In the following chapter, Elbert identifies major themes in Alcott's work as exemplified in Little Women, tying them all to an ideal of "domestic democracy."

In the following essay, Murphy examines critical debate surrounding the question of Little Women's status as a feminist novel. She argues that the power of the work is largely derived "from the contradictions and tensions it exposes and from the pattern it establishes of subversive feminist exploration colliding repeatedly against patriarchal repression. "

In the following chapter from a critical study of American women's writing, Showalter considers the reasons for the sustained popularity of Alcott's Little Women among American female readers of diverse backgrounds.

In the following essay, Keyser discusses the functions of stories and play in Little Women—as escape, as training, and as allegory for the novel as a whole.

In the following chapter, Foster and Simons explain that critics tend to be emotionally engaged with Little Women because its subject, female development, is universally mythic, and its realism keeps it timeless.

In the following essay, Rigsby emphasizes the political significance of Alcott's Work, arguing that the novel reveals Alcott's affiliation with "feminist transcendentalism " through a subversion of "powerful patriarchal images and narrative patterns. "

In the following essay, Clark discusses Alcott's ambivalence toward the role of writing, particularly as self-expression, in Little Women.

In the following article, Stern provides the biographical and literary context behind Alcott's creation of Little Women.

In the following essay, Fetterley argues that Little Women reveals stylistic and thematic compromises that were made by Alcott in deference to prevailing social opinions of the time and the preferences of her publisher.

In the following essay, Langland offers a comparative discussion of Little Women and Work, arguing that "the developmental pattern expressed in Work is central to understanding key tensions in Little Women. "

In this essay, Minadeo considers the relevance of Little Women to today's readers for whom gender roles are less limiting than in Alcott's time.

Auerbach's look at Alcott's life and work suggests that although Meg, Jo, and Amy had to accept marriage as their fates, Alcott actually idealized feminist utopias that excluded marriage and men.

In the following essay, Dalke argues that Little Women, particularly the second part, redefines family according to matriarchal values.

In the following essay, Ellis claims that unlike the film adaptations of Little Women, which stereotype girls, Alcott's book represents them as serious and capable people.

MacDonald contrasts recent responses to Little Women with those of child readers in Alcott's time, suggesting that although modern critics often consider the book sentimental and romantic, when compared to other works of the time, it is radical and realistic.

In the following excerpt, Donovan places Little Women in the context of the development of children's literature. Though Alcott incorporated lessons for self-improvement in her work, she opposed didacticism.

In the following essay, Heilbrun argues that Little Women's Jo has been a model of female autonomy for twentieth-century women artists.

In the following essay, Russ examines the widespread appeal of Little Women one hundred years after its original publication.

In the following review, Brazil praises Alcott's ability to write convincingly of childhood experiences as an adult.