charismatic and haunted by the lure of piracy.

In the end he dreams of adventure and travel

but is haunted by what he has seen. The conflict of lawlessness and Jim’s wish to lead a

lawful life is apparent.

In conclusion, fatherhood varies dramatically depending on whether you are male or

female. What is certain is that all key characters were inspired and taught well by their

mothers. Marmee attributes this to Mr March, but Jim’s mother acts accordingly on her own

merit. For the female in 19th Century America, the need to conform to womanhood is

apparent, by marrying up. To a man who can teach, and mould you into being a little

woman as if in the role of being father. For the man growing up, it is important to take

action and mould yourself. Laurie struggles between the two worlds of male and female,

ultimately having to sacrifice his music for more masculine traits suggested by his

grandfather. Jim with little guidance acted independently guided by two contrasting men.

Jim is blessed with this broad spectrum, as it allows him as a man to form his own character

and not be shaped by a father figure.

Word Count: 2196

Bibliography:

Alcott, LM. (2008), ‘Little Women’, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Bristow, J. (2009) ‘Empire Boys’ in Maybin, J. and Watson, N.J. (eds) Children’s Literature:

Approaches and Territories, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 130-142.

Fetterley, J. (2009) ‘Wake up and be a man’: Little Women. Laurie, and the ethic of

submission.’ in Montgomery, H. and Watson, N.J. (eds) Children’s Literature, Classic Texts

and Contemporary Trends, Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp.18-30.

Page 7 of 8