MASCULINITY OF JOSEPHINE MARCH
AS SEEN IN LOUISA MAY ALCOTT’S
LITTLE WOMEN
A Thesis
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree
in English Language Education
By
MAXIMILLIAN SAMUEL PUJI Student Number: 991214207
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
STATEMENT OF WORK ORIGINALITY
I honestly declare that the thesis I wrote does not contain the works or part of
the works of other people, except those which were cited in the quotations and the
bibliography as a scientific paper should.
Yogyakarta, 25 January 2007 The Writer
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to thank the almighty God, Allah,
Buddha, and all the holy spirits in this universe for giving me a chance to live on
earth and making me very thankful when some other people think that life is such a
curse on them, for giving me many chances to do good and bad things, for letting me
choose to take the chance or not to. Those things are very influential in creating me
like what you see now.
The most weakness in me is that I cannot do anything alone. Even when I
do something by myself, I still need help from people I trust in. This thesis is just a
very small part in my life but I realize that I would not have been able to complete
this thesis without the help from others. In the process of writing this thesis, I have
received supports from many people with their attention, intelligence, knowledge,
love, spirit, and money.
It is reasonable to give my deepest gratitude to Dra. Wigati Y. Modouw,
M.Hum, as my major sponsor and Yohana Veniranda S.Pd, M. Hum, as my
co-sponsor, because they have guided me and motivated me to write this thesis, helped
me to do my best in writing this thesis.
I would like to thank my family, Bapak Baskoro Poedjihardjo, Ibu
Sumiharti, my sisters, Titut, Maya, Tiva, Shinta, and Vita, my brother, Tata, and my
uncles Pak Nunuk and Pak Son for all of the financial and emotional supports,
attention, care, and patience.
To my special friend, Windhy Wirdhoningrum, I would like to thank her
we have felt together, for helps that seem will never end. It is not easy to get a friend
like her.
To a very special companion in my life, Oktofianus Susim. I thank him
for his willingness to let me take some parts in his life. To Emil, Butet, Erna, Bayu,
Tunjung, Dista, Nunug, Witman, Ajie, Novi, Ika, Betty Boop, Retno, and all of my
friends in EEPRO especially year 1999 whom I cannot mention one by one, I would
like to thank them for the good and bad times we have had. We are the best no matter
what other people say.
At last, may God bless us and help us. Amen.
With love,
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
TITLE PAGE ………... i
PAGE OF APPROVAL ……… ii
PAGE OF BOARD EXAMINERS ………... iii
STATEMENT OF WORK ORIGINATILY ………. v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……….. vi
A. Review on Theories of Literature ….……… 9
1. Theory of Critical Approach …...…..……….. 10
2. Theories of Character ……….. 12
3. Theory of Characterization ………... 13
4. Review on Women in the Victorian Age ……… 15
B. Review on Theories of Psychology …………... 17
1. Theory of Personality ……….. 18
2. Variables of Personality Development …... 22
3. Theory of Traditional Masculinity ……….. 23
C. Criticisms ………... 29
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ………... 32
A. Subject Matter ……….. 32
B. Approaches ……….……….. 33
C. Procedures ………..……….. 34
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS ……… 36
A. The Determinants of Josephine March’s Masculinity ……….. 36
1. Physical Determinant ………….………. 37
a. Unfeminine ………. 48
b. Athletic and Strong ……..………... 40
c. Brave ……….. 41
d. Unconcerned about Appearance and Aging …………... 43
2. Functional Determinant ………..………. 46
a. Breadwinner or Provider …………... 46
3. Emotional Determinant …………..………. 48
5. Interpersonal Determinant ……….……….. 57
a. Leading and Dominating …...………. 57
b. Disciplinarian ………….…………... 59
c. Independent and Individualistic …... 60
6. Other Personal Determinants ……….………. 62
a. Success Oriented and Ambitious …... 62
b. Proud and Egoistical …………..………. 65
c. Uninhibited and Adventurous ……... 67
B. Variables Developing Josephine March’s Masculinity ……… 69
2. Josephine March’s Disappointment on Discrimination …….. 72
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ………..……. 76
A. Conclusions ……….………... 76
B. Suggestions ……….………... 78
1. Suggestions to Future Researchers ……….. 78
2. Suggestions to English Instructors …….………. 79
a. The Implementation of Teaching Reading II …………. 80
b. The Implementation of Teaching Prose II …………... 81
BIBLIOGRAPHY……….. 83
APPENDIXES ……….. 85
Appendix 1. Summary of the Novel ………... 86
Appendix 2. Biography of the Author ……… 90
Appendix 3. Syllabus of Reading II ……… 100
Appendix 4. Syllabus of Prose II ……… 101
Appendix 5. Implementation of Teaching Reading II ……… 102
Appendix 6. Implementation of Teaching Prose II ………. 106
ABSTRACT
PUJI, MAXIMILLIAN SAMUEL. (2007). Masculinity of Josephine March as Seen
in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Yogyakarta, English Language Education
Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.
This thesis discuses Louisa May Alcott’s novel, Little Women. It is a story of a girl named Josephine March who turns into a woman in a society in America during the Victorian age. To be a female is not as easy as to be a male human during that period because there are some restricting regulations regulating women’s behavior and even in law, women have less power than men do. Women must be dependant on men and what girls should do is to prepare themselves for the marriage since the aim of life for every woman must be to be married. Josephine March is conscious about those facts and thus she decides to be masculine as her way to show her disappointment on the discrimination and to show that she, as a girl who turns into a woman, is not weaker than men. This is a very interesting story since it has the real time and place background with the real history and situation.
There are two questions to answer in this thesis. The first is to know the determinants of Josephine March’s masculinity based on the theory of traditional masculinity by Janet Saltzman Chavetz, and the second is to find out the variables which develop Josephine March’s masculinity based on the theory of personality development by Edward J. Murray.
The method employed in this study is library research encompassing the novel of Little Women written by Louisa May Alcott as the primary data, books of literature, psychology and also data from the internet as the secondary sources. The approach used in the study is psychological and socio-cultural historical approach because this study related with the main character’s masculinity which is her reaction on the pressure from her society.
The findings of the first analysis show that Josephine March’s masculinity is shown through some determinants, they are: physical determinant, functional determinant, emotional determinant, intellectual determinant, interpersonal determinant, and other personal determinant.
