Little Women (2019)
In 19th century Massachusetts, the four March sisters—Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth—enter into womanhood. Jo is a talented writer and educator, Meg is eager to get married, Amy is artistically inclined. After Beth falls ill, they are all united under the same roof, facing the same problems of poverty and growing up in a male-dominated world, where women have scarce working opportunities and marriage is an economic proposition and expected for every woman. The March sisters have to grapple with either meeting societal expectations or paving their own way in the world—while being pressured by their affluent next-door neighbor, Laurie, their mother Marmee March, and their rich yet unmarried Aunt who wants nothing more than for the little women to marry.
Narrative Structure
Gerwig changes the narrative structure of Little Women a lot from the original novel, changing out the linear storytelling with a series of flashbacks. The story is told in two threads: the past and the future, which are both going forward in time as the movie goes on. This choice by Gerwig allows for more contrast between the past and the future which aides in presenting the motif of the film, which is growing up.
The editing also plays into the narrative structure. The cuts between the past and the future happen without acknowledgment for most of the film. This can make the film a little confusing at first, but it helps to maintain the pacing.
Present
Past
Critiquing former times and gender norms
Greta Gerwig critiques the societal norms of the time when the original novel was published and set in. When Jo presents the story (which is the story of the girls' life) to the editor, he says that she should get married at the end or nobody will want to read it. This is critiquing the original ending where Jo gets married at the end because arguably it does not make the most sense for her character, yet Gerwig still stays faithful to the original ending in that way. A story about growing up within gender norms is also affected by it.
The little women face numerous pressures throughout the story to marry, which they all follow up on. Yet they can still be faulted for doing it "incorrectly". Meg marries for love instead of wealth, and as women have limited working opportunities, marriage is seen as an economic proposition. This decision is disagreed on by the Aunt, who never married but had the wealth required to be able to be unmarried as a woman at that time. The moral of the story is that women should not be pressured into doing what someone else wants for them.
Emotional Impact
Gerwig does an excellent job at making the movie emotional at times. One heartbreaking scene is the death of Beth, the youngest of the four March sisters. As she is the only one who plays the piano in the house, it creates an empty silence that makes it harder for the sister to grapple with the loss, and the same goes for the neighbor that Beth practiced the piano for. Another is Jo's regret after saying no to Laurie's proposal, although it works out in the end. She marries someone who knows how to play piano, which symbolically completes the family with Meg and Amy having married as well, and the father returning home.
Girl and Little Women: Analogous Works
Thematically, Little Women is very similar to Girl by Jamica Kincaid. Both tell how to grow up "properly" under the pressures of external forces. If Girl was written after the events of Little Women and by a more oppressive character such as the Aunt, it might look like that.
"Tend to your sisters and mother; find happiness through your daily activities; grow up and make what is expected for you; marry for economics, and not for love. This is how you pursue your passion; this is how you make friends with Laurie, the neighbor boy; this is how you reject Laurie's hand in marriage; this is how you care for Beth; this is how you live in a world without her. Make sure to escape poverty; make sure you make your father and mother proud; make sure your passions are marketable to everyone else; watch as your family gets married, and make sure you get married and don't end up the old maid you are so bent on becoming. Take a job to support the struggling family; write a novel about your life; make sure the woman gets married at end of the novel; but what if it doesn't make sense for the woman to get married?; you mean to say after this whole book you are really going to be the kind of woman who doesn't get married? ◆"
