By Riley Dauber ’25

Major: English; Minors: Journalism, Editing & Publishing, Communication & Media Studies, and Gender Studies

Contributor Biography: Riley is a junior majoring in English with a triple minor in Journalism, Editing, and Publishing; Communication and Media Studies; and Gender Studies. Outside of the classroom, she is the Lifestyle Editor for The Elm, the Social Media Coordinator for Writers’ Union, the President of Film Club, and a Peer Writing Consultant at the Writing Center. In her free time, she loves reading silly romance books (she is currently on a billionaire and hockey romance kick, but not at the same time), watching movies, and spending time with her friends.

Brief Description: The proposal for junior seminar was a shorter version of our senior capstone experience proposal. My interest in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women did not stem from a childhood obsession, but instead with a love of the 2019 film directed by Greta Gerwig. Since the film’s release, I noticed a shift in readers’ opinions of the youngest sister, Amy March. For decades, readers preferred Jo; even though the novel is told in the third person, we see most of the characters and events through Jo’s eyes. Therefore, Jo’s fraught relationship with Amy is relatable for the readers, leading to a fraught relationship between the readers and Amy. My proposal focuses on the character of Amy March and how she has been overlooked as a feminist character. I argue that not only is she a feminist character because she “has it all” at the end of the novel, but she also adheres to and subverts the societal expectations placed on her as a woman in the nineteenth century.

The following was written for ENG 400: Junior Seminar

Abstract 

This thesis is interested in looking at Amy March from Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women (1868) through feminist, gender, and narratological lenses. Specifically, this thesis is concerned with how readers and critics view Amy compared to Jo. As the novel shows the four sisters growing up and making their own choices, readers see Amy shift from a selfish younger sister to a mature society woman interested in marriage and art. Compared to her sisters, Amy is viewed as selfish because she focuses on herself more than others and refuses to give up her material objects. Mrs. March teaches her daughters to be self-sacrificing, which Amy struggles with while Jo succeeds. As the novel continues, Amy applies the skills she learned in the domestic, private sphere to the public sphere. She succeeds during her trip to Europe, where she studies art and decides to marry Laurie. Despite her character growth, Amy still faces criticism from readers who align themselves with Jo, since the third-person novel is told through the heroine’s perspective. This thesis hopes to reexamine the novel, focusing on Amy’s character growth and how she both adheres to and subverts the societal expectations placed on her. I will also argue that she is a feminist hero because she ends the novel with both a supportive marriage and a self-satisfying artistic career, proving that women can have both and do not need to sacrifice their own goals.  

Key Words: Little Women, Amy March, feminism, gender roles, self-sacrifice, subversion 

Proposal 

Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 novel Little Women follows the March family: the mother, who everyone affectionately calls “Marmee,” and her four daughters – Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. The novel sees the four sisters growing up and learning lessons, as well as making sacrifices as they decide what they want from life. Many readers, along with the majority of scholars, favor Jo. She is the most masculine of the four sisters and dreams of becoming a writer so she can financially support her family. Camille Cauti argues that readers identify with Jo because of Alcott’s personal connection to the character. Jo is a self-insert for the author, who understands her own feelings and ambitions the most. She can easily transfer these feelings to the character, making Jo “the most fully realized, and not surprisingly, the most beloved by Alcott’s readers across generations” (Cauti 23). Stephanie Foote also points out that Alcott “identified in herself the traits she had given to her character,” showing a potential connection between the author and the novel’s heroine (74). Ann B. Murphy also believes that readers are able to relate to Jo because, even though the novel possesses a third-person omniscient narrator, the story is told from her perspective. Readers view the novel’s events and characters through her eyes, making it easier for them to identify with Jo (Murphy 566). This relatable aspect of Jo’s character has influenced the scholarship around Little Women, with many scholars focusing on the heroine and overlooking the other March sisters. 

The youngest March sister, Amy, receives less attention from readers and scholars because she serves as a foil to Jo. If readers identify with Jo, they may view Amy through a negative lens because Jo frequently argues with her younger sister. The two possess differing personalities: Jo is the more masculine and self-sacrificing sister, while Amy is more feminine and selfish. Femininity is often associated with self-sacrifice because women are taught to relinquish their goals to support their husbands and children, especially in the post-Civil War era. Amy’s balance of femininity and selfishness introduce a subversive quality to her character. Foote differentiates herself from other Little Women scholars by focusing on Amy instead of Jo in her article “Resentful ‘Little Women’: Gender and Class Feeling in Louisa May Alcott.” She discusses how the four sisters are taught to suppress their emotions, as well as strive to understand their gender and class identities. Following this introduction, she states that “there is another way to tell the story of Little Women, and that is as the story of Amy, who is, after all is said and done, triumphant in the areas of class and gender ambition” (Foote 74). Foote recognizes Amy’s character growth and traditional values throughout the novel, but spends little time focusing on her artistic career, which is one of the main aspects of this thesis. I will utilize Foote’s article, which is most in line with my thoughts on Amy, along with other scholarship to consider how Amy both adheres to and subverts the societal expectations placed on her as a woman. She is feminine yet selfish, traditional yet ambitious. Her balancing of these traits leads her to a successful ending where she “has it all” without making sacrifices: a marriage built on financial support and love and a self-satisfying artistic career. 

