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Christmas in America$
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Penne Lee Restad

Print publication date: 1997

Print ISBN-13: 9780195109801

Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: October 2011

DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195109801.001.0001

Gilding Christmas: Gifts, Charity, and Commerce

Chapter:
(p. 123 ) Chapter 9 Gilding Christmas: Gifts, Charity, and Commerce
Source:
Christmas in America
Author(s):

Penne L. Restad

Publisher:
Oxford University Press
DOI:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195109801.003.0009

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women opens this chapter in emphasizing the spirit of gift giving that sprung in American society as part of the Christmas tradition. The wonderfully crafted text embodies the mediation present in the fragile relationship between the people in the increasingly unsettled society. Furthermore, this chapter emphasizes the effect of commerce and consumerism that transformed the simple customs of Christmas charity and gift-giving.

Keywords:   Louisa May Alcott, Little Women, charity, gift-giving, commerce

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