Abstract This thesis mainly makes an analysis of the female discourse in Luisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women. It makes an emphasis on the text from the following three aspects. Firstly, it centers on the semiotics in Little Women. Colors and the construction of self-identity, the use of onomatopoeia and interjection are the reflection of instinct and impulse. They all have different meanings. Secondly, this thesis talks about the performances of female writing. In other words, it talks about the psychological description and body writing in Little Women. Thirdly, it makes a discussion about the features of linguistic behavior in Little Women. By focusing on the description of triviality, it tries to figure out the characteristic in Little Women. By analyzing the female discourse in Little Women, this novel can be better comprehended. What is more, the undertaking of feminist literary criticism will be more understood.53827

Keywords: Luisa May Alcott; Little Women; female discourse

摘要本文意在探讨路易莎·梅·奥尔科特的小说《小妇人》中的女性话语，主要从三个部分进行研究：第一部分探讨《小妇人》中记号语言，重点探究了颜色、自我身份的构建以及拟声词、感叹词的使用，这些皆是本能与冲动的体现，各有其不同的意义；第二部分探讨文章中的女性写作特征，集中探讨了《小妇人》中的心理描写和身体书写；第三部分探讨《小妇人》的写作风格以便通过其简单朴素、平凡琐碎的描写探知小说中的人物性格特征。通过分析小说中的女性话语旨在帮助读者更好地从女性话语角度理解《小妇人》，同时亦可加强对女性主义文学批评任务的细致了解。

毕业论文关键词：路易莎·梅·奥尔科特；《小妇人》；女性话语

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Luisa May Alcott and Her Works 1

1.2 Theoretical Basis 2

2. Literature Review 4

3. Analysis of the Female Discourse in Little Women 6

3.1 Semiotics in Little Women 6

3.2 Performances of Female Writing in Little Women 9

3.3 Features of Linguistic Behavior in Little Women 11

4. Conclusion 11

Works Cited 13

1. Introduction

1.1 Luisa May Alcott and Her Works

In the 1850s and 60s, there emerged a lot of women writers and works in the history of American literature. Some of them explored deeply feminist ethics, domestic ethics and social ethics. And Louisa May Alcott was one of the outstanding representatives. Alcott was a best known writer for her writing of the novel Little Women and its sequels Little Men and Jo’s Boys.

On November 29, 1832, Louisa May Alcott was born when her father was 33 years old. They lived in Germantown at that time, which is now of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, She passed away on March 6, 1888 with her honourable and marvelous life. She never got married in her whole life, but she adopted her sister’s daughter whose mother died of illness. Alcott’s family moved to Boston in 1838, where Alcott’s father established an experimental school and joined the Transcendental Club with Ralph W. Emerson and Henry D. Thoreau. Alcott’s family had   four daughters and Luisa M. Alcott was the second girl. Their father was a transcendentalist and educator named Amos Bronson Alcott and their mother was a social worker named Abby May. Her eldest sister was Anna Bronson Alcott; her two youngest sisters named Elizabeth Sewall Alcott and Abigail May Alcott. In 1840, this family moved to Concord, Massachusetts. During the four years that followed, they inhabited in the rented cottage and in the Utopian Fruitlands Community. On April 1, 1845, they moved to their purchased house which was named “Hillside” in Concord with Abigail May Alcott and Emerson’s financial help and settled down. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, was a philosopher, an educator and a transcendentalist. Because he was indulging in chasing his dreams in all his life, he could not provide for his family. Therefore, sometimes some conflicts happened between Bronson Alcott and his family. In the case of that, Louisa May Alcott had to work to help support the family from an early age. She did many jobs, such as a temporary teacher, seamstress, governess and domestic helper and writer. In her childhood, the well-known intellectuals of Ralph W. Emerson, Henry D. Thoreau and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s thoughts as well as her father’s opinions on education and tough views on child-rearing shaped young Alcott’s mind with a desire to achieve perfection. Louisa M Alcott later became a transcendentalist, a feminist and an abolitionist due to her childhood experiences.源/自:吹冰:;论-文'网www.chuibin.com