In the second analysis, the findings reveal Josephine March’s variables which develop her masculinity. The first variable is her poverty and the second is her disappointment on discrimination.
ABSTRAK
PUJI, MAXIMILLIAN SAMUEL. (2007). Masculinity of Josephine March as Seen
in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Yogyakarta, Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris,
Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Skripsi ini membahas tentang novel Louisa May Alcott yaitu Little
Women. Novel itu adalah cerita tentang seorang gadis bernama Josephine March
yang tumbuh dewasa menjadi seorang wanita di dalam suatu masyarakat di Amerika dalam masa Victorian. Menjadi seorang perempuan tidaklah semudah menjadi seorang pria di dalam masa itu karena ada beberapa aturan yang mengikat yang mengatur dan bahkan dalam hukum, wanita lebih lemah daripada pria. Wanita harus tergantung pada pria dan apa yang seharusnya dilakukan oleh para gadis adalah mempersiapkan diri mereka untuk pernikahan sebab tujuan hidup dari setiap wanita adalah menikah. Josephine March menyadari kenyataan-kenyataan tersebut dan maka dari itu dia memutuskan untuk menjadi maskulin sebagai caranya menunjukkan kekecewaannya atas deskriminasi dan untuk menunjukkan bahwa, sebagai gadis yang beranjak dewasa, dia tidak lebih lemah daripada pria. Ini adalah cerita yang sangat menarik sebab cerita ini memiliki latar belakang waktu dan tempat yang nyata dengan sejarah dan situasi yang nyata.
Ada dua pertanyaan dalam rumusan masalah untuk dijawab dalam skripsi ini. Yang pertama adalah untuk mengetahui determinan-determinan dari kemaskulinan Josephine March berdasarkan teori maskulinitas tradisional oleh Janet Saltzman Chavetz, dan yang kedua adalah untuk mencari tahu variabel-variabel yang membangun kemaskulinan Josephine March berdasarkan teori perkembangan personaliti oleh Edward J. Murray.
Metode yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah penelitian perpustakaan meliputi novel Little Women yang ditulis oleh Louisa May Alcott sebagai data utama, buku-buku mengenai literature, psikologi, dan juga data-data dari internet sebagai sumber pendukung. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah pendekatan psikologis dan pendekatan sosial-kultural historis karena studi ini berhubungan dengan kemaskulinan tokoh utama yang merupakan reaksinya atas tekanan dari masyarakatnya.
Hasil dari analisa pertama menunjukkan bahwa kemaskulinan Josephine March ditampilkan melalui beberapa determinan, yaitu: determinan fisik, determinan fungsi, determinan emosi, determinan intelektual, determinan interpersonal, dan determinan personal lainnya.
Dalam analisa kedua, hasilnya menunjukkan variabel-variabel Josephine March yang membangun kemaskulinannya. Variabel pertama adalah kemiskinan dan yang kedua adalah kekecewaannya atas deskriminasi.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter consists of four important parts that will help us to
explore our understanding of this study. The first part is the background of the
study. It focuses on the reasons of the study. The second part is the objectives of
the study. It gives the explanation of the focus of the study. The third part is the
problem formulation which contains of two questions to be answered in this study
in order to get the aim of the study. The fourth part or the last part of the first
chapter is the definition of terms. This last part will be very helpful because it
contains some definitions of terms related to the study in order to avoid
misunderstanding.
A. Background of the Study
Studying literature is different from studying any other branches of
knowledge. The difference is that literature gives a wide range of description of
human’s life and its problems. It is as if what Moody says in his book entitled The
Teaching of Literature. He says that literature, by its nature so various, confronts the students with the opportunity of dealing with and endless stream of fresh and
unpredictable experiences. It is thus an excellent preparation for later life,
especially at the more professional levels where the educated man has to be ready
to take on, evaluate, and make decisions about a wide range of diverse problem
Therefore, literary work has many aspects to be analyzed deeper. A
novel as one genre of literary works, offers its reader a model of an imaginary
life. Developed by using its intrinsic elements such as theme, plot, character,
setting, point of view, etc.; it carries a certain message for its readers. Those
developmental elements make the story inside the novel, as a work of literature,
become factual or become alive in its readers’ eyes, especially when the novel is
based on the real situation and has both real setting of time and location like Little
Women (1868). Little Women is a classic novel and well known. The feminine
environment is quite dominating in this novel since the major characters are
female. Further, in my research, I will focus my attention on one of the major
characters of Little Women, Josephine March, who is an interesting character and
taking role in many parts of the novel.
People usually make reactions toward the situations of everyday life,
mostly because they feel unsatisfied with the situations in their social
circumstances or because they are unsatisfied toward what the others think about
or express. People will have different ways as their reactions toward their
dissatisfactions. Josephine March in Little Women shows her dissatisfaction
toward her society by possessing certain personality. The distinctive personality
of Josephine March is being unfeminine or masculine.
Nowadays, being unfeminine or masculine for women is not a strange
or a shocking phenomenon, since people have more freedom to choose and to
express themselves in their own ways, but it is different if it is compared with the
their behavior which are likely to make them feminine.
In this life, we will find that there are many factors affecting and
influencing someone to have certain personalities which are grouped into two
major factors: internal and external factors. Those factors give many contributions
to human beings in creating his or her personalities. As an example is one of the
four major characters in Little Women that I will observe more in this analysis,
Josephine March. She is just an ordinary girl who is limited by the high Victorian
age when few women start to think differently about their being female and about
the rules on women. She is different from other girls because she is brave enough
to show her difference by possessing a distinctive personality, being masculine,
since she is struggling to show her strength and her disappointment on the limited
opportunities for women because of the rules and norms of the Victorian age.
Though many texts often attempt to define femininity, few do the same
for masculinity. It is interesting to observe more about Josephine March since she
is one of the major characters in the novel who has distinctive features from
others. Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women was the subject of some scholars to get
their undergraduate degrees and it makes Little Women more interesting for me. I
am challenged to do a research on Little Women in a different point of view with
more focus on the masculinity as the personality of Josephine March as the result
of her reactions toward her environment and society. Since in the real life we
cannot avoid some factors that will develop our personalities, doing a research on
Josephine March is very interesting. It also challenges me since I have to study
Victorian age. First, it tells about the life of Josephine March. She is the second
oldest daughter who dissatisfies with her society. Eventually, it leads her to posses
a masculine personality as her way to show her disappointment toward the
Victorian age rules on women.
