Cogan, Frances B., All American Girls: The Ideal of Real Womanhood in Mid-Nineteenth Century America, University of Georgia Press, 1989.
Cogan presents a historical perspective on women's
roles in mid-nineteenth century America, including
their expected educational levels, skills, aspirations,
and manners. She suggests that in addition to the traditional
view of womanhood, there was a competing view of a more dynamic,
independent type of woman emerging in literature.
Fetterley, Judith, "Little Women: Alcott's Civil War," in Feminist Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2, Summer 1979, pp. 369-83.
Fetterley proposes that Alcott's text reflects compromises
in style and content that came about as the>
result of the demands placed on the author by her
publisher and her public.
Jefferson, Margo, "Books of the Times: Little Women, Growing Up.....
This is a free excerpt of 127 words. This section contains 250 words. This
study guide contains 40,148 words (approx. 134 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Little Women Access Pass.