"Little Women" - Book vs. Movie

Book: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Generations of readers, young and old, male and female, have fallen in love with the March sisters of Louisa May Alcott’s most popular and enduring novel, Little Women. Here are talented tomboy and author-to-be Jo, tragically frail Beth, beautiful Meg, and romantic, spoiled Amy, united in their devotion to each other and their struggles to survive in New England during the Civil War.

It is no secret that Alcott based Little Women on her own early life. While her father, the freethinking reformer and abolitionist Bronson Alcott, hobnobbed with such eminent male authors as Emerson, Thoreau, and Hawthorne, Louisa supported herself and her sisters with "woman’s work,” including sewing, doing laundry, and acting as a domestic servant. But she soon discovered she could make more money writing. Little Women brought her lasting fame and fortune, and far from being the "girl’s book” her publisher requested, it explores such timeless themes as love and death, war and peace, the conflict between personal ambition and family responsibilities, and the clash of cultures between Europe and America.

Movie: "Little Women" directed by Greta Gerwig

"Little Women" is a 2019 American coming-of-age period drama film written and directed by Greta Gerwig. It is the seventh film adaptation of the 1868 novel of the same name by Louisa May Alcott. It chronicles the lives of the March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—in Concord, Massachusetts, during the 19th century. It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet, Meryl Streep, Tracy Letts, Bob Odenkirk, James Norton, Louis Garrel, and Chris Cooper.

Book vs Movie:

Timeline - In the novel, readers follow the girls through a linear story, beginning with their childhood and progressing into adulthood. Gerwig's adaptation is non-linear as she flits between ages to serve the story. The movie adaptation starts where the book ends, with the sisters as adults in their prime, looking back on their choices.

Sisterhood - Gerwig also changes the perceptions of the sisters and their connections to each other. Alcott has her set of sisters living their childhoods and then off on their own lives, to not be seen until it becomes important to the storyline of the main heroine, Jo. Gerwig (in true feminist fashion) has the March sisters showcased as individuals and their own stories, not just as revolving characters around Jo. For example, Amy receives much more attention, and her relationship with Laurie is predicted earlier and shows up more often, making their marriage acceptable and believable.

Feminism - In Alcott's original novel, Jo is seen as the heroine for bucking society by becoming a writer instead of a wife (even though she falls in love by the end of the novel). In Gerwig's version, many of the March sisters have their own form of rebellion. Jo still becomes a self-sufficient writer, and Amy gives an entire speech about how marrying for money is important to her because society doesn't let her be anything more on her own.

"I'm angry nearly every day of my life" (Alcott, 1868) - This (to me) is one of the most underappreciated lines in the whole novel. Gerwig finally gives it the space it deserves when Marmee (the matriarch of the March family) says it to Jo (her feistiest daughter). Women of the time were so constrained in their actions, lives, and even feelings. So, for a woman to even admit these brash feelings is a great part of both the novel and movie. In the movie, Gerwig uses this line to showcase Marmee's anger at being mistreated and pushed aside after all the kindness, patience, and love that women must offer.

Becoming a writer - One of my favorite facts that Gerwig adds to her adaptation is Jo's ultimate acceptance as a writer. Jo ends up getting the same book deal that Alcott did for her original publication of Little Women. Both women (Alcott & Jo) sold their stories to weekly publications for about $25 per story (per Reading Little Women & A Writer’s Struggle: Little Women & the Publishing World).