Second, the novel contains of the inequality between men and women
in the society of the Victorian age which makes women to have less opportunities
in raising money and in contributing themselves for the society development.
Josephine March’s leading behavior is similar as Tjoet Njak Dien’s
leading behavior. They both have a leading behavior which can be categorized in
the interpersonal determinant, one of seven determinants of masculinity based on
the theory of traditional masculinity by Janet Saltzman Chavetz. Josephine
March’s masculinity is her reaction against the rules of the Victorian community
which provides inequality between men and women while Tjoet Njak Dien’s
masculinity is her reactions against the rules on women which lower the position
of women compared with men according to the Moslem religion rules. Her
leadership in her struggle with her followers against the colonizer can also be
considered as a masculine action.
I have compiled some information about Louisa May Alcott and her
work, Little Women from www.wikipedia.com and www.awerty.com. Little Women is Alcott’s best novel because it was and is still popular until now. It also depicts the realistic portraits and genuine American backgrounds. It is the good
example of a novel which shows the effects of society and environments on
from the U.S.A. and was first published on 30 September 1868, three years after
the end of the American Civil War (War of the States). It was based on her own
experiences as a child in Concord, Massachusetts. The scene of the story is a
small town in one of the Northern States where the March family lived. Mr.
March, the father of the four “little women”, as he like to call his daughters, was a
priest and had gone away to be a minister of religion with the army. The setting of
time of the novel takes the period in the recent nineteenth century life in America
when is the difficult time for women to express themselves in public. Women’s
major works are domestic works if there are some chances to work.
Little Women is the story of the Marches, a suffering family. The
conflicts in this novel begin when Mr. March had to go away as the minister of
religion with the army in the American Civil War. Although Father March is away
with the Union armies, the sisters Meg, Jo, Amy and Beth keep in high spirits
with their mother, affectionately named Marmee. Their friendly gift of a
Christmas holiday breakfast to a neighboring family is an act of generosity
rewarded with wealthy Mr. Laurence's gift of a surprise Christmas feast.
However, despite their efforts to be good, the girls show faults: the pretty Meg
becomes discontented with the children she teaches; boyish Jo loses her temper
regularly; while the golden-haired schoolgirl Amy is inclined towards affectation.
However, Beth, who keeps the house, is always kind and gentle. After certain
happy times winning over the Laurences, dark times arrive as Marmee finds out
about her husband's illness. Worse is to come as Beth contracts scarlet fever in her
novel tells of their progress into young womanhood with the additional strains of
romance, Beth's terminal illness, the pressures of marriage and the outside world.
This is the story of their growing maturity and wisdom and the search for the
contentedness of family life. It was written in 1867 and is a fictionalized
biography of Alcott and her sisters.
B. Objectives of the Study
This study has two main objectives to be achieved. The first aim of this
study is to find out the determinants of Josephine March’s masculine personality.
The second is to find out some factors which are influencing the development of
Josephine March’s masculine personality. All of those aims are to be achieved by
employing the theory of traditional masculinity by Chavetz (1978) and the
theories of personality by Hurlock and Murray (1974) as the main guidance.
C. Problem Formulation
In accordance with the objective of the study, the problems of this
study that will be discussed are formulated as follows:
1. What are the determinants of Josephine March’s masculinity?
2. What variables influence the development of Josephine March’s masculinity?
D. Benefits of the Study
Some benefits are expected from this analysis. The reader can gain
behavior after reading this analysis. Hopefully, this analysis will also be useful for
daily life, such as how we recognize one’s personality as his or her reaction
toward something in life. For the students of English Education Program
hopefully this analysis will enrich their knowledge, particularly to the study of
novel, in relation to human’s personality, and also to enrich student’s opinion of
American writers and their works.
Another researcher may also obtain a benefit from this analysis.
Hopefully this analysis can stimulate the researcher to develop their opinion
toward different interpretation of Louisa May Alcott and her novels, since this
analysis gives additional information about the novel especially from
psychological viewpoints.
E. Definition of Terms
The definition of terms is presented in order to avoid
misunderstanding. It is very significant because if there was no brief and clear
explanation, the study will be confusing and perhaps, there will be a
misconception.
1. Personality
Dewey and Humber (1951: 236), emphasizes that personality is the product of
interactive processes and is a dynamic concept, self-contained, one that is
2. Masculinity
Based on The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,
masculinity is the quality or condition of being masculine; or something
traditionally considered to be characteristic of a male (1996).
Based on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/masculine, masculinity is the trait
of being associated with the male in various contexts. The word masculine can
refer to:
1. The property of being biologically male, more precisely expressed in
biology as "sex".
2. A traditional gender role associated with sexually male humans.
3. Grammatical gender, an inflection of nouns, largely derived from gender
role association.
Masculinity is sometimes used as a synonym for manhood. The counterpart or
positive antonym of masculinity is femininity. The negative antonym is
effeminacy. Masculinity is a gender role associated with male humans and an
indicator of social status much as wealth, race or social class. Greater
masculinity usually brings greater social status for males, and many English
words such as virtue (from the Latin vir for "man'", also used in words such as
vim and vigor and virulent) reflect this, implying a clear association with strength. Masculinity is associated more commonly with adult men rather than
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
In this section, I will discuss the relevant theories which are employed
in order to help me analyze the problems. It is necessary to employ some theories
as the guidance since this study is dealing with the distinctive personality of one
of the major characters in Little Women, Josephine March. They are
interconnected in order to answer and to give a profound analysis to the problems
which are formulated above. This chapter consists of three parts. The first part is
the review on theories of literature consists of theory of critical approach, theory
of character, theory of characterization, theory of setting, the relation between
character and setting, and review on the women of the Victorian age. The second
part is the review on theories of psychology consists of theory of personality and
theory of traditional masculinity. The third part is the theoretical framework.
A. Review on Theories of Literature
This part consists of theory of critical approach, theory of character,
theory of characterization, and the review on the Victorian age society. Theory of
critical approaches concerns with the approaches that I employ to analyze the
novel, theory of character and characterization will be employed to describe the
characteristic of the main character that will make me easier to understand the
personality of Josephine March and after that the review on the Victorian age
society will be needed to help me understand the custom of the women in the
1. Theory of Critical Approach
This study deals with the literary study, therefore, it is important to
discuss the theory of critical approaches that are used in analyzing the novel.
Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods Jr. say that to study a piece of literature
we have to use critical approach to literature (1971:3). The purpose is to receive
some of the positive aesthetic values, to get the understanding of how literature is
shaped and what it means. Consider the psychological aspects existed in the story;
I use a critical approach of Rohrberger and Woods which gives five kinds of
critical approaches in analyzing literature. They are formalist approach,
biographical approach, socio cultural-historical approach, mythopoeic approach,
and psychological approach.
The first is formalist approach, which believes in the idea of the work
itself; the second is biographical approach which asserts in the necessity for an
appreciation of the author ideas and thought of the author to understand of the
literature object. The third approach is socio-cultural historical approach which
believes the only way to discover the real work be in reference to the civilizations
of which the attitudes and actions of a specific group of people become the subject
matter. The fourth is mythopoeic approach, which seeks to discover certain
universally recurrent patterns of human thought, and the fifth is psychological
approach, which involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent
patterns.
In this analysis, I will use both psychological approach and also
the story and the characters in this novel are related to the history and the social
condition of the Victorian age and the American Civil War and since I will
discuss the psychological aspect of the character, I will use psychological
approach. In this analysis I will explore more about personality especially about
masculinity of Josephine March.
The psychological approach draws a different body of knowledge. This
approach involves the effort to locate and demonstrate certain recurrent patterns,
such as a person’s capacity for creation and complexity of his thought and
behavior. The masculinity of Josephine March, which is the reaction toward her
environment, can be explored through her thought and behavior using this
approach.
The critics of socio cultural-historical approach believe that it is
necessary to investigate the social milieu in which a work was created and the
culture is reflected. They assert two things, such as: literature is not created in a
vacuum and literature embodies significant ideas to the culture that produces it.
The examination is not only the work of art itself but also the work in relation to
others by the same authors in the same period or in different periods. This
knowledge might enrich the experiences of reading (1971:9).
It is important for me also to pay attention on the socio
cultural-historical approach because the main character in Little Women, Josephine March,
and also the story of the novel are related to the history and the social condition of
the Victorian age and the American Civil War. The history and the social
Josephine March psychologically that she is urged to possess certain personality,
something which is different from other women in common. The impact of the
social environment where Josephine March lives gives great contribution for
Josephine in taking any actions including being masculine.
2. Theories of Character
Character is the creation of a novelist that becomes an important aspect
in the novel. A novelist should create human beings that represent the real
situation and they should behave like actual human beings.
It is necessary for a novelist to make his or her character interesting.
The characters portray the human values described in the ordinary lives. When a
novelist presents characters, he or she presents them not as an individualized
personality but as an example of some vice and virtue. The author of Little Women
describes the characters of Josephine March very clearly using many descriptions
in many parts of the novel. I employ as the starting point to explore deeper about
Josephine March. Some theories of character that give me an understanding about
what a character is. Later, the theory of character will guide me to analyze and to
understand the character before I start to analyze Josephine March’s masculinity
and then to find out some determinants which has developed the masculinity in
Josephine March.
The definition of character is not only from fiction term. Drever
defines character psychologically by saying that character is derived from many
readers can predict what the characters would do if they faced certain problems
(1958: 23).
There are four major characters in the novel since the title of the novel
is in plural Little Women and it tells a story about four girls in facing a hard life as
female in the Victorian age but I will only take one character who has distinct
characters, Josephine March and I consider her as the major character and she is
also the object of my analysis.
This research takes one of four major characters as the center. Robert
Stanton in his An Introduction to Fiction elaborates that character is the doer who
can make changes in him or in our perception as the readers toward him
(1965:17). Abrams shares the same opinion with Robert Stanton that the character
is the determiner of the actions (1981: 20). Those theories are employed to help
me finding the characteristic of Josephine March. It is important as the first phase
in observing deeper about the personality of the character.
3. Theory of Characterization
The author characterizes characters in the novel in order to be
understood. M.J. Murphy classified the way an author reveals the characters’
personalities and trait to the readers (1972: 161-173). They are nine altogether are
personal description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, conversation
with others, reactions, direct comment, thought, and mannerism.
The first one is “personal description”, meaning that the characters can
wore in the story. Some of Josephine March’s characters are shown by her
physical appearances especially her clothing. The second is “characters as seen by
another”. It means that the author describes the character through the opinion
given by other characters in the story. Their opinion influences the reader’s
impression. There are many opinions given by other characters in the novel about
Josephine March. Most of them are from her sisters and mother. The third is
“speech”, meaning that what the character says in his speech can give the reader
clue to know deeper about the character himself. The way Josephine March’s talks
shows her characters.
The next is “past life” that is the author gives a clue to the reader by
describing the character’s past life. Past life in a story sometimes the plot jump to
the past events and it also involves the past life of the character. By letting the
reader learn something about a person’s past life, the author can give us a clue to
events that have helped to shape a person’s character. The story is started when
Josephine March was a little girl. There is only small explanation about her past
life but it is enough since Josephine March dislike her being as a woman. The fifth
is “conversation with others”. The conversation between the character and the
other character can give the reader a clue of the characters the character have. The
way Josephine March talks and replies other characters’ speech can also show her
character. She uses many slang words that are considered as vulgar and
unladylike.
The sixth is “reactions”, that is to say that the readers are allowed to
reactions to the problems can show the character’s characters. Some problems
affect Josephine March and force her to make certain actions on them including,
later, to posses a certain personality. The next is “direct comment”, the author
gives her own comment to the characters she creates. Some descriptions on
Josephine March are presented directly by Alcott in Little Women.
The eighth is “thought”, meaning that the author takes the reader to the
character’s thoughts and feelings, so the readers can subjectively understand the
character’s characters and position in the story. The reader can feel as if they were
experiencing what the character’s feel and think. The last is “mannerism”. The
character’s mannerism, habits, idiosyncrasies are described by the author to the
readers in order to be a way in knowing the character itself.
Characterization uses dramatic method instead of describing the
character directly, an author uses dramatic method to describe the character by
placing him or her in situations to show what he or she is like by the way he or
she behaves or speaks. This description is drawn based on the characters’ eyes and
opinion.
