This seminar paper will focus on a theoretical approach called character aesthetics, with examples from the novel Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Various terms, invented by the theorists of this approach, will be explained through some examples taken from the novel mentioned above. To begin with, this approach focuses on what the function of the characters is in the story and how the characters are characterized. According to him, characters are agents carrying out actions in a story. These can be people, anthropomorphized animals or objects. There are two main theoretical approaches in this: mimetic and semiotic approaches. While the mimetic approach views characters as real people, the semiotic approach views characters solely as a set of words. In the 1960s and 1970s, another approach emerged. It was called the sociohistorical approach to literature, and it was primarily interested in how characters' behaviors resembled those of real people and whether their portrayal was true to the overall storyline or its gender role. Closely related to this, another term has emerged called gender performance, which implies that men and women behave according to the norms and expectations imposed by society. For example, while men were allowed to be active, assertive and dominant, women should have been submissive, dependent and passive. Exceptions, for both men and women, were not happily accepted in society. This is the main reason for the emergence of another term, closely related to the terms gender roles and gender performance, called gender stereotypes. Examples of gender stereotypes can even be found in the book Little Women, mainly through the characters of ...... middle of paper ...... representatives of the society of their time. In addition to this, we also see that women are much more oppressed by society. Their freedoms are limited. This is why it is said that girls are doubly oppressed in children's literature. Furthermore, it is said that “in literature, boys grow, while girls shrink.” The character of Jo is the perfect example. Although at the beginning of the story, Jo was very tomboyish and a "deviation" from the storyline, as the story developed, her character went through the process of assimilation, until 'In the end, she looks much more like "a good lady should be." Works Cited Alcott, Louisa May. Little women. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1993. Nikolaajeva, Maria. Aesthetic approaches to children's literature: an introduction. Maryland: The Scarecorw Press, Inc..., 2005, 145-154.