Louisa May Alcott’s Changing Views on Women, Work, and Marriage in Work
Louisa May Alcott’s intriguing and productive mix of fiction and auto-fiction suffuses the experience of the female protagonist of her Transcendentalist Bildungsroman Work (1873). The text, therefore, engages intersecting but distinct discourses of femininity, domesticity, and individual emancipatio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/18592 |
| _version_ | 1797310426609876992 |
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| author | Jelena Šesnić |
| author_facet | Jelena Šesnić |
| author_sort | Jelena Šesnić |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Louisa May Alcott’s intriguing and productive mix of fiction and auto-fiction suffuses the experience of the female protagonist of her Transcendentalist Bildungsroman Work (1873). The text, therefore, engages intersecting but distinct discourses of femininity, domesticity, and individual emancipation. The novel proposes a new direction by placing women squarely in the public sphere of labor and social relations, even though that move is qualified by normative and sentimentalist constraints for middle-class characters. Still, Alcott ably marshals reformist and Transcendentalist ideas to prove that the feminine Bildung requires self-growth, education, work and a variety of social and affective relationships. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:43:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f4310fa3780e429588622c5bec6cd279 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T01:43:46Z |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-f4310fa3780e429588622c5bec6cd2792024-02-14T13:20:01ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-933617310.4000/ejas.18592Louisa May Alcott’s Changing Views on Women, Work, and Marriage in WorkJelena ŠesnićLouisa May Alcott’s intriguing and productive mix of fiction and auto-fiction suffuses the experience of the female protagonist of her Transcendentalist Bildungsroman Work (1873). The text, therefore, engages intersecting but distinct discourses of femininity, domesticity, and individual emancipation. The novel proposes a new direction by placing women squarely in the public sphere of labor and social relations, even though that move is qualified by normative and sentimentalist constraints for middle-class characters. Still, Alcott ably marshals reformist and Transcendentalist ideas to prove that the feminine Bildung requires self-growth, education, work and a variety of social and affective relationships.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/18592TranscendentalismfeminismLouisa May AlcottWorksentimentalism |
| spellingShingle | Jelena Šesnić Louisa May Alcott’s Changing Views on Women, Work, and Marriage in Work European Journal of American Studies Transcendentalism feminism Louisa May Alcott Work sentimentalism |
| title | Louisa May Alcott’s Changing Views on Women, Work, and Marriage in Work |
| title_full | Louisa May Alcott’s Changing Views on Women, Work, and Marriage in Work |
| title_fullStr | Louisa May Alcott’s Changing Views on Women, Work, and Marriage in Work |
| title_full_unstemmed | Louisa May Alcott’s Changing Views on Women, Work, and Marriage in Work |
| title_short | Louisa May Alcott’s Changing Views on Women, Work, and Marriage in Work |
| title_sort | louisa may alcott s changing views on women work and marriage in work |
| topic | Transcendentalism feminism Louisa May Alcott Work sentimentalism |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/18592 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jelenasesnic louisamayalcottschangingviewsonwomenworkandmarriageinwork |