To observe more about Josephine March’s characters, I use some ways
in Murphy’s theory of characterization. It really makes me easier to characterize
the character of Josephine March as described by the author in the novel. It is my
foundation to observe more about her personality, especially her masculinity
which will be observed deeper to find out some determinants of her masculinity
4. Review on Women in the Victorian Age
We often refer to the time period between the late 1830's and the turn
of the century as the Victorian era. The period gets its name from the English
Queen, Victoria, who was crowned in 1837 at the age of eighteen, and who died
in 1901 (www.wikipedia.com).
For Victorian women, the opportunity for employment was limited to
roles sanctioned and contained by domesticity. The accepted reasoning was that
the career for women was marriage. To get ready for courtship and marriage a
girl was groomed like a racehorse. In addition to being able to sing, play an
instrument and speak a little French or Italian, the qualities a young Victorian
gentlewoman needed, were to be innocent, virtuous, biddable, dutiful and be
ignorant of intellectual opinion (www.enotes.com).
Whether married or single all Victorian women were expected to be
weak and helpless, a fragile delicate flower incapable of making decisions beyond
selecting the menu and ensuring her many children were taught moral values. A
gentlewoman ensured that the home was a place of comfort for her husband and
family from their stresses.
A woman's prime use was to bear a large family and maintain a
smooth family atmosphere where a man need not bother himself about domestic
matters. He assumed his house would run smoothly so he could get on with
making money.
Even in high places Victorian men kept mistresses, but they still
misdemeanors. If a woman took a lover it was not made public. If it did become
public knowledge she would be cut by society. But men could amble along to one
of their gentleman's clubs and always find a warm welcome.
It was a hypocritical period when relationships were quite artificial.
Until late in the century in 1887 a married woman could own no property. Then
in 1887 the Married Woman's Property Act gave women rights to own her own
property. Previously her property, frequently inherited from her family, belonged
to her husband on marriage. She became the chattel of the man. During this era if
a wife separated from her husband she had no rights of access to see her children.
A divorced woman had no chance of acceptance in society again.
A wealthy wife was supposed to spend her time reading, sewing,
receiving guests, going visiting, letter writing, seeing to the servants and dressing
for the part as her husband's social representative. For the very poor things were
quite different. Fifth hand clothes were usual. Servants ate the pickings left over
in a rich household. The average poor mill worker could only afford the very
inferior stuff, for example rancid bacon, tired vegetables, green potatoes, tough
old stringy meat, tainted bread, porridge, cheese, herrings or kippers (Strickland,
1985).
It is important for me to include this part as the description about the
situation in the Victorian age and also its effects on women in that period. The
analysis in this thesis will mostly about the motivation change in a woman who
B. Review on Theories of Psychology
This part will discuss about the psychological theory to be used in
analyzing the main character. There are two main theories, which are theory of
personality and theory of traditional masculinity. Those two theories are important
to help to find out the determinants of Josephine March’s masculine personality
since they are linked one another.
1. Theory of Personality
To analyze Josephine March’s personality, besides the theory of
characterization, I will need some theories of personality to help me understand
her masculine personality in the novel. These theories will be useful to know
some factors which can be used to personalize somebody. Dewey and Humber
(1951: 236), emphasizes that personality is the product of interactive processes
and is a dynamic concept, self-contained, one that is being a part of a social act
rather than a part of an individual. Its study cannot be separated from the social
interaction. It is meaningful to study personality in a social context, which
includes the active organism, the cultural and geographical environment, and
other personalities. On the other hand, Allport as quoted in Hurlock’s, defines that
personality development is a stage in growth of a constantly changing and
evoking process within an individual. The process becomes more complex, in the
patterning of one self-concept, habits, attitudes, emotional states, sentiments, and
motives. Furthermore, it determines his or her uniqueness in speech, in reactions
to people and things, in mannerism, in fantasy, and in other ways directed toward
To make it understandable and clearer about personalities, Hurlock has
eight determinants, which can determine one’s personality pattern (1974:
137-354). These determinants are very useful when I analyze the masculine
personality of Josephine March. Yet, it is also important because Josephine
March’s masculine personality is her is the way she express her disappointment
on inequality between men and women in the Victorian age. The first
determinants of personalities is physical determinant that shows physic and body
functioning are obviously responsible for personality development. The physical
factor influences self-concept when the person compares his physique with his
ideal and the standard in his social group, especially when he is conscious of the
other reaction. Physical defect affects personality both directly and indirectly.
Josephine March’s physical appearance is different from her sisters and other
women in her environment. She wears masculine cut clothing. It gives her
confidence because she looks more masculine than other women or girls.
The second determinant is intellectual determinant that shows the
influence of intellectual capacities on a person’s adjustment to his environment, to
people, and to himself. When one intellectual capacity develops, the person will
be aware of the worlds and his perceptions of people, of situation, and of himself.
There are many conditions that can determine one’s intellectual growth, such as
motivation, physical condition, education and emotional states. Josephine March
lives in the Victorian age society which has rules which give limitations on
women. She finds it difficult to adjust herself with that situation even though she
her strength and her disappointment toward such rules. Her intellectual which is
considered as masculine is shown by her talent in writing and she always develops
her talent even though the rules do not allow a woman to be smart since her future
is to be a house wife. The third is emotional determinant where the intensity and
duration of an emotion determines how it will affect the personality. Emotion
affects the individual’s physical and mental functioning and his attitudes,
interests, and values. With advancing age, the affects of the emotions on physical
well being increase. Being a woman is her most dissatisfaction since a woman
cannot get as big opportunity as men. Her emotion leads her to the decision to
show the strength she has as a woman and not to give up and just follow the rules
to play safe.
Then the fourth determinant is social determinant that indicates that a
person can earn in accordance with his developmental level because the social
group sets developmental tasks or learning experiences, which expect the person
to master them at a certain age. Social rates one learned and internalized by the
person to become self-expectations as well as social expectations. It implies that
when we enter a society and let ourselves plunge into its internalization we have
to be ready to determine our steps in deciding whether we will take or leave that
society expectations, norms and idealisms. Josephine March cannot ignore the
society expectations, norms and idealisms but she is not afraid not to follow them.
