Little Women Drama by Greta Gerwig

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Introduction

Little Women by Greta Gerwig is a heartwarming movie with some memorable characters. Director Greta Gerwig unveiled the latest version of Little women, a classic novel by Louisa May Alcott, into the theatre (Zborowski 4). Gerwigs movie presents some unadulterated changes to the original storys structure and style. Watching the movie after reading the novel creates some questions about the original text, more especially concerning the movie ending and its relation to the book. The essay explores the directors directorial decisions and their impact, reasons for changing and leaving out some themes from the book, as well as the significance of the change made.

Gerwigs Directorial Decisions that Impact Her Interpretation of the Work

Little women, a novel by Louisa May Alcott, was published in 1868 and has been adapted numerous times (Alcott 2). However, Gerwigs adaptation stands distinct from the other movies that were released before. Director Gerwigs interpretation of the novel goes beyond the faithful retelling of the story (Zborowski 7). Right from the first movie scene, it opens up with a precedent that does not proceed linearly, just like the previous adaptations. Gerwig took the idea of opening up the scene with the March sisters of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy as already mature young women. Gerwig interlaces flashbacks with contemporary moments, reflecting how all communication with loved people is related to history. The revised timeline follows Little Womens greatest eccentric aspect. In this case, Gerwig stages the movie to a book comparable to a revolution, distorting the statements of Louisa May Alcott and Jo March up to the time when Jo turns into Alcott (Jain 34).

Similar to Alcott, Jo goes beyond marriage and transcends toward fictional success. In the movies closing scene, Gerwigs decision is unsubtle compared to the original book. Gerwigs interpretation takes a meta-twist which gives Alcott an ending that is compelling. Alcott used to base Jo on herself. The paths of Jo and Alcott diverged considerably during their adulthood. Originally, it is clear that Jo was not meant to get married. Gerwig believes that Alcott aimed at making Jo a spinster ye. It was an ending that could be rejected. Gerwigs decision mainly targeted giving the audience a good ending.

Interesting to note is that the dialogue from the book is so perfectly translated to the film. It is very rarely told in the same context as in the novel, yet it feels like it could not possibly belong anywhere else. Thematically, the film is defined by two major monologues in the back half of the picture. The first is Jos Women, they have minds, and souls, as well as just hearts and the second is Amys marriage is an economic proposition. Both of these are told with such conviction, both from the director and actress, that they can form the soul of the film. How about that acting, a dream cast of the greatest youths Hollywood has to offer? Chalamet, Ronan, Watson, Pugh; supported by the herculean talents of Streep and Dern. The true star is Pugh and by extension, the character of Amy. Past adaptations of Little Women have taken the easy route of making Amy a spoiled brat, a decision that is hardly supported by text or interpretation. There is so much to enjoy about this film. It is chock full of love and life. The characters and world are both so fully formed.

Reasons for Changing and/or Leaving Out of Some Themes from the Book

Gerwigs adaptation of Little Women created an ending that was desired by Alcott. In paying homage to Alcott, Gerwig, towards the closure of the films last chapter, Jo is driven with creative energy to write a novel about her youth. The publisher picks interest in the book and advises having the character get married at the end. Jo is depicted writing an end in which she and Professor Bhaer gets married (Zborowski 9). The ending of the movie looks much more like the beginning. Eventually, in the context of the story, Gerwigs Little Women is somehow similar to Alcotts book. The main aspects in both plots are the same. However, the main divergence is created by the story structure. The movie version eventually adapts more of a non-direct structure which consents all the characters to have self-reflections on their histories while developing into the adult stages. Thus, the movie focuses a lot on the adult life of the March sisters compared to the original story, which provides a reflection sense that contributes to all the other themes.

Moreover, the story ending is quite similar in both the recent movie and the book, though the course to the end is much different, and more details change. For instance, Gerwigs movie presents Jo writing and designing her desired version of the story, which gets publication by the same publisher who could publish her previous bad stories (Jain 27). Jo does not prefer her major character getting married, but her publisher advises her to marry the character at the end in a way that depicts her events with Professor Bhaer. The movie also shows Jo being Jo encouraged by her parents to marry the professor. Furthermore, Alcotts book shows the professor and Jo opening up a school for only boys. Conversely, the movie involves girls, orphans, and family members. Gerwigs movie Little Women centers on contemporary opinions of feminism. The school depicted in the movie aims at helping the girl children to attain better education without corporal punishments. They oppose Amys punishment, as shown in the movie.

Significance of the Changes

Gerwigs interest in the Alcott books creation goes beyond the real message in the book as portrayed to the world of copyright, editors, and publishers (Jain 28). The movie references Alcotts experience by introducing her story in the competitive nineteenth-century literary market. The changes indicate that Gerwig used the inspiration from Alcotts life and the novel to create a book narrative that is, at present, self-referential.

The change in the structure exceeds the aim of attaining a narrative economy. Gerwig shuffles the temporal deck to bring flashes from all the lives of the characters into the vicinity close to each other in an approach that serves and creates the effect of the movies emotions. In achieving success, Gerwig chose between corresponding occasions across the two timeframes to amplify the emotional impact of each (Zborowski 14). The audiences sustained emotion structuring experience is Gerwigs most influential change in the movie. The main emotions she aimed at evoked and depicted generosity, kindness, joy as well as honesty to other peoples experiences.

Conclusion

Overall, the changes made in the movie are presented in detail, though they do not deviate a lot from the original story by Alcott. The decisions, interpretations, and changes helped to strengthen Gerwigs tone as well as the general subjects in her movie adaptation. Therefore, a significant portion of this is attributed to the talents of Gerwig, not in the direction where she is average, but in writing. This is one of the most perfectly adapted screenplays ever written. The film tackles the challenge of turning an expansive coming-of-age tale into a 2-hour film with style. Inspirational without being preachy and epic without losing its intimacy, the script strips the classic story down to its most vulnerable aspects.

Works Cited

Alcott, Louisa May. Little women. Macmillan, 1994.

Jain, Charul. Louisa M Alcotts Little Women: Humanising Disease and Decay. Towards Excellence, 2020, pp. 33-40.

Zborowski, James. Little Women: Greta Gerwigs Direction Creates Big Emotions and Deserved an Oscar. The Conversation, 2020.

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