Louisa May Alcott, Little Women (1868-9)
What makes Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women immortal, when as a nineteenth-century moral story for the young it should properly have been forgotten long ago? A portion of the reading population might like to forget it, as Elaine Showalter points out in her illuminating introduction to my Penguin Classics edition: “in male literature. . . Little Women stands as a code term for sentimentality and female piety. . . . In a typically dismissive critical judgment of the 1950s, Edward Wagenknecht declared that Little Women ‘needs — and is susceptible of — little analysis.’ ” Yet it is still read and loved, at a time when the mores of American society have changed almost beyond recognition from those of Alcott’s day. Clearly, more is at work here than mere “sentimentality and female piety.”
As a child, I was simply entranced by the adventures of those four wonderfully realized characters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. When Alcott decided to draw on her own life to create the moral tale her publisher requested, she feared the result would be dull. The reverse was the case, as the homely details of family life are what lend the story its irresistible charm and vitality. Who can forget Jo selling her hair, Amy bringing forbidden pickled limes to school, Meg succumbing to the temptation to dress up in “frills and furbelows,” or Beth’s joyful reaction to the gift of a piano? The girls’ idiosyncrasies and foibles are described with a wry humor that saves the narrative from becoming overly sweet, and their relationships with one another are spiced with realistic quarrels and quirks as well as love and tenderness.
When I went back to Little Women as an adult, I did find the moralizing aspect to intrude somewhat, but not as much as one might expect. With her unfailing perception and equanimity, