engels presentation

Little women

Tara Draaijer, Roos Westrik, Bo Linthorst

A6B

Introduction

- homework assignment 

- author information 

-title 

- characters

- plot

- themes 

- coming of age

- conflict and complication

-  quiz 

homework assignment

what do you expect?

Author

• Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)
  
• little women 1868
• Germantown, Pennsylvania
• hospital sketches
• adapted in for film, television and stage
• over 30 books
• advocaat for Women's suffrase and abolition
• Mid-19th century in USA

Title explanation

• Refers to main characters
  
• Discovering life
• Becoming adults

• Little opportunities in society

Characters

• Jo March
  
• Meg March
• Beth March
• Amy March
• Parents
• Laurie 

Jo March 

• 2nd
• Josephine
  
• Tomboy-ish writer
• Resisting
• Rejected
• Prof. Bhaer

• Wants to do something
  
• Knows she can't 
• Make father happy
• Shows the struggle she has throughout the novel

- ’ll try and be what he loves to call me, “a little woman,” and not be rough and wild; but do my duty here instead of wanting to be somewhere else.’ 

Meg March

• Margaret 
• Oldest
• Traditionally beautiful
  
• Peacemaker
• Duty
• Remembers the before
• materialsim
• Desire vs balance
• forgoing luxury

"Margaret found a place as nursery governess and felt rich with her small salary. As she said, she was 'fond of luxury,' and her chief trouble was poverty. She found it harder to bear than the others because she could remember a time when home was beautiful, life full of ease and pleasure, and want of any kind unknown. She tried not to be envious or discontented, but it was very natural that the young girl should long for pretty things, gay friends, accomplishments, and a happy life. " 

"I don't want a fashionable wedding but only those about me whom I love, and to them I wish t ook and be my familiar self."

Beth March

• Third
  
• Shy
• Piano
• Fragile
• Acceptance

First, hope

"Beth has grown slender, pale, and more quiet than ever. The beautiful, kind eyes are larger, and in them lies an expression that saddens one, although it is not sad itself. It is the shadow of pain which touches the young face with such pathetic patience, but Beth seldom complains and always speaks hopefully of 'being better soon'."

Later, acceptance

"I only mean to say that I have a feeling that it never was intended I should live long. I'm not like the rest of you. I never made any plans about what I'd do when I grew up. I never thought of being married, as you all did. I couldn't seem to imagine myself anything but stupid little Beth, trotting about at home, of no use anywhere but there."

Amy March

• Youngest
  
• Youth vs Adolescence
• Sophisticated
• Social status
• Marriage
• Contradicts Jo

"You laugh at me when I say I want to be a lady, but I mean a true gentlewoman in mind and manners, and I try to do it as far as I know how. I can't explain exactly, but I want to be above the little meannesses and follies and faults that spoil so many women."

Mr. March

• "father"
  
• Chaplain
• Absences 
• Conflict
• Letters
• Closure

Mrs. March

• "Marmee"
  
• Anchor
• Shaping
• Willing to listen

- Role models

- Guiding lights

Laurie

• Theodore Laurence 
  
• Wealthy, charming neighbor
• Close friends
• Drawn to Jo
• Transformation 
• Marries Amy
• Adolescence to adulthood
• Less masculine

Plot

• Living in poverty
  
• christmas
• presents for Marmee
• The pilgrims progress

• New years eve party
  
• Meg sprains ankle
• Friends
• Jo and Meg fight about manuscript

• Club meeting
  
• Jo's first story
• Mr. March in hospital
• Scarlet fever
• Meg marreis Mr. Brook

Three years later

• Mr. March back
  
• Meg give birth
• Jo moves to New York
• Laurie proposes

• Meg and Mr. Brook -> Demi and Daisy
  
• Amy and Laurie -> Beth
• Jo and professor Baer
• Happily ever after

Themes 

Women's struggle between familial duty and personal growth > Necessity of work

• Jo and Amy
  
• Dreams
• Obligations to their family

Q: "I have a great many ambitious dreams, but they all have to do with myself, so I shan't be likely to carry them out" - Beth

The danger of gender stereotyping

• Jo

Q: "I'll try and be what he love to call me, "a little woman" and not be rough and wild: but do my duty here instead of wanting to be somewhere else." - Jo

• Own desires vs her fathers expectations
• Laurie
• Feminine pursuit
• nicknames
• portrayed as opposite genders

The importance of being genuine

• reject social expectations
  

Q: "I'd rather take coffee than compliments just now. I don't need a man to validate my existence." - Jo

• Meg marries for love

coming of age

Jo

• happy-go-lucky girl
• serious business
• boarding school

Meg

•  ungreatfull
• values small things

Amy

•  Upper class
• Gentle woman
• Understanding of importance

Beth

•  No dreams
• Dies

Conflict and Complication

Difference 

Conflicts

• Economic Hardship
• Social expectations
• Personal growth and identity

Economic Hardship

- family income reduced

shown: limited gifts, old clothes

- they remain close, learn to appreciate the little things

Social expectations

Gender roles

Marriage and Family

struggles in their own way

Personal growth and identity

Meg: money isn't everything.

Jo: No need to abandon her dreams

Beth: overcame fears.

Amy: Selfcentred to beautiful world

Complication

• Beth's illness
  
• Unrequited love
• Dealing with grief helps development

Were your predictions correct?

Quiz!

Who struggles with gender expectations the most?

1. Jo March
2. Amy March
3. Laurie
4. Meg March

Who does Laurie end up marrying?

1. Amy March
2. Jo March
3. Meg March
4. Beth March

Which character uses her femininity to manipulate others?

1. Jo March
2. Meg March
3. Amy March
4. Mrs. March

Where is mr. March for the major part of the novel?

1. France
2. War
3. Home
4. Canada