Little Women by Louisa May Alcott was first published in 1868, three years after the end of the American Civil War. It has been read in homes and classrooms ever since. Over 100 years since its publication, the story about the trials and struggles of four sisters in Massachusetts, and the men they marry, has continued to pull at the heartstrings and entice the imagination for generations.
With Greta Gerwig’s newest film adaptation of the novel, she may have harnessed the time-honored story while tweaking the details just enough to speak to a modern generation. The film was released on Christmas and speaks in its own way to how we live now.
Updated by Amanda Bruce on January 24, 2020: With six Academy Award nominations, the buzz for Little Women keeps growing. Though Greta Gerwig was snubbed for a Best Director nod, she did receive a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for the movie. Award show predictions lean toward Greta Gerwig winning in that category, and these additional quotes make it easy to see why.
“I Care More To Be Loved. I Want To Be Loved.”
Most of the very modern ideas in the film come from Jo March as the woman looking to make her way in the world without the stability a husband would bring her. When Jo makes this particular statement to her mother, however, it’s when she’s wondering if perhaps she shouldn’t have been so quick to turn down Laurie’s proposal. Despite Jo’s independence, she’s still a human being who wants to connect with someone, and that idea is never more prominent than it is today in the age of social media.
“I Will Not Be The Person You Settle For Just Because You Cannot Have Her.”
Greta Gerwig’s adaptation does a very good job at making it clear that Amy has a crush on Laurie as soon as they meet. There’s a slow build to this moment that makes it less surprising and more cathartic. Though Amy has always been ambitious and talented like Jo, the two have very different personalities, resulting in Amy always feeling like the little sister playing catch up. Instead of immediately accepting that role - even in her romantic life - as many women of the time would have been forced to do, Amy refuses to immediately bow to Laurie once he shows interest in her in Paris.
“I Can’t Afford To Starve On Praise.”
The starving artist used to be a romantic ideal. Plenty of companies in the boom of social media still want artists and writers to work for the exposure and praise rather than a paycheck. Jo, like most modern artists, rejects that idea when Freidrich agrees to critique her work. He sees her talent and notes that what she’s been writing isn’t great, but Jo knows that she has to do the work she’ll get paid for. The starving artist might be romantic, but it doesn’t help pay the bills.
“Why Be Ashamed Of What You Want?”
Some might call Amy shameless for the way she teases her sisters and prizes her vanity early in the film. Amy, however, goes after what she wants in a way a lot of women of her day are afraid to do. She pursues her art and a life of comfort with the same zeal we go after education and dream jobs today. Jo might call Amy’s desires crass at one point, but they’re honest.
*“If I’m Going To Sell My Heroine Into Marriage For Money, I Might As Well Get Some Of It.”
When Jo finally finishes her novel, she and the publisher get into an argument over just how much she’ll be paid for her work. She argues her way up to 6.6% of the profits and retains her copyright of the characters. Retaining her copyright is something unusual for a writer of Jo’s day - and a woman. Today, some writers might be more business savvy when it comes to publishing and the way sequels and adaptations work, but for Jo, her decision is an unusual, if smart one.
“Women Have Minds And Souls As Well As Just Hearts, And They’ve Got Ambition And Talent As Well As Just Beauty. And I’m Sick Of People Saying That Love Is All A Woman Is Fit For.”
This may be the most obvious, and most well known, of the new quotes in the new adaptation (partly because it was so prominently featured in the trailer) but that is for a reason. When Jo March makes the above claim to her mother Marmee, she may be acting in the 1860s but she’s still speaking to women today. As the world continues to grapple with women’s autonomy and representation in popular culture, Jo is very much offering a rallying cry for women in 2019 and 2020, as well as trying to redefine what she can do in her own life.
“I Believe We Have Some Power Over Who We Love. It Isn’t Something That Just Happens To A Person.”