The social determinants have formed Josephine March’s masculine personality
which is her reaction against the social expectations, norms and idealism about
The fifth is aspiration and achievement determinants that include the
ego-involved goals of a person and the success or failure of a person related with
his training, experience, past achievement, flexibility, independence, risk taking,
and motivation. The aspirations and achievement certainly can result good or bad
effects in one’s self-concept or even one’s personality. Josephine March is a
woman. Being a woman in the Victorian age society means having fewer
opportunities in life, being under-rated, having lower position than men, and being
limited by some rules. On the other hand, her struggle to free herself from those
requirements results her masculine personality. She does not care about those
requirements and she positions herself as a man who has more freedom to do
anything and to get more opportunities.
Next is sex determinant that shows the attitude of the society toward
sex differences, and awareness of sex differences can determine a person to show
his or her academic abilities, interests and aptitudes. The direct influence of
sexuality on personality comes from the effects of the sex hormones, which
influence body form and functioning and the quality of a person’s behavior. The
indirect influence is from the effect of cultural influences on the sex drive, the
attitudes of significant people, and their treatment toward the person cause of his
sexuality. Being a woman is difficult for Josephine March. She feels that to be a
woman means there are limited opportunities in life for her.
The seventh is educational determinant that considered as an important
determinant in affecting one’s personality, because parents, schools and colleges,
climate of an institution affects one’s self evaluation and the evaluation of others
made on him.The March family is a family which teaches each of the children to
fell free to express themselves as unique individuals and not to give up easily. As
a girl who likes to write, Josephine March knows that there will be less
opportunity for her to be a writer since she is a woman but she does not give up
and keep on developing her writing skill. She takes the risk by not always
complies what her society wants her to be.
The last is family determinant that shows the relationship a person
has with his family is the most important factor in his personality development.
The child-training method and the communication of interests, attitudes, values
between family members, person’s identification with a family member he
admires, respects, and loves can highly influence one’s personality development.
This determinant has the biggest influence that has formed Josephine March’s
masculine personality. She imitates her father.She wants to show that she has the
same ability and strength as man has by imitating her father and be masculine.
Those determinants which shape one’s personality give an explanation
that those determinants influence someone conscious or unconsciously. The
masculine personality is also formed by those determinants. It is clear to see that
Josephine March’s main reason to be masculine is her disappointment on the
2. Variables of Personality Development
Murray’s statement cited in Hall et.al. in Theories of Personality
(1970:191) emphasizes that there are some variables which can be applied at
one’s personality development. They are genetic-maturational determinants,
uniqueness of the individual, the role of unconscious factors, and the socialization
process. Our personalities cannot be separated from our choice to participate in
our new socialization process.
Josephine March as the part of her society is not instantly achieved her
masculinity. Her masculinity is the result of her active interaction with her
society. There is disappointment which is caused by limiting rules on women in
the Victorian age. Jo’s masculinity is not her uniqueness. It is not the result of her
genetic-maturation process and she is consciously being masculine to show that
even a girl can be like man because she disappoints with the discrimination
between man and woman.
Josephine’s being masculine is developed as the result of her
socialization process which gives pressures. In her socialization process, Jo gets
much pressure from the discrimination and poverty.
3. Theory of Traditional Masculinity
Physically, woman is different from man. There are many evidences
that support this opinion. Woman has bigger breasts than man does. Woman has a
vagina and men has a penis. Some people believe that they are psychologically
This opinion sometimes supports the society to differ man from woman in many
things in life, such as in job, custom, and rules.
In the novel by Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, we can easily
observe that the society of the Victorian age makes the differences between men
and women bigger. Josephine March as the character in the novel is disappointed
and against this segmentation. As the result of her disappointment and her
struggle to show her strength, Josephine March becomes masculine. Louisa May
Alcott, in her novel Little Women, describes the masculine personality of
Josephine March very clearly. There are some determinants which describe the
masculine personality of Josephine March based on the theory of traditional
masculinity by Janet Saltzman Chavetz which are mentioned in her book
Masculine, Feminine or Human? An Overview of the Sociology of the Gender Roles (1974: 35-36):
1. Physical Determinant
The most visible appearances are the physical appearances. We can
conclude that someone is feminine or masculine, partly, by observing his or her
physical appearances. Based on the theory of traditional masculinity by Janet
Saltzman Chavetz there are some determiners which can be used as the standard
in concerning someone to be masculine or not. In this case, physical appearnces
are the standards, the physical appearances are being associated with male human
appearances. Physically, male human is stronger than female is and he has more
physically than women are so it is their task to protect women from “enemies”.
Woman is more concern about her body, she takes care of her body
and treat it well to show more of her beauty. Woman does not have to fight the
“enemies” because it is not her duty. Since woman is considered weaker than man
so she is the one to be protected by man. As women grow older, most of them will
do more to hide or to reduce the aging which appears on their bodies and they are
afraid if they will lose their youth. When someone has an unfeminine behavior,
athletic and strong physical appearances, brave, and is unconcerned about his or
her appearances and aging, he or she is masculine from the physical point of view.
Josephine March is described as a girl with an athletic
physical appearances and condition and the author compares her with a colt. She
does not really care about fashion and prefers to be comfortable. Josephine is also
described as a girl with a gentlemanly manner. She is also brave.
2. Functional determinant
In patriarchal system, man or husband is the main pillar of the family.
The functions of man and woman in the family and in the society are different.
Each of them has his or her own function. Woman’s functions are related to
domestic subjects. Woman can only do domestic tasks, such as taking care of
children, cooking, cleaning the house, serving her husband, and some other
domestic tasks.
As the breadwinner of the family, man’s function is to earn some
responsible to meet his family’s needs of material things, such as shelter, money,
food, and some other necessities.
Since she was a very young girl, Josephine wants to be the provider in
her family. When her father had to go to the war, she replaced him. Josephine did
not care much about herself when she sold her hair to earn some money for her
mother, she also always tries hard to be better in writing and she earn some money
from her writing. She does not want to just stay at home and doing house tasks as
other women do.
3. Sexual determinant
It is common to think that man is sexually more aggresive than woman
is. Woman must be very passive and not to expect more than what has given by a
man sexually. In this case, only man is in control. Masculinity can be related with
the aggresiveness and experiences in sexual life.
This is the only determinant of masculine personality which cannot be
found in the characteristic of Josephine March. There are no proof that Josephine
is sexually aggressive and experienced in the novel.
