Little Women

The novel starts with a reference to John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, a Christian allegory. In essence, the whole story of Little Women is a pilgrimage, as the characters go through trials and tribulations before they are worthy of reaching their various versions of paradise.

To deal with the difficult absence of Mr. March, Mrs. March hands each of her children a guidebook to assist them in becoming “little women” (11), as they are meant to be in their father’s eyes. Mr. March’s character lacks a full fleshing out, and it is uncertain what his role is even upon his return. Yet, he is a vital figure in the women’s lives that “was still the head of the family, the household conscience, anchor, and comforter” (256). In this way, he can be seen as representative of God, or godlike—not truly there, but thoroughly felt. Assuming that Mr. March is the eyes that the girls see themselves through, they want to please their “God” by sacrificing their “burdens” to become the ideal women: selfless, gracious, and generous, among other divine qualities.

Throughout the novel, characters must choose either the worldly or the spiritual; one cannot have both, and the characters tend to gravitate toward the spiritual, as that is meant to be the lasting choice. For instance, Marmee tells her daughters, “I’d rather see you poor men’s wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace” (104). Here, one can note the binary that exists in Marmee’s outlook on life: Either be poor and happy, or rich and depressed. In fact, in the novel, those that are poverty-stricken appear to have fulfilling lives and those with wealth seem to lead dismally empty ones, especially when comparing Meg and John Brooke to Sally and Ned Moffat. Moreover, although Marmee admits the necessity of money and their poverty is their biggest obstacle, they seem to choose being poor over being rich, as money is treated as a moral corrupter.

Elsewhere, when Jo realizes the tacky nature of her sensation stories, she repents: “I’ve gone blindly on, hurting myself and other people, for the sake of money” (384). From that point, the shame prevents her from writing such stories, and she chooses Professor Bhaer’s advice, as he also represents goodness and poverty.

However, money is not the only item being sacrificed: When each of the women marry, they sacrifice their original dreams and innate desires for revised, idyllic versions of “castles in the air” (151).

When the time for marriage arrives, Meg marries Mr. Brooke, as his poverty and work ethic are evidence of his capacity to be a good husband. Meg knows that she may never live the luxurious life she desires. When Jo falls for Professor Bhaer, she is attracted to his poverty and benevolence. Her family agrees, “feeling even the more friendly because he was poor” (486). Upon marriage, Jo creates a new dream with him, knowing that she is giving up her chance at independence, fame, and, for the time being, her literary ambitions, which she thinks in retrospect were “selfish, lonely and cold” (527). Even Amy, when she takes the wealthy Laurie as her husband, chooses someone familiar, who is acquainted with Marmee and their principles around family and work.

Beth may be viewed as the extreme example of forgoing worldly pleasures through her death and attainment of spiritual peace; while the other sisters find their figurative, respective paradises, Beth finds what the March family views as the literal one.