Abstract:
This paper examines the ways in which classed and gendered ideologies in the novel Little Women repress Jo, Amy, and Meg March. Beth, because of her function as a domesticated type rather than as an individual woman, does not suffer from the defeat of her desires. Therefore, she is not considered extensively in this paper. Jo, Amy, and Meg are each convinced that meeting middle class social standards by becoming humble and altruistic wives is more vital to their roles as women than fulfilling individual goals and ambitions. Jo, who surrenders her long-cherished goal of becoming a famous and self-supporting author in order to write moralistic fiction that will please society, is often seen as the most prominent of the sisters. However, Amy and Meg also make sacrifices in the name of social acceptability. Amy, in order to succeed in the nineteenth century marriage market, lays aside both her artistic ambition and her intention to marry solely for money. Meg, whose main goal is the acquisition of wealth, is convinced to surrender her dream of financial security in order to meet middle class standards. All three women are, through the course of the novel, transformed from ambitious young girls to domestic women, angels in their respective homes.
