Religious Connotations Of Biblical Archetypes In Little Women

Little Women is the masterpiece of American authoress Louisa May Alcott as well as an influential literary classic in American literary world. According to Frye,as far as Western literary tradition is concerned,two systems contribute to archetypes,that is,the ancient Greek mythology and the Bible of the Hebrews.Frye's Myth-Archetypal criticism is based on our primitive human experience and aims at an overall understanding of the development of literary genres.He holds that we can penetrate into the most intrinsic and primitive spirit of human cultures and can be closer to the nature of literature.This thesis begins with a discussion of the archetypes in Biblical culture,and then analyses the archetypes of Little Women.The idea of Christianity provides a masterstroke for the novel and the tradition of the culture of Christianity widens and deepens the cultural meanings of the novel.The Bible is the chief source for revealing its spiritual essence.Little Women is full of Biblical archetypal characters.Mr.March and Mrs.March are images based on the archetypes of God and Virgin Mary respectively,while the four March sisters,archetypes of the disciples in the Bible.By an archetypal analysis on the March family,we attempt to reveal an important religious connotation "Faith" in Christianity.According to the Bible,"Faith" is the foundation of Christianity,because man is created according to God's image with holiness and wisdom.But man degenerates because of the Original Sin which is a result from Adam and Eve's eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.Only through "Faith",can man recover to get blessings from God.The main archetypal theme in Little Women is the four March sisters' quest for perfecting themselves to achieve their maturity,which is similar to that of the Christians in the Bible.The reason why Christians are so brave and perseverant on their way to the "Celestial City" is because their unswerving love for God and their never ending desire for the eternal kingdom—Heaven.In the process of the quest,another religious connotation "Hope" is revealed."Hope" is a propensity infused by God into the hearts of believers by means of the Word,whereby they patiently,actively,and assuredly anticipate future promised benefits.In the plot,Alcott mainly adopts the Biblical plot of the conflicts between the virtuous and the evil,transforming the conflicts into two kinds:the conflict between March sisters and the outside world and the conflict between March sisters and the Self.In such conflicts,"Love" in Christianity is embodied."Love" is the emotion of Christians for Godinfused by the Holy Spirit—whereby they,by virtue of union with Him and in view of His perfections,delight themselves in God,and in an embrace of His will,fully surrender themselves to His service.Alcott's Little Women,is heavily influenced by Puritanism which she represents by Biblical archetypes artistically and naturally.Such archetypes are important resources of the novel as well as important qualities for its charm.The integration of various Biblical archetypes conveys the authoress' purpose which is to embody American spirit in the 19^thcentury into her novel from which we can find the influence of the Bible upon the Western religious literature and the spirit of humanism.At the same time,the profundity and artistic value of the novel is highlighted.