform of the March Sisters - 8 -
3.1 Feminist Reform of Jo - 8 -
3.2 Feminist Reform of Amy - 9 -
4 Influences on the March Sisters - 11 -
4.1 The March Parents’ Influences - 11 -
4.2 Sisters Mutual Influences - 12 -
References - 16 -
Introduction介绍
Little Women is a novel concerns the lives and loves of four sisters growing up stories during the American Civil War.“小妇人”是一本在美国南北战争时期关于生命和爱的四姐妹成长的故事小说。 It includes most problems which probably happen in the growth of young girls, such as the problems in first love, friendship between teenagers and the gap between our dream and the reality. This is a story about love, faith, fortitude, and devotion. As a result, Little Women plays a significant role in encouraging young readers to face the competing world with optimistic attitude and learn to be independent.因此，“小妇人”起到了重要的作用，鼓励年轻的读者，以乐观的态度面对竞争的世界，要学会独立。http://ukthesis.org/dissertation_writing/
Many scholars have long studied feminism in Little Women.许多学者长期研究女权运动的小女子。 In the beginning, Jo is often regarded as the one who possesses the most feminism spirit as she doesn’t behave like a gentlewoman – she burns her dress while warming herself at the fire, spills things on her only gloves, and barely tolerates her cranky old Aunt March. At a time when women’s lives are restricted to hearth and home, Jo represents the possibility of another kind of life and pursues for a writing career (Cheney, 1889: 45). At the same time, Amy is regarded as a great feminist. To realize her dream, she spends much time trying out different medium for her art; she shows the limits and receives discouragements and even the mock of her sisters. She never doubts about her talent and adheres to the pursuit in spite of the obstacles.她从来没有怀疑她的才华和坚持的障碍梦想中的阻碍，尽情的追求。#p#分页标题#e#
Nowadays, the March sisters are all believed to be feminis as they all have artistic talent, they can read and write and each has her own interest. They gather together to have a secret society, call themselves the Pickwick Club to act a play and give each a boy’s name, they hope to have the same right with men (Sun Wen, 2007:45). However, recently, more scholars are paying attention to the reasons why the March sisters are feminist reformers. They are poor, but they can find their own happiness. Their parents are their role models, leading them to live a happy and merry life. And they are able to pass their joy to friends and even strangers (Chen Juan, 2008:176). This theory means feminism is not only a single performance, but a group behaviour under the family atmosphere.http://ukthesis.org/dissertation_writing/
Moreover, the mutual influence among the sisters who grow up together is also a very important factor on the girls’ feminism. Though they sometimes quarrel, they think for each other and gradually change their own temperament. But to our disappointment, very few scholars engage in the study of mutual influences among the sister. Thus, this research carries out a systematic study on the feminism in Little Women and analyses the influential factors. As for this paper, it is divided into five parts. Parts one introduces the significance and the previous situation of the research. Part two is a relevant study of interrelated ideologies and historical background. Part three analyses the feminism spirit on the heroines, takes Jo and Amy as typifications. Part four focuses on the reason why the sisters own feminism spirit, both parents’ impacts and sisters’ mutual influences. Part five is the conclusion. This analysis can be used as a tool to help readers know the Marches’ education and family atmosphere better, which will surely promote people’s understanding of this novel and its importance in history of literature.
The Initiation of Feminism女性启蒙主义
Little Women is a multifaceted novel with Alcott’s subversion of the story’s traditional doctrine and on the other hand her compromise with her culture’s norms.“小妇人”是奥尔科特所写的一个多方面的的颠覆传统故事的学说的一部小说，另一方面，也是她与她的文化规范之间的妥协。 It preaches domestic containment while it explores the infinity of inward female space and suggests an unending rage against the cultural limitations imposed on female development. Women in the March family bear conventional feminine features preserved by the 19th century True Woman ideology, but meanwhile carry distinctive New Woman’s spirits of that time.
2.1 True Women Ideology真正的女性意识
The concept of “True Women”, based on the traditional ideologies, pervaded in antebellum 19th century American Culture, is used to define the proper role for middle class white women. “The Cult of True Womanhood” involves the attributes of piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity (Barbara Welter, 1966:150). #p#分页标题#e#
Piety is the core of woman’s virtue, the source of her strength. 虔诚的核心是女人的美德，也是她的力量的来源。Young men looking for a mate are cautioned to search first for piety, for if that were there, all else would follow (Nashua, N. H, 1849: 37). So religion belonged to woman by divine right, a gift of God and nature, and religious women are not expected to question their subordinate status. It requires a devout belief in Christianity, stressing that woman is man’s helpmeet, not his equal. A woman’s duty is to serve her husband. As in the novel, Mrs and Mr March think though John is not rich, he is diligent and with good moral quality, so he is the right person to be their son-in–law. When Meg’s engagement to John Brooke is fixed, Meg resolves to learn the domestic chores so as to get herself ready for marriage, while Brooke works outside to earn the material basis for their marriage. Precisely speaking, Meg’s preparation for marriage is to train her to serve a man.
