On The Generic Problems In Little Women

As the representative work of American writer Louisa May Alcott,Little Women,different from her earlier novels,is an "experiment" to explore a new form of literature which can reflect female values and American elements on the literary market dominated by male authorship on one hand,and British literature on the other.In contrast to the direct description of the Civil War and the political environment,Little Women focuses on a protestant family in Concord,the famous New England Cultural Center,and the growing experience and marriage of four sisters in the bright and light writing style.Revolving around the genres mentioned in the novel and their relative development process and characteristics,this thesis concentrates on Alcott's reflections and developments of them which are mainly displayed through the writing experience of the female protagonist Jo,from gothic novels and sensational novels relying on reading and imagination to the domestic novels based on real experience and emotions.In the process of seeking for the proper genre,moral standards play a vital role and Jo molds her writings accordingly,which reflects the compromise between female ideals and traditional standards.The exploration of the proper genre is also related with Jo's shift in identities,from "the old maid" writer who aims at economic independence and individual values to the "little woman" who chooses to burn the scripts and return to the family,and the shift is also linked with the generic developments of Little Women.Based on the basic characteristics of domestic novels that emphasize the influence of religion,moral values and family on female growth,Little Women's,main developments of the genre are implicit in the reflections on sentimentalism,employment of realism,and rebellious and conservative traits of the female protagonist.Under the sentimental narrative surface,the "shadows" of fear,death and realism are throughout the development of the whole novel.In the setting of the female protagonist,on the one hand,Alcott breaks the traditional setting of a romantic marriage in the prevalent domestic novels,and offers the protagonist Jo an unconventional marriage choice and more autonomy in family;on the other hand,the future of the new women like Jo is still unclear,in which returning to family and temporarily giving up writing is her compromise between artistic ideals and social reality.