4. Emotional determinant
Woman usually is more emotional than man is. Man usually uses his
thought or we often say that man usually uses his brain in handling a situation or
problem and woman usually uses more emotion or heart. Being unemotional is
society usually uses her thought to handle many problems.
Josephine’s masculinity is also shown from her being stoic. She faces
her problem without complaining and always tries hard to solve it. She relies on
herself and not to expect any help from others especially from man.
5. Intellectual determinant
It is commonly accepted that man uses more brain or thought. It means
that man is more logical than woman is. Woman prefers to use her heart or
emotion. Being a logical person can be assumed as being masculine.
In the Victorian age, the opportunity for woman to get some education
is limited. Woman usually learn informally or even get no education at all.
Woman can only learn how to be a future good housewife. She must prepare
herself and get trained to do some house tasks which will be needed to serve her
future husband. Because of the limited opportunity for women to get an education,
there are few women are educated at that time, on the other hand, there are many
educated men. Obtaining education or being an educated person or intellectual
person is masculine then since education is given especially for men.
A person will be more rational after he or she gets some education. All
of his or her thought will be based on the education he or she has got. The more
education he or she obtains, the more rational he or she will be. It has been
explained before that the opportunity for woman to get some education is limited,
so woman can be considered as someone who is not rational because she cannot
In the daily life it is common that usually a man is more subjective
than woman is. It is related with the authoritarian characteristic of a man. A
woman usually is more objective than man is because she usually is more
emotional. A woman cannot just think about herself but she will have so many
other things to consider. Woman usually pays more attention on details and it is
impractical. Being subjective and practical are masculine.
Josephine March gets some education from her parents and book she
has read. From her learning, she becomes more educated than other women. She
also has her writing skill and always tries to improve it. Her way of thinking
becomes different either. She becomes more rational. Josephine has something
more than other women which makes her different and makes her society
think that she is unfeminine.
6. Interpersonal determinant
Commonly, male animals are the leaders of their groups. Men, in pre
historic period, used to be the leaders. They were leaders because they were
physically stronger than women and their main duties are to be the protector and
provider for their groups. Naturally, men are the leaders and born to be the next
leaders. They have a need to dominate everything that can be dominated.It seems
like it was normal for women in the Victorian age to be dominated by men. As the
leader, a man must be discipline and it is important for a man to be discipline
since he has to rule and manage everything under his domination. Man is also
own and he has to compete with other men. Being a leader, dominating,
disciplinarian, independent, and individualistic are considered manly then
according to the theory of traditional masculinity by Chavetz. Those determiners
are shown in the character of Josephine March. A woman who has those
determiners can be considered as a manly or masculine person.
7. Other personal determinants
There are some other determiners of masculinity; they are being
success oriented, ambitious, proud, egotistical, trustworthy, decisive, competitive,
uninhibited, and adventurous. All of those determinants can be found in the
character of Josephine March and it can be concluded that Josephine march is
more masculine than feminine.
C. The Criticisms
In this part, I will present some criticisms related to Louisa May Alcott
and her work, Little Women. The criticisms are presented to give more references
to the reader in understanding Louisa May Alcott and her work better.
According to Sarah E. Newton in her book Learning to Behave: A
Guide to American Conduct Books Before 1900, Little Women is a conduct book, a text intended for an inexperienced young adult or youthful reader that defines an
ethical, Christian based code of behavior and that normally includes gender role
definitions. It is not strange that Newton says that Little Women is a conduct book
life is mixed with common daily life. Alcott herself, in the book of Elaine
Showalter Sister’s Choice: Tradition and Change in American Women’s Writing
notes that she saw the book as a biographical and moral story about female
coming of age, and feared its didactic, moral overtones rendered it boring (295).
Alcott’s stories, as told by Margaret Strickland in her paper, examine
the darker side of human nature and criticize the Victorian ideal for femininity as
unrealistic and false. Little Women is Alcott’s way to criticize the discrimination
in the Victorian society.
From the beginning to the end, the novel focuses on the story of
Josephine March. Jo in the novel is often assumed as the representative of Louisa
May Alcott. The story has the real time background and represents the real life
situation in American during the Victorian age which gives much pressure on
women since there are some discriminating rules on women.
Some women helplessly follow the rules but some are not. Jo prefers
to do what she wants to do. She knows that there are so many limitations for her
since she was born as a girl and she does not want to be limited. Jo imitates men
and be masculine to show that she, as a girl, can do what men can do to the
society.
D. Theoretical Framework
This section reveals the use of the theories in analyzing the problem
formulations. Those theories are grouped into two parts; the first part is the review
character, theory of characterization, and review on the women of the Victorian
age. The second part is the review on theories of psychology which contains of
theory of personality, variables of personality development, and theory of
traditional masculinity.
The theories of character and characterization are used since the first
problem formulation deals with the description of the major characters. Since the
major characters will be explored in the analysis, the writer of this study has tried
to find as many supported source as the writer could obtain.
Theory of critical approach is used as the base in analyzing the
characters. The object, which is analyzed in this thesis, is a novel by Louisa May
Alcott which takes setting of time in the late of the Victorian age. The review on
the Victorian age is needed to help the writer to know more about the situation
which is happen in the novel, so the writer could see the daily manner and also the
general environment of the characters to help him recognize the changes which
appear on the women as
the characters of the novel.
Theory of personality is employed because the study focuses on the
masculinity of the main character, Josephine March and her masculinity is
considered as her personality because the masculinity of Josephine March is the
product of her interactive processes and is a dynamic concept, self-contained, one
that is being a part of her social act rather than her part of an individual. The
variables of personality development will be employed to help me explore the
masculinity by Janet Saltzman Chavetz is employed to explain the determinant of
one’s masculinity. One from the variables of personality development by Murray
is employed to explain the factors which affect the development of Josephine
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Subject Matter
The literary work that the writer wants to analyze is a novel entitled
Little Women, written by Louisa May Alcott. Little Women contains of twenty three chapters and two hundred and seventy one pages. It was published in the
United Kingdom by Scholastic Publications Limited in 1983. The novel was first
published in 1868. The story of four daughters in the March’s family as the major
characters, but only one to be explored, in the situation in the Victorian age when
the differences of gender were treated as inequality. The leading character of the
novel to be explored more is the second daughter, Josephine March. Like
Josephine March, Alcott struggled with the ladylike behavior that was expected of
girls in the nineteenth century. She was required to be calm and stay at home, but
Alcott was a tomboy whose favorite childhood activity was running wild through
the fields of Concord. She had an unladylike temper that she struggled to control.
