ABSTRACT
Although nineteenth-century popular novels probably do not immediately come to mind when one thinks of "chick lit jr.," the twentieth-and twenty-first-century phenomenon finds its roots in these nineteenthcentury precursors with the realistically flawed young female protagonist featured in most present-day YA novels. Even Alcott's title, referring to "little" women, implies a particular transitional stage for the characters. As a classic coming-of-age story, the novel features characters on a constant quest to find themselves. In particular, Jo March struggles with her identity, as she is faced with essential self-versus-cultural expectations. Alcott addresses sexuality by following her characters from childhood to courtship to marriage. She ties the novel together at the end by creating comfortable male-female relationships that indicate the need for women to fulfill cultural expectations. In rejecting Laurie as a partner for Jo, however, Alcott rejects the idea of the nineteenth-century traditional marriage. Knowing that she was bound by publishing conventions, Alcott needed to marry off her free-spirited heroine. By pairing Jo and Professor Bhaer, Alcott points to a more egalitarian relationship instead of a patriarchal one. 1 Jo can be empowered while still outwardly subscribing to nineteenth-century American culture.
