Leaning in or opting out? Women’s choices in Little Women and Mary Queen of Scots

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article considers the recent films Mary Queen of Scots and Little Women in the light of their use of historical contexts to reflect on the experiences of modern women. The self-consciously modern and feminist presentations of the female characters are considered, with the different choices they make discussed in the light of the plurality of postfeminism. Analysis of both films considers the tension between the pull of domestic life and the desire for a public role, in the light of feminist writing that encourages women to believe that they can “have it all”. This article argues that, whilst the impressive women depicted in both films can be seen as empowering for modern female viewers, female success in both films requires significant sacrifice and compromise, undermining the idea that it is possible for women to have fulfilling lives in both the public and the domestic sphere. The article concludes that the singularity of the women depicted, whilst in some ways pleasurable and empowering, is ultimately unhelpful in their suggestion that female ambition can only be fulfilled via the kinds of sacrifice that many women will not be able or inclined to make.