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The critism attached by Fetterley depicts the true steps a women had to take in the late 19th century to get by. Alcott was a clever writer and Fetterley gave her all the praise she deserved. Alcott struggled in her life both with health and wealth. The sharp contrast between her two books Little Women and Behind a Mask is evident and the author of this critism, Fetterley, forms a solid argument of women's rights and how they are highlighted in these novels. The critism hits key points and uses contextual evidence to support its claims. At the very beginning of the novel Jean Muir is epitomized as the perfect women. Fetterley is quick to jump on the fact that Louisa Alcott strives to be this perfect women but is bound by reality and realizes such roles aren't possible for her. Fetterley hits the key issues that Alcott presents by saying, "radical critique of the cultural constructs of 'femininity' and 'little womanhood,' exposing them as roles women must play, masks they must put on, in order to survive." There is a common denominator in Little Women and Behind a Mask and Fetterley discovered the pattern and exploited it. Jean Muir, who was far from fair, had to take on the character of one of the "Little Women" in order to survive economically. She was sneaky. She was sly. However, she did what she needed ot survive. Fetterley used evidence from both books when forming her high opinion of Alcott.

Argument: Author Sarah Hackenberg presents the opinion that women are only hiding behind their servant attitudes in order to get where they would like. She presents the sequence of events that led up to the initial true image of Jean Muir, not that of a nineteen year old but in fact of a haggard old woman. Hackenberg also gives certatin prominence to the idea of womens' highest achievement would be their marital status. The entire story epitomizes a servant of a governess that exhibits the standard female behaviors up until the very end where the maanipulative and devious women unmasks her self, hypothetically and literally. Evidence: "Most critics of "Behind a Mask" attend closely to the tale's radical gender and class dynamics: the way Alcott overtly aligns operating behind a mask with female power" (Hackenberg) "the fact that the governess's ultimate ambition, despite all her formidable powers of artistry and perception, is to "trick" a man into marriage..."(Hackenberg) Thoughts: Hackenberg raises many interesting points. Jean Muir was the ultimate woman. She only lacked in one area and that area was her status. Her only hope of climbing up in the world would to be marrying someone of a higher class. She said multiple times in the story that if this did happen to her that she would be completly content and only honor and follow her husband's rules. However, with the history that she has and what we know of her from reading this story we can be almost certain that Jean will not be content and will have to stir up some troulbe somehow. The story leaves off at a crucial point that leaves the readers contemplating all the different outcomes it could have.

Argument: The author, Foote, argues that the novel "Little Women" wasn't in fact about gender but about class. The "little women" in the novel are present in an ambiguous class position. Foote gives examples of why she feels there isn't a presence of solely gender issues but that of social class too. The March family lives by the Laurences' which in contrast is a very large estate. The fact that all the girls work also lends significance to the idea of the March family struggling in the economic aspect. Also, Foote brings attention to the fact that the market and the home were slowly starting to mix. Evidence: "The garden separated the Marches' house from that of Mr. Laurence. Both stood in a suburb of the city, which was still country-like, with groves and lawns, large gardens and quiet streets. A low hedge parted the two estates. On one side was an old brown house, looking rather bare and shabby, robbed of the vines that in summer covered its walls, and the flowers which then surrounded it. On the other side was a stately stone mansion, plainly betokening every sort of comfort and luxury, from the big coach-house and well-kept grounds to the conservatory and the glimpses of lovely things one caught between the rich curtains (Alcott 1993, 42)." Thoughts: It was very interesting to reexamine Little Women. When first read through the book takes on an aura of a children's book but when unearthed it is actually much more. There is the forefront of the gender roles in the novel that can easily be understood but it is the social class struggle that captivated me. The time period of this novel was around the time when women had to be more proactive in certain households in order to stay afloat. This was a sign of economic instability and was for the lower classes.