Purity, a second virtue, is the strongest possible terms to maintain women’s virtue (Barbara Welter, 1966:151). When Mr. March leaves home to take part in the war, Mrs. March waits for him to come back faithfully. When Meg is engaged to John, she waits three years for him to earn enough money for marriage. Purity demands women’s loyalty and faithful belief, and if this is ignored, the consequences are terrible and inexorable. So every woman in the old time obeys her husband.
Submissiveness, the next virtue, requires that a woman obey without question, firstly her parents and later her husband. It is certain that in whatever situation of life a woman is placed from her cradle to her grave, a spirit of obedience and submission, pliability of temper, and humility of mind are required of her. The ture dignity and beauty of the female character seem to consist in a right understanding and faithful and cheerful performance of social and family duties. On Christmas morning, the sisters wait for their mother to have a sumptuous breakfast, however Mrs. March askes her daughters to give their breakfast to save the poor family. The sisters are unwilling, they hesitate for a minute, and finally decide to obey their mother’s decision.
Domesticity, the last virtue, means women should center around the home, immersing themselves in domestic tasks while men work out to support the families. Needle-work, in all its forms of use, elegance, and ornament, has ever been the appropriate occupation of women (William Thayer, 1838:27). Mrs. March is a typical domestic woman, she is the center of the household and gives her daughters advices when her husband is out in the battle. She is the busiest women in the novel as her voice is “the first sound in the morning- and the last sound at night”. And after getting married, Meg also stays at home to look after the children and keeps the house in order.
The idea of true women rules the old women for centuries. Under men’s domination, women have to stay at home and their talent is constrained. Some brave women struggle to break the limitation and find their own development.#p#分页标题#e#
2.2 New Women Ideology
While Alcott’s Little Women celebrates women’s domestic role, it still reflects the new woman spirit of that time. New women means women lived at the end of the nineteenth century were changing dramatically on various fronts, most visibly so for daughters middle and upper classes. It was a revolutionary pursued for economically independent, physically adept, and mentally acute, and able to work, study and socialize on a part with men.
Traditional ideology restricted women’s mind, new women tried to break the old thought and find a way different from the traditional women’s roles. The new women are with not only independent consciousness, but a sense of responsibility. They are daughters who fulfill their families’ need and piety their parents, mothers who take care of their children with a kind-hearted heart, wives who help keep everything in order and are loyal to men. However, on the other hand, they are intransigent individuals who realize the importance of independence. New women are noble-hearted, they own sacrifice vigor, but they will not submit to their husbands. In their mind, men and women are individuals with equal spirit and intelligence, they have the same rights and are equal important at home. Men and women should mutual respect, arrange their home with mutual dependence (Gilbert & Gubar, 1979:176)
Alcott herself was a pioneer of feminist. In her later life, Alcott became an advocate for women’s suffrage and was the first woman to register to vote in Concord, Massachusetts, in a school board election (Sarah Elbert, 1984, 103). Alcott was different from most women at that time, she sought for individualism in her life. She based her heroine “Jo” on herself, but Jo marries at the end of the story whereas Alcott remained single throughout her life. She explained her “spinsterhood” in an interview with Louise Chandler Moulton, “because I have fallen in love with so many pretty girls and never once the least bit with any man.”
In Alcott’s novel, the March sisters have a strong sense of self-esteem, self-confidence, self-reliance and self-improvement. Though in the face of adversity, they face up to the hardship and cease to struggle. Self-support is the complete emancipation of men’s spirit, one should stand on his own legs. In their view, ingenuity, noncompliance should be advocated, and one should pay more attention to supple mind and action. They work hard to prove there are not worthless, they desire to undertake jobs to achieve social imperatives. The sisters show their talent of art, Meg goes out to work and earns money by teaching children to lighten the family burden, the sisters organized their own secret society to read newspaper and play drama, Jo earns money by writing and is against the traditional marriage, and husbands take part in the housework. Such scenes different from most families’ are common in the March family, shows their new woman ideology.
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