Little Women (2019) directed and written by Greta Gerwig is the latest film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel (of the same title). While the story follows the March sisters, what is equally as important is the background, extra, and minor characters. As said by Straw in The Small Parts, Small Players dossier Introduction, “Typically unheralded, these kinds of performers fail to pose the problem of celebrity or to reveal the complexity of the star text. Reduced, much of the time, to fleeting moments or undeveloped functions within films, small players raise the question of social identity in its simplest form – stereotypification” (Straw, p.79). From the moment we are first introduced to Meg March, we also meet her two children, Demi and Daisy. Not much is known about either of them, other than that they are two average, stereotypical children that help create a picture perfect family. Despite Demi and Daisy having less than a minute of screen time throughout the entirety of the film, they both play an essential role in shaping Meg’s character. Without her children, she would not have been presented in the same light, and would have lacked cruciality to the film.
Meg March, the oldest of the March sisters, is shown to be perhaps the most mature and caring sister out of her three other siblings. This is indicated by the narrative with her children, and how they influence most of her and her family’s decisions; such as when her husband, John, takes a leave of absence so he can watch Demi and Daisy as Meg takes care of her sister, Beth. Meg and John’s children continue to further the action of the story as in one scene, Meg makes both an expensive and impulsive purchase on fabric for a new dress. Coming to her senses once she comes home to her children, she soon apologizes to John for spending what little money they have. It is clear throughout the film that Demi and Daisy are Meg and John’s highest priority- which paints both characters as kind hearted, empathetic, and grateful.
Works Cited:
Gerwig, Greta, director. Little Women. Columbia Pictures, 2019.
Straw, Will. The Small Parts, Small Players dossier Introduction, vol. 52, no. 1, 2011, p. 81. Thompson Rivers University Library, https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/hjq057.
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