In the novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, the storyline follows the lives of four girls and their struggles to become “little women.” It is interesting that each of the four sisters have such different personalities and focuses, so that anyone reading the novel likely has at least one character that they relate to. The presentation of the daily struggles of young girls and women in this novel is accompanied by several valuable moral lessons. The mother of the girls, Marmee, allows for her daughters to make their own decisions so that they can gain life experience and learn that all actions have consequences. This parenting style plays an important role in the novel, especially in the character development of Meg.
In the beginning of the novel, Meg talks about her desire to be wealthy on several occasions. For example, in the first chapter Meg begins talking about her weaknesses of caring too much about her looks and needing to focus more on working although she hates it. As the novel continues, Meg openly talks about her interest in marrying rich so that she does not have to work and can instead cherish finer things. However, by the end of the first volume, Meg decides to marry John Brooke, knowing that she will not be wealthy. I think this is an important moment of growth for Meg as she begins to understand the real meaning of marriage and family.
In the second part, Good Wives, Meg struggles as she realizes the various aspects of married life and the things that she needs to work on to be a “good wife.” Although for me the second part is not as relatable as the first part, it is interesting to me that the story of Meg is carried out in depth. I think that the purpose of this storyline is to show the struggles of Meg and ultimately her successfulness in becoming a woman as she learns valuable lessons through marriage and motherhood. If the storyline of Meg had ended with the first volume of the novel, she might not have met her goals that she set up for herself in the beginning chapters of Little Women. I think that Meg’s character development is extremely well written. The personal growth of Meg did not happen overnight, but instead took several experiences in both her young adult life and her married life in order for her to learn what she truly values.
From reading this post, my view of Meg's role and purpose in the novel has been strengthened. Through Meg's experiences in the first volume, especially at the ball, she realizes that being rich does not mean guaranteed happiness. Besides this lesson, she learns many valuable lessons that all the March sisters need to be shown and leads the way to finding true happiness and learning her values. Meg is portrayed as a character that wants to meet and exceed expectations, often as a people pleaser who simply wants to make everyone happy and have things go smoothly. She is often seen as an example of how women should want to live their lives.
ReplyDeleteHowever, in the second part of the novel, readers see her as more realistic and relatable. She has the same struggles many people go through and is taught even more lessons about finding happiness in what you already have. She learns to love the life she has made for herself and not be jealous like she was in the first volume. I agree with how Meg’s character development was extremely well written. Readers can see her grow as a person throughout the novel, and she achieves her goals and finds true happiness.