Like Josephine March in Little Women, Alcott could not get over her
disappointment in not being a boy, since opportunities for women were limited at
that time. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Alcott had an urge to go and
fight in it. Like most transcendentalists, she supported the Northern side of the
conflict because she was against slavery. But since she was female and thus could
not join the military, she signed up to be a Union nurse and was stationed in
movement in the United States, whose supporters sought to extend the right to
vote to women. Alcott's feminist sympathies are expressed through the character
of Josephine March in Little Women.
For women at that time, having a family meant professional loss, and
having a profession meant personal loss. Little Women dramatizes this struggle
between the desire to help one's family and the desire to help oneself.
Two main topics of this study are the determinants of Josephine
March’s masculinity and the variables of Josephine March’s masculinity
development. Those topics are formulated in the first chapter and the discussions
of both of the formulations are presented in the fourth chapter.
B. Approaches
In order to analyse the problems which are formulated in this study,
the writer applies psychological approach and socio-cultural historical approach.
The writer applies psychological approach since the analysis is on the personality
of the main character, being masculine. In this section the writer employs the
theory of traditional masculinity by Janet Saltzman Chafetz (1978:35-36) as the
foundation in analysing the masculinity of Josephine March. The writer applies
socio-cultural historical approach because the masculine personality of Josephine
March is closely related with the social condition of her society and it results from
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
In this chapter, the discussion will be divided into two main parts. It is
mainly due to the number of questions in the problem formulation in first chapter
of this analysis. The first part deals with the determinants of Josephine March’s
masculinity which is divided into six parts; they are physical determinant,
functional determinant, emotional determinant, intellectual determinant,
interpersonal determinant, and other personal determinant. The second deals with
the variable which affects the development of Josephine March’s masculinity
which is divided into two parts, they are Jo’s consciousness about how limited
women are in the Victorian age society and poverty.
A. Determinants of Josephine March’s Masculinity
Josephine March, later will be called as Jo, as the main character in the
novel by Louisa May Alcott titled Little Women is the representative of social
restricted women in the Victorian age that is against the restriction. Being seen
using the psychological approach of Rohrberger and Woods (1971: 3) and based
on the theory of traditional masculinity by Janet Saltzman Chavetz (1974: 35-36),
Josephine March is masculine.
Jo was the second of four daughters in the March’s family, a family
which was not so lucky in the economical condition. Jo always tried hard to find
limited by rules and custom of the Victorian age on women and dominated by
men. The family had to experience the absence of the head of the family, the
father, since Mr. March had to go to the Civil War which made the situation worst
than before. After Josephine’s father’s absence in the family, Jo always tried to
replace her father’s position in the family and to imitate him.
It was quite hard for women during that period, the late period of the
Victorian age, because there were still some limitations on women and even the
society still could not accept some changes. Some changes, I would like to call it
as progress, occurred when some people who are unsatisfied with the social
condition during that period tried to make some changes to just the position
between men and women. One of them was Jo.
She was disappointed with her being a woman because there were so
many limitations on women. She became, then, masculine to show her
disappointment and to show her strength so that nobody would think that women
had a lower position than man did.
Based on the theory of traditional masculinity, there are seven
determiners to measure the masculinity of someone. Based on the main source,
the novel, Josephine March has six out of seven determiners.
1. Physical Determinant
This part will be divided into five parts; they are the determinants
a. Unfeminine
Jo personality as an unfeminine girl can be seen through the personal
description, other character’s opinion, conversation with other, and author’s direct
comment (Murphy, 1972: 161-193). She becomes unfeminine because she wants
to show the others that she can do what men can do. She wants to show that she
has no less ability than men do. Jo feels that there are no differences between men
and women. It is quite hard for Jo to do that since her society expects her
differently.
A girl has to prepare herself to be a future good wife and is expected to
be weak and helpless, delicate and calm so that their future husband can rest all of
his stresses at home. Jo feels that there are many things that she can do, not just
sewing or doing home tasks or to prepare herself to be ready for marriage. Jo’s
way to show that she has the same capability in doing what men usually do is by
being unfeminine through her thoughts, actions, speeches, and appearances. She
shows her unfeminine personality through her gentlemanly manner when she is
examining the heels of her shoes as seen on this quotation: “...cried Jo, examining
the heels of her shoes in a gentlemanly manner (p.10).”
Her manly manner is also shown when there is Mrs. Gardiner’s party
to celebrate a New Year ’s Eve. Jo tells her sister, Meg, to wink to her if she
notices something wrong with herself but Meg says that winking is not a lady like
manner. Meg says: “No, winking isn’t lady-like; I’ll lift my eyebrows if anything
The writer also wants to show the manliness of her character through
her explanation on Jo’s outfit which looks manly than others which is seen from
the writer’s description about Jo’s appearance: “Jo in maroon, with a stiff,
gentlemanly linen collar and a white chrysanthemum or two for her only ornament
(p.36).”
It is not only Jo’s outer appearances which show her masculinity, her
way of thinking about clothing is also different from other girls or women at that
time. She likes to be comfortable with her clothing and not to wear uncomfortable
clothing even though it is in fashion.
“I just will, though, for it’s capital – so shady, light, and big. It will make fun; and I don’t mind being a guy if I’m comfortable.” With that Jo marched straight away, and the rest followed – a bright little band of sisters, all looking their best, in summer suits, with happy faces under the jaunty hat-brims (p.145).
She realizes that she might get some criticisms or comments because
of her being different from her environment if she but she does not care about
anything. As her closest environment, her sister gives her a criticism on her way
of speaking. Amy thinks that a girl must not use slang words in speaking because
a girl must be polite and use good English. Slang words are commonly used
between men in conversation. Amy reacts when her sister uses slang words in her
speaking: “Jo does use such slang words! (p.11)” Meg gives another response:
“Don’t Jo; it’s so boyish! (p.11)” Jo replies: “That’s why I do it (p.11).”
Jo prefers and employs casual and straightforward conversation, even
with men. She first befriends Laurie at the Gardiners' New Year's Eve ball, a
