Girl Power: A Look at Recent<i>Little Women</i>Adaptations

Hooper, Elise

doi:10.1080/00497878.2019.1614873

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Alcott's rich tradition of feminist thinking revolves around a fundamental dilemma, the extreme poles of which Hooper (2019) formulates as follows: "It can be tempting to highlight Little Women's progressive impulses and view Alcott as a trailblazing feminist. (…) On the other hand, the novel might be seen as a nineteenth-century instruction manual advocating that young women suppress their own ambitions and desires in order to become dutiful Victorian-era wives and mothers" (p. 421).…”

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Heroine Myth: The Little Woman’S Transformation From Literature To Cinema

Peigina¹

2021

European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

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Little Women (Louisa May Alcott's literary source and numerous film adaptations) have won the love of mass audiences and the interest of feminist critics as they represent the "American female myth" and provide ample room for interpretation. The novel itself simultaneously asserts and undermines Victorian gender norms, and each subsequent film adaptation redefines these norms from the standpoint of its time. An analysis of Greta Gerwig's latest film adaptation of 2019 traces how contemporary cinema remythologizes Victorian gender norms to construct contemporary normative models of gender identity. This study, using the "heroine myth" model, presents Little Women as a female developmental narrative that includes the successive passage of three stages: Wonderful Child -Beautiful Virgin -Wise Mother. The adaptation of Greta Gerwig offers two options for the development of the heroine -the first corresponds to the book, and the second demonstrates the following sequence: Wonderful Child -Beautiful Virgin -Wonderful Virgin. These changes allow the heroine to maintain her transformative nature, which she is forced to sacrifice in the traditional scenario. At the same time, the preservation of the duality of the ending can be interpreted as an assertion of the variability of women's life or as a concession to romantic conventions while formally defending feminist values.

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Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Heroine Myth: The Little Woman’S Transformation From Literature To Cinema

Peigina¹

2021

European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences

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‘Music is like a ribbon that knits the storylines together’: The musicality of Greta Gerwig’s Little Women

Babel

2023

Soundtrack, The

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From concept to completion, music was integral to Greta Gerwig’s 2019 non-linear adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel Little Women, a story which traces the trials and tribulations of the four March sisters as they come of age in 1860s Massachusetts. As writer and director, Gerwig’s musical sensibilities position her as a mélomane and a cinematic verbalist. These descriptors pertain to the rhythmically notated dialogue, the musical invigoration of Beth March and how this sister’s musical characterization extends to Alexandre Desplat’s original score via his use of the piano. To appreciate the broader narrative, representational and filmgoing effects of Gerwig’s musical sensibilities, this article explores how music is evinced in the script and realized for the screen.

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Girl Power: A Look at RecentLittle WomenAdaptations

Cited by 2 publications

References 4 publications

The Heroine Myth: The Little Woman’S Transformation From Literature To Cinema

The Heroine Myth: The Little Woman’S Transformation From Literature To Cinema

‘Music is like a ribbon that knits the storylines together’: The musicality of Greta Gerwig’s Little Women

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