How Little Women gave a modern twist to this classic novel to make a perfect Korean thriller

Louisa May Alcott's 1868 novel Little Women became a classic hit and is widely considered an important piece of feminist fiction. The four March sisters penned down by Alcott have inspired two equally popular adaptations, one in 1994 and then in 2019.

While both of these adaptations stayed true to the source material, the latest adaptation, Hong Ki-sung's K-drama deviated from Alcott's version in many ways and showcased a modern re-telling of this classic work.

Alcott's four elegant and virtuous March sisters are replaced by three Oh sisters, who have become bitter in harsh modern society. After the eldest sister In-joo's colleague mysteriously dies, leaving a slush fund in her name, the Oh sisters are given a way out of their poverty.

With a murder mystery, class differences, social manipulation and a mysterious embezzlement, this K-drama gives many modern twists to Alcott's classic tale.

More on the Little Women K-drama in our story.

Little Women re-imagines Alcott's March sisters in a modern Korea

While Little Women, the K-drama, draws inspiration from its namesake classic novel of 1868, the modern retelling breathes new life into it. The genteel March sisters, embodiments of femininity and nurture, trying their best to survive in 19th-century poverty with their caring mother, would no longer have worked in the present-day Korean setting.

While the K-drama retains major traits of the March sisters in their Korean counterparts, the Oh sisters are much more vocal and frustrated by their present harsh conditions. In addition, an absent father and a careless mother, who steals their money and flees to Singapore in the first episode, only adds to their misery.

Meg, the eldest March sister, was driven by decorum and virtue and wanted a better life for her family. Marrying into an affluent family was the only way out for her. However, her K-drama counterpart In-joo is not bound by such tight morals because she simply cannot survive with them in the cutthroat modern Korean society.

When given a chance at wealth in Little Women, she considers keeping the money her colleague left behind, even if that means trouble.

Jo March, the feminist writer who wanted her own identity in a world dictated by men, has the equally fiery In-kyung as her Korean counterpart. A journalist, In-kyung is still fighting against the world, but not for her identity, instead for the truth. Stakes are far higher and while she fights against the corrupt Korean oligarchs, Jo fights for her autonomy.

Lastly, while the youngest March sister Amy was ambitious and artistic, she stood by her family and wanted the best for them too. Her Korean counterpart in Little Women, In-hye is artistic but the manipulative Korean society has corrupted the empathy Amy had. In-hye almost gets manipulated by the rich Parks, displaying her move away from innocence.

Little Women embodies all the elements of a classic Korean thriller

While the Oh sisters are starkly different from their American counterparts, their personalities and changes are by-products of their time. Gone is the backdrop of the 19th-century Civil War as the K-drama is set in Modern Korean society, plagued with power struggles, class differences, and manipulation.

Fans of Bong Joon Ho's 2019 Parasite will find similar themes in the K-drama that make it a perfect Korean thriller. While the Oh sisters struggle to make ends meet, the rich Park family uses them at their expense and manipulates them in the ongoing murder investigation.

The murder mystery and the embezzlement case also add layers to the Oh sisters' misery, again introducing all the elements of a Korean thriller. While the Oh sisters have their own struggles throughout the K-drama, they are bound to the aspiring politician Park Jae-sang.

The fairytale fluff and the elegance written in Alcott's setting are aptly missing from the K-drama, which adds to its thrill and social commentary, making it a perfect watch on Netflix.

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