Feminism In Little Women

Possibly one of the most prevalent themes in the 2019 film Little Women would be the concept of feminism. Some would even argue that it is the entire point of the film. Little Women is a story that follows Jo and her family. It is, on the surface, a story solely about the family and the sisters’ lives. The narrative bases around Jo and the novel that she is trying to get published, a novel of which contains the scenes that play out in the film. Being set in the 1860s for most of the film, it is clear that the time period in which they are in is oppressive towards women. This is proved through the adversary that Jo faces when attempting to submit stories to a literary journal, as one prominent example, as well as the general common history knowledge of the viewer. While all of this is true, the purpose of this essay will focus not solely on the narrative of this film, but also the mise-en-scene aspect of this film. This essay will act as both a first and second observation of Little Women.

One of the most significant locations of which most scenes take place is the March’s home; it is a cozy cottage style home, each room of the house a maximalist’s dream. Although, it isn’t just what we see in the home that reflects the theme of the film, it’s what isn’t there. Throughout the film, in scenes that take place in the March home, it is quite rare that we see many men in the home. There are the odd scenes where their father or Laurie are shown in their home, but most of the time is it just the women of the March family. It makes sense that the story would revolve around women as it does, considering the name of the film, especially the fact that the director Greta Gerwig seems to have intended to make Louisa May Alcott’s original story entirely focused on the perspective of women during this time period. This is also concreted in the scene in which the girls worry about Laurie’s involvement in their club while discussing said club in the attic of their home. We learn that later in the film, Laurie’s involvement with the girls causes tensions between them, especially between Jo and Amy. That being said, Laurie is one of the better men in this story, in spite of the tension he did cause.

On the other hand, in the beginning of the film, Jo is speaking to a publisher as she is looking to get some of her stories published. The scene seems more dreary and darker than the scenes that take place in the warm, welcoming lighting that envelopes the March’s home later in the film. This cannot be overlooked; the publishing house seems to be as devoid of humanity as the man that tells her he cannot publish a story where the girl does not marry. The lack of worthiness that the publisher puts upon Jo and the family that mirrors her own in her novel is the most obvious sign of oppression that is put upon the women in this film as well as the women alive in this respective time period.

Nearing the end of the film, when there are more scenes with the publisher, there is also a sort of darkness to the scenes. The decision to make the scene where Jo gets together with Friedrich at the train station at nighttime is an interesting one. While it can be overlooked as simply a narrative choice, as it is following the previous scenes chronologically, the mood of the previous scenes stated say otherwise. The kiss that Jo and Friedrich share at that train station is a decision forced upon Jo by the publisher, another homage to the initial “the girl must be married at the end” requisite demanded by the publisher. In his eyes, a woman cannot be independent, that being alone meant social suicide. Jo’s desire to stay to herself, caring for her family and not desiring to settle down and have children but to see the world and write her stories, is not something that was common during this time and was often frown upon much to many women’s dismays.

Overall, when looking at the mise-en-scene and narrative aspects of the film Little Women (2019), it is clear that feminism is a very prevalent topic throughout this film. Whether this is the overarching theme or not, it is still an important thing to be touched upon, making it a clear essential to anybody’s watchlist.