SISTERLY BONDS IN ALCOTT’S LITTLE WOMEN: AN ANALYSIS OF FEMALE SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS

Authors

  • Melia Debora Sweetzemey Piri Universitas Negeri Manado
  • Mister G. Maru Universitas Negeri Manado
  • Sanerita T. Olii Universitas Negeri Manado

Keywords:

Little Women, Sisterhood, Female Sibling Relationship, Feminist Analysis

Abstract

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women has been a timeless classic in American literature, depicting the lives of the March sisters and their relationships with each other. This study analyzes the portrayal of sisterhood and female sibling relationships in Little Women through a feminist lens. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, the study examines the themes and patterns that emerge in the novel regarding sisterly bonds. The findings reveal that the March sisters' relationships with each other are characterized by loyalty, support, and sacrifice, reflecting the importance of sisterhood in women's lives. The study also highlights the challenges and conflicts that arise in sisterly relationships, including jealousy and competition. Overall, this analysis provides insights into the significance of sisterhood and female sibling relationships in Little Women and their relevance to contemporary feminist discourse.

References

Alcott, L. M. (2012). Little Women. Signet Classics.

Alcott, L.M. (1868). Little Women. Roberts Brothers.

Alsaedi, R. (2019). Sisterhood and Female Friendship. International Journal of English Linguistics, 9(2), 107-113. doi: 10.5539/ijel.v9n2p107

Al-Saidi, A. (2017). Female Friendship and Sisterhood in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Journal of American Culture, 40(4), 367-375

Al-Shalabi, R. (2021). The Portrayal of Sisterhood in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. International Journal of English Language and Literature Studies, 10(1), 12-18.

Bender, C. (2017). Gender stereotyping in Little women:“Let us be elegant or die!”. Midwest Journal of Undergraduate Research, 8, 140-151.

Brott, A. (2018). The Unique and Enduring Bond of Sisters. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/it-s-my-life/201810/the-unique-and-enduring-bond-sisters

Chang, A. (2009). The Female Bildungsroman and Little Women. Perspectives in Education, 27(3), 237-248.

Ciccarelli, M. (2018). Sibling Relationships in Children’s Literature: A Content Analysis of Selected Works. Journal of Children's Literature, 44(2), 5-18.

Cott, N. F. (2021). The Bonds of Womanhood:" Woman's Sphere" in New England, 1780-1835. Yale University Press.

Creswell, J.W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Sage Publications.

Cui, X. (2019). Female Identity and Subjectivity in Little Women. Studies in Literature and Language, 18(1), 7-13.

Eaton, A. W. (2017). The Domestication of Heroines: Women's Writing in the Nineteenth Century. Nineteenth-Century Gender Studies, 13(3).

Egan, R. (2004). Sisterhood and Sibling Relations in Children's Literature. Children's Literature Association Quarterly, 29(4), 330-339.

Egeland, M. (2020). Little Women travelling to Scandinavia: The Reception of Louisa M. Alcott in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. European Journal of Scandinavian Studies, 50(2), 314-334.

Ekasanti, N. R., & Hernawati, M. (2018). Representation of Gender Stereotyping in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women: Endorsement of Traditional Gender Roles. Lexicon, 6(2), 111-118.

Feinberg, M. E., Solmeyer, A. R., McHale, S. M., & Whiteman, S. D. (2012). The third rail of family systems: Sibling relationships, mental and behavioral health, and preventive intervention in childhood and adolescence. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 15(1), 43–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-011-0102-0)

Fiske, J. (2004) The Making of a Feminist: Louisa May Alcott.” Louisa May Alcott: The Contemporary Reviews, edited by Beverly Lyon Clark, Cambridge University Press.

Galpin, S. A. (2021). Leaning in or opting out? Women’s choices in Little Women and Mary Queen of Scots. Feminist Media Studies, 1-14.

Hendrianingsih, E., & Pujasari, H. (2021). Sisterhood in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women: A Feminist Approach. Journal of English Language and Literature, 6(1), 49-59.

Ismail, H. M. (2023). Little Women: Louisa May Alcott’s Duality Between the Intentional Lessons and the Unconscious Messages. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 13(4), 867-872.

Levant, R. F., & Pollack, W. S. (1995). A new psychology of men. BasicBooks.

Lorin, R. (2019). Sororal bonds actualized: sisterhood in Charlotte Bronte's Shirley and Louisa May Alcott's Work. (Master Thesis at Eastern Washington University).

McHale, S. M., Updegraff, K. A., Whiteman, S. D., & Crouter, A. C. (2012). Siblings’ roles in young adults’ psychological well-being and attitudes toward family. Journal of Family Psychology, 26(5), 732–742. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029210

Nodelman, P. (2008). The Hidden Adult: Defining Children's Literature. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Petreca, B., & Sticchi, D. (2018). Digital Methods for Analysing Literary Texts: An Analysis of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1-12.

Rioux, A. B. (2018). Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The story of Little Women and why it still matters. WW Norton & Company.

Rivas, S. (2014). Defining Nineteenth-Century Womanhood: The Cult of Marmee and Little Women. Scientia et Humanitas, 4, 53-64.

Santi, N. Y., & Rahmi, A. (2019). FEMINISM VALUES IN LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S LITTLE WOMEN. Islamic Manuscript of Linguistics and Humanity, 1(1).

Segrave, K. (2014). Movies at Home: How Hollywood Came to Television. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.

Wasserstein, W. (2005). Introduction. In L.M. Alcott (Ed.), Little Women (pp. xi-xxvii). Penguin Classics.

Westman, K. E. (2008). The Bonds of Sisterhood: Female Friendship in Little Women." Children's Literature Association Quarterly, 33(2),141-148.

Yang, L., & Zhong, J. (2023). Study of Amy’s Female Consciousness in Alcott’s Little Women. International Journal of Education and Humanities, 8(3), 244-249.

Zeng, Y., Li, L., & Wang, Y. (2017). A Study on the Sisterhood in Little Women from the Perspective of Feminism. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 13-19.

Downloads

Published

2023-07-14

How to Cite

Piri, M. D. S., Maru, M. G. ., & Olii, S. T. . (2023). SISTERLY BONDS IN ALCOTT’S LITTLE WOMEN: AN ANALYSIS OF FEMALE SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS. SoCul: International Journal of Research in Social Cultural Issues, 2(4), 645-652. Retrieved from https://ejurnal.unima.ac.id/index.php/socul/article/view/7205