The drama is loosely based on the 1868 novel by Louisa May Alcott. “Little Women” tells the story of three sisters, InJoo (Kim GoEun), InHyuk (Nam JiHyun) and InHye (Park JiHu), who were raised in poverty. The three find themselves trampled in a situation where they have to fight against the most powerful family in South Korea. Being raised in poverty, the three sisters struggle to make their way into society. The drama centralizes the power and darkness behind wealth. It declares that money is the most powerful as it determines ones happiness, self-worth and the power that can make one do anything for it. Like so, “Little Women” has made us ponder on a lot more and here are a few listed below. The article contains spoilers.
1. Is Money Really Equal To Happiness?
The world of “Little Women” revolves around money. It shows the dark side of the world and how money rules over everyone. The eldest daughter, Oh InJoo, is simple-minded and firmly believes that money solves everything. Being the eldest, she had to take the responsibility of being a parent for her sisters when their parents failed at doing so. Their drunk father also left the girls with tons of debts to pay. This debt was now being paid by InJoo and InHyuk. InJoo is the most ambitious one of the three. She dreams of getting married to a rich man and even did once but he turned out to be a con man. InJoo is not the only one who thinks that way. Even though InHyuk firmly declares that money is not everything, she too, saved up money with InJoo so their youngest could go on a field trip in Europe. And when their mother stole their money, she asked for some from her great aunt and met her every day in return. Even though she disliked the thought. On the other hand, “Little Women” also questions this thought. Though her great aunt holds lots of pride and is rich, she is also lonely, so she asks InHyuk to accompany her for breakfast.
2. Class System And Self Worth
“What is more powerful than death? Money..” The drama also showcases how money determines one’s worth and status in society. InJoo is an outcast of the 13th floor because she does not have much money to freely spend, go to lunches or give gifts. Similarly, HwaYoung was also an outcast because she wore the same clothes to work every day. The youngest of the Oh, InHye, went to a prestigious art school. She gave the test by herself and her sisters boasted about it. Yet, her mother carelessly thought that she got in because of some charity program. Further into the drama, InHye begins to paint for a friend, Park HyoRin (Jeon ChaeEun) and her mother decides to pay for it. This angers InJoo. She goes on about how she was sympathized by the mother because she was poor when, in fact, InHye thought that she is being paid because she is talented. In one scene, she paints Park HyoRin and compliments her nose. As they talk about her appearances and how HyoRin looked like her uncle. InHye said that she looks like a noble because her parents were nobles. The dullness in her tone was enough to tell how she looked at herself, that is as worthless. Furthermore, in episode 2, after HwaYoung (Choo JaHyun) is found dead. She leaves a letter telling that she got plastic surgery done because she wanted to have a perfect face before she died. Her obsession with clothes, shoes, etc. was interpreted as her having low self-esteem by journalists because she originally was not from the rich class.
3. The Impact Of Family
“Little Women” also highlights the role and impact of family on oneself. For instance, the carelessness of their mother made the elder sisters make a pact to never let the youngest be embarrassed. In this way, they often try too hard and make InHye feel burdened. Won SangA (Uhm JiWon), HyoRin’s mother, showed InJoo InHye’s paintings, one of the paintings seems to reflect InHye’s situation. In the painting, a girl is trying to run away but both her feet were in different directions, displaying her confused state. She wants to run away from poverty and even from her sisters but at the same time she loves them too much to do so. The eldest two also share some traits of their parents, even though they despise them. InHyuk develops a drinking addiction like her father and InJoo shares the same fashion sense as her mother and even tends to raise her voice when she is talked back to. The three also share the trauma of losing their baby sister. InHye painted her sister’s death, even though her sisters thought she did not remember. Similarly, InJoo too carries the trauma of losing her and it is one of the reasons why she is obsessed with money, because she thinks that poverty kills people. “Little Women” continues to soar highly and has taken first place in its time slot, with a nationwide rating of 7.3% in its fourth episode. What are your thoughts on the drama? “Little Women” Sister Trio - Kim GoEun, Nam JiHyun & Park JiHu - Intrigues Us For The Upcoming Mystery Drama KDRAMA STORIES|Aug 23, 2022
