From Garret to Study: Dual Pathways of Female Empowerment through Writing in Little Women

Tong Zhou

doi:10.6918/IJOSSER.202506_8(6).0019

Authors

Tong Zhou

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6918/IJOSSER.202506_8(6).0019

Keywords:

Female empowerment, Personal liberation, Societal transformation.

Abstract

In Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, there exist dual pathways of female empowerment through writing reflected by the character Jo March. Jo moved from the margins of domesticity to the center of social influence through writing which serves as not only a tool for personal liberation but also a mechanism for societal transformation. Jo’s evolution from writing in a garret to setting up a communal study reveals the dual pathways of female empowerment: Individual establishment and public impact. Based on feminist theory and historical contexts, this study discusses how 19th-century American women applied literature to challenge gender norms and reshape societal power structures.

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