Amy March, during her trip to Europe, speaks the above to long-time friend and neighbor, Laurie. He replies that “The poets might disagree with you.” But the poets he is speaking of are largely white males, and Amy knows her own mind and how she can take some control of her own future. Women no longer have to fall into the arms of any man who will have them. We live in a world where women, finally, do have some say in who they will love and what that will mean for their futures.
“The World Is Hard On Ambitious Girls.”
Again it is Amy who speaks the truth. She is, of course, speaking of the 1860s, but unfortunately, times have not changed for “ambitious” girls as much as one might have hoped.
Women, including in the arts, are held to a very different standard than many of their male counterparts. They are not allowed to be mediocre or they will never be given a second chance. Their ambitions continue to present more of a struggle as they work toward success and even more judgment. It is still simpler for a man to want to direct movies, as one just has to look at this year’s Golden Globe nominations.
“It’s Possible To Be Right And Foolish.”
Meryl Streep’s, Aunt March, owns these words in Gerwig’s movie, and boy does her sentiment resonate. Do you ever read or see statistics online or in the newspaper? Consider their manipulation before you submit to what they claim to show. Just because a claim can be made does not mean that it is the correct thing to believe, or that it will lead to one’s success or enlightenment. All you have to do is look at politics. A winning vote can be seen as “right” but it certainly does not mean that the vote was wise.
“I Intend To Make My Own Way In This World.”
Jo March, a writer, and free spirit, tells her rich Aunt March that she intends to make her own way. This is admirable in a world that was built on men’s rights and their claim to property, but it is still admirable today, no matter who a person is. In a system built on joint tax returns, shared health insurance, and being able to split chores and responsibility, the idea that anyone can plan to live alone and make their own way is still a daring and modern goal. Everyone may be able to vote and own property under the law, but that does not mean it is easy to support yourself alone.
“I’d Rather Be A Free Spinster And Paddle My Own Canoe.”
Again Jo reaches out to the audience with her dream of independence, though here she highlights the particularity of her being a woman. The term “spinster,” has never referred to a man. A man who lives by himself is known as a “bachelor” no matter his age. Here, Jo embraces her femininity, and her identity as a woman taking care of herself, not just as a person taking care of herself. By highlighting the specific dream and struggle of being a woman, she embraces modern feminism and reclaims the term “spinster.”
“Just Because My Dreams Are Different Than Yours, It Doesn’t Mean They’re Unimportant.”
The oldest sister, Meg March, makes her one appearance on our list by making a feminist statement just as powerful, if not more so, than that of her sister, Jo. Meg, the sister who chooses to marry for love, and is shown raising children, highlights that any dream is feminist and can embrace the power of being a woman if it is what the woman wants. It is not anti-feminist to raise a family, it is modern in and of itself because now it can be a choice rather than an obligation or economic exchange.
“You Will Be Bored Of Him In Two Years And We Will Be Interesting Forever.”
Jo’s speech to her sister, Meg, on Meg’s wedding day, is surprisingly modern as it embraces female relationships as being just as important, if not more important, than the romantic ones on which economies and history seem so often to be based.
It is, in the film, a last-ditch effort by Jo to keep Meg all to herself, but that does not take away from the power or importance of the line. You are allowed to love beyond and outside of romantic love as other relationships must continue to be fostered.
“I’m Angry Nearly Every Day Of My Life.”
Marmee March, mother and matriarch of the family, confesses this to her headstrong second daughter Jo. What could ring truer in a world of women’s marches, laws over bodily autonomy, and #MeToo culture, than the sentiment above? Marmee is speaking for modern viewers when she admits to the face she is forced to put on every day of her life to get by in a world that does not fully embrace her or her desires.
“Writing Doesn’t Confer Importance, It Reflects It.”
Jo doesn’t know it, but as she speaks the above, she is fully defining our modern era of the immediacy of the news cycle and the ever-present discord available across social media. What we see in writing reflects what we see as important. It’s something everyone must pay attention to when putting words on the page. Is this really what we want to see as important? Is this really what we want to be remembered for? If not, perhaps it is time to leave the page behind and change what we see as important in the world.
