Book Review of Little Women

Little Women Louisa May Alcott Bantam Classics 1983-4-1 Below is a book review of Little Women, a family ethics novel with autobiographic color written by Louisa May Alcott, an American female author in 19th century, and published by Bantam Classics on April 1st 1983. This book review consists of three parts, incorporating a brief synopsis of the book content, an analysis of the main characters and an interpretation of the themes of the book. Based on the author’s early life in New England, Little Woman vividly depicts the growing process of the four March sisters as they grow from girls to little women, recounting their unique love experiences and respective pursuit of different ideals. The story takes place during the American Civil War when Father March, the only male in the March family is away with the Union army. Nevertheless, though faced with financial hardship, the four March sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy keep in high spirits with their mother, Mrs. March or “Marmee” and support each other, showing tremendous vigor of youth and passion for life. Not bound by the traditional etiquette, the four March sisters dare to love, live as they please optimistically and pursue their inner dreams. At the end of the tale, with beautiful feminine qualities and the persistent seek, March sisters respectively find their true love, achieve their own life goals and realize the value of life. To sum up, it is a novel about the independent growth of females. The four March sisters has significantly different characters though all of them are pretty, kind and sincere. As the most important character in the novel, Jo is an open-minded, self-respecting and tenacious tomboy, acting as the inner-directed leader of the March sisters. Keen on and gifted in literary creation, Jo bravely heads to New York to pursue her dream of being a successful writer after refusing the proposal of her rich neighbor Laurie, which reflects the strength of women in careers. As for Meg, the oldest one in the family, is of a gender nature. Though she is slight weakness for leisure, she marries to the poor John without hesitation for his integrity and loyalty. The glory of maternal love and the wisdom of family arrangement shining on Meg manifests the traditional virtues of women. The third sister, Beth, is introverted and docile. Because she could not adapt to the school life, she drops out of school and stays at home helping Mrs.March with domestic work and taking care of her sisters. She gives all her unconditional love to the family and the weak and has no regrets even though contracting scarlet disease for delivering food to her poor neighbors. The peace and serenity with which she faced death moves readers to tears. The youngest sister Amy is fond of experimenting with art and has an aesthetic taste for painting and sculpture. She dreams of becoming a great artist and makes unremitting efforts to this end, without doubting her ability even though she is ridiculed by setbacks. Despite a bit of vanity, her sympathy for the poor drives her to devote herself to charity after marrying rich Laurie. Frankly speaking, not each of the March sisters is perfect, but the beautiful qualities they carry with when seeking and chasing for life ideals matters much more than the shortcomings. As the sayig goes, gold can not be pure and man can not be perfect. The characters of March sisters is actually a true portrait of real life and humanity. The themes of Little Woman focus on family, poverty, self-improvement and independence of females. To begin with, throughout the novel, the author emphasizes the March sisters’ familial reactions and behaviors toward each other to express the praise of the importance and significant meaning of family. The March family is an inalienable and interdependent whole where all the family members deeply care and support one another. What’s more, to seek joy and be optimistic amidst poverty and sorrow is another theme of the novel. In spite of the relatively poor financial situation, instead of wallowing themselves in the sadness of material deprivation, the March sisters work hard as tutors to support the family. Instead of complaining about the lack of exquisite decorations and gorgeous clothes, they frequently put on plays written by Jo using whatever props are available, which brings great fun to their commonplace life. Additionally, poverty does not stop the spread of kindness. Due to Marmee’s education, it is so well-meaning and generous of the March sisters to give away their precious Christian dinner to their neighbors who are suffering hunger and disease. Last but not least, self-improvement and independence is also a major theme of the novel. The March sisters are always working to develop their characters, learn form mistakes and step forward to their life ideals. It is a growth process full of constant change. Along with self-improvement, the March sisters attach great importance to independence. Take for example, Jo thinks independence and freedom overweigh wealth. Thus, she firmly refuses the proposal of rich Laurie. In conclusion, as a book with regard to females, Little Women narrates the growth story of the four March sisters with different but beautiful characters, expressing the themes of family, poverty, self-improvement and independence.