Along with Amy’s adherence and subversion, this thesis will also analyze her character growth throughout the novel. Since Little Women is written in two parts, with a seven year age gap in between, Amy’s evolution from childhood to young adulthood is clear, both in her selfishness and her goals. When readers are first introduced to Amy, they can see she is the most selfish of the four sisters. Elizabeth Keyser writes, “From the beginning of the book, [Amy] is the least willing to engage in self-sacrifice” (616). When the four sisters decide to give up their dollar and buy a Christmas gift for their mother, Amy whines about having to spend money on someone else. She says, “I’ll get a little bottle of Cologne; she likes it, and it won’t cost much, so I’ll have some left to buy something for me” (Alcott 14). Her sisters and mother try to teach her this self-sacrificing skill, but Amy decides to buy something cheaper for her mother so she can keep the leftover change. Even from a young age, Amy is balancing her selfishness with self-sacrifice. Amy and Jo’s differences are clear throughout their childhood, as Amy struggles with making sacrifices while Jo succeeds. When the family learns that Mr. March is injured and needs medical attention, Jo cuts off her hair and sells it (Alcott 132). She does not care about her vanity, unlike Amy, and knows the money will help her family; she is giving up a part of herself to help someone else.  

Because of their differing personalities, Jo and Amy do not get along throughout the novel, highlighting their roles as foils. When Jo refuses to bring Amy along with her to the theater, Amy finds her sister’s manuscript and burns it in the fire (Alcott 64). Many readers point to this scene when explaining their hatred of Amy. Cauti says she “found Amy particularly annoying” (29), while Murphy refers to her as “the least likeable and most narcissistic and ambitious of the four” (570). If readers are viewing the burned manuscript scene through Jo’s eyes, they would see the action as a sisterly betrayal instead of considering Amy’s side of the situation. Separate from this scene, the two sisters argue throughout their childhood because of their differing personalities. Amy possesses a more traditional view of marriage and motherhood; later in the novel, she wishes to marry rich so she can financially support herself and her family. She knows her sisters did not or will not marry well, so she places the expectation to marry well on herself. However, Jo does not wish to marry; she wants to support herself with her writing, not with a husband.  

The sisters also argue over a trip to Europe. Jo reads to her Aunt March with the hopes of one day joining her on the trip. However, Aunt March asks Amy instead. By being the first sister to leave home and explore another country, Amy subverts the societal expectations placed on women at the time. Keyser writes, “The most worldly of the sisters, she is also the most eager to venture out into the world or, something the others never try to do, bridge the gap between world and home” (616). Amy “bridges the gap” by applying the skills she learned in the private sphere to the public sphere. In her article, Foote mentions that the sisters’ childhood allowed them to learn important life lessons from the safety of their home. She writes, “Using the home not as an escape from the potential social injuries of the public but as a stage on which the March girls can rehearse proper ways of behaving and proper ways of feelings” (Foote 68). The sisters are taught to suppress their emotions and make sacrifices throughout their childhood, but Amy also learns important socialization skills that she later utilizes in Europe. When she invites Jo to join her on some social calls, Amy proves she has mastered the ability to appease others; she is engaging and charming, while Jo is unserious and rude. Keyser writes, “Amy…moderates her behavior so as to please those who can help her” (616). Amy becomes what other people expect her to be, showing how she adheres to the traditional expectations placed on her. By being who Aunt March expects her to be — an attentive and charming niece — she receives an invitation to Europe. Foote writes, “Thus, when Amy repays her debts during her social calls, she is rewarded beyond her wildest dreams” (76). However, Jo fails to impress Aunt March because she fights against these societal expectations instead of using them to her advantage. When she leaves home to find a job in New York, she flounders because she did not take these socialization skills seriously.  

