The Rebellion And Retreat Of A "Little Woman"

Little Women,the masterpiece of Louisa May Alcott,is one of the classical family novels in American literature in the nineteenth century.Little Women is based on Alcott’s own life experiences,and the heroine Jo March has always been the focus of scholarly researches.Scholars are interested in how such a maverick tries to challenge the authority and breaks traditional stereotypes of women in patriarchal society.Focused on the most representative little woman Jo in the novel,this thesis attempts to discuss her resistance and compromise in her life.In addition,with the analysis of Foucault’s Theory of Prison and Freud’s Theory of Personality Construction,it is intended to explain women’s predicament in patriarchal society,from the perspectives of social environment and inner personality construction.This thesis consists of three chapters.Firstly,it discusses Jo’s resolution to challenge mainstream culture with her “crazy” actions.Jo’s resistance is mainly expressed in her subversion of patriarchal traditions.In order to fight against patriarchal culture,Jo creates a new mode of living and devotes herself to managing her matriarchal family.Meanwhile,Jo bravely challenges men’s authority in writing in society.She believes that women can also create great works like male writers.Secondly,in light of Foucault’s Theory of Prison and Freud’s Theoryof Personality Construction,this thesis demonstrates women’s predicament from the aspects of outside environment and Jo’s inner world.Jo is like an alien or a prisoner in patriarchal society,and she is often rebuked,which confuses her belief and choices.In addition,Jo’s sisters stand for her different psychological stages on the road of growing-up.Amy is Jo’s repressed id,while Beth represents Jo’s superego.To a large extent,it is their complex interrelationships that cause Jo’s failure on her way to challenge patriarchal culture.Finally,this thesis studies Jo’s surrender and retreat to the patriarchal family.The novel strongly criticizes the suppression of women’s individual development by patriarchal society,and portrays Jo’s change from a “challenger” to a “victim”.In this way,it exposes the nature of patriarchal society in which women not only suffer inequality,but also their pursuit of freedom and personal development is relentlessly repressed by the mainstream ideology of patriarchal culture.