The cast for the upcoming version of Little Women, to be released in December 25th, already promises outstanding performances who can carry on the message Louisa May Alcott put into her writing back in 1868.
The famous story follows the lives of the March sisters who belong to a middle-class American family, each one portraying a powerful individuality in their characterization as well as a vocational pursuit.
Nowadays I feel like the script will take a sharper meaning in the environment we are living regarding women's rights and how we view women's capabilities. I perceive that some subtleties that appeared in previous versions will make a much stronger statement in this one.
It is admirable how all the female characters can be interpreted as different personalities or different parts of the same woman, this alludes to the richness of a woman's worth exceeding domestic roles and has allowed and inspired other writers to explore female characters who take more risks.
An already known fact is how the author based the novel in her sisters and her own life while being convinced of writing a novel for girls, even when she was not sure she could pull it off. Pressed by her publisher, she managed to put together a tale that, without knowing it, captured the essence of what being a girl in the road to adulthood is truly like.
Like the trailer puts it, “women they have minds and they have souls as well as hearts and they’ve got ambition and they’ve got talent as well as just beauty”.
Perhaps Louisa did not feel she knew what it was like to write for girls, after all she only knew her family and a few friends. She lacked the initial confidence in this project but she was very successful and I think the way she portrayed these characters changed how we view the passing from childhood to womanhood.
Almost every girl I know has read, heard or seen Little Women. Through the years, it has become a tradition that depicts the hardship and realization every girl encounters when thrown into real life and the path of adulthood: Who we love, what we follow, what ambitions we pursue.
It is a story that will never grow old as the process of growing up is something everyone can relate to. Add to that the gender restrictions of the time and the fight Meg, Beth, Jo and Amy put up with to thrive and grasp their dreams.
This piece of art intends to show also that dreams, like people, are different. Feminisms are different and abiding to societal norms or distancing yourself from them does not make those aims unimportant. Bottom line, it is being true to your heart's desires what counts and having the opportunity of choice, both are obvious but oftentimes hard to seize.
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