Once Amy is in Europe, readers receive a glimpse into her character and life goals. She reconnects with Laurie in Paris, and the two discuss her potential marriage to Fred Vaughn. Amy realizes that if she cannot achieve artistic greatness, she does not want to pursue art at all. She says, “I want to be great, or nothing. I won’t be a common-place dauber, so I don’t intend to try any more” (Alcott 317). While the majority of the novel is from Jo’s perspective, this scene and Amy’s dialogue provide readers with an in-depth look at her aspirations. Readers may be more open to Amy as a character because they are hearing from her first-hand instead of viewing her through Jo’s negative perspective. The line “I want to be great, or nothing” shows the two paths she considers in her life. By splitting “great” and “or nothing” with commas, readers are able to see Amy’s two options: she can either pursue her artistic aspirations or settle for a financially supportive marriage with Fred Vaughn. She goes on to say that, if she does marry Fred, she can simply “polish up [her] other talents, and be an ornament to society” (Alcott 317). Amy is giving up in this scene because she realizes that if she cannot be a great artist, she does not want to be an artist at all.  

Following her conversation with Laurie, Amy decides to reject Fred’s proposal, even though everyone in her social circles, including Aunt March, expected her to say yes. Instead, she accepts Laurie’s proposal. Readers also find fault with this scene, since Laurie had previously proposed to Jo. If they are reading this scene through Jo’s eyes, they may see Amy’s decision to accept Laurie’s proposal as a sisterly betrayal, similar to her burning the manuscript. However, Foote argues that by matching Laurie with Amy, the third person omniscient narrator favors the youngest March sister. She writes, “Amy’s decision not to marry this young man surprises even herself, but her decision to marry her family’s closest friend most pointedly demonstrates the novel’s endorsement of Amy rather than Jo” (Foote 77). Fred represented a purely financial marriage, whereas Laurie represents a marriage built on both financial support and love. By rejecting the former, Amy is rewarded with the latter. Foote writes, “Indeed, she becomes a true gentlewoman by the end of the text, proved by her refusal of a merely mercenary marriage alliance (for which she is rewarded by becoming the fabulously wealthy Mrs. Theodore Laurence” (77). Even though she was expected to marry Fred, Amy subverts that expectation and rejects his proposal. She believed she would marry well to financially support herself and her family, but by refusing a marriage based only on money and not on love, Amy is rewarded with a marriage to Laurie that possesses both.  

Following her conversation with Laurie, Amy realizes that she no longer needs to financially support herself with her art, so she can view it as a hobby instead of a job. When she was expected to marry Fred, Amy believed she would not have the opportunity to work on her art and improve herself. She was either going to be a great artist “or nothing;” one can argue that Amy associates nothingness with a financially supportive marriage with Fred, where she would have to be both a good mother and a good wife, but not a good artist. By marrying Laurie, Amy now has the opportunity to focus on her artistic skills as a way of self-improvement. Keyser writes, “More subversive than Jo, and potentially the most successful artist, is Amy, for she is not afraid to assert herself, take risks, and appear selfish or foolish” (616). Because of her marriage to a wealthy man, Amy is able to pursue her artistic aspirations for herself instead of for others. She does not need to make any money from it, whereas Jo writes and publishes stories to financially support herself and her family.  

This thesis will utilize feminist and gender lenses to look at how Amy adheres to and subverts the expectations placed on her. Much of the scholarship surrounding Little Women uses a feminist lens to look at Jo, her gender identity, and her authorial aspirations. Since I plan to switch the focus from Jo to Amy, the feminist and gender lenses prove useful to looking at how Amy fills the role of a feminist hero, separate from Jo. This thesis will also utilize a narratological lens to consider the novel’s third person omniscient narrator and the role Jo’s perspective plays in the text. Since her perspective influences a majority of readers and scholars to favor her over the other sisters, this lens will provide insight as to why Jo is favored over Amy. By pairing these theoretical lenses with close readings and secondary sources, this project will determine why Amy is overlooked and hated by readers in order to better understand her as a character and explore how she both adheres to and subverts the expectations placed on her as a woman in the nineteenth century. 

Works Cited 

Alcott, Louisa May. Little Women. W.W. Norton and Company, edited by Anne K. Phillips and Gregory Eiselein, 2004. 

Cauti, Camille. “Introduction.” Little Women. Barnes & Noble Classics, 2004, pp. xvii-xxxiii. 

Foote, Stephanie. “Resentful ‘Little Women’: Gender and Class Feeling in Louisa May Alcott.”  

College Literature, vol. 31, no. 1, 2005, pp. 63-85. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25115 

246. Accessed 15 September 2023. 

Keyser, Elizabeth. “‘Portrait(s) of the Artist’: Little Women.” Whispers in the Dark: The Fiction of Louisa May Alcott, The University of Tennessee Press, 1993, pp. 600-623. 

Murphy, Ann B. “The Borders of Ethical, Erotic, and Artistic Possibilities in ‘Little Women.’” Signs, vol. 15, no. 3, The Ideology of Mothering: Disruption and Reproduction of Patriarchy, 1990, pp. 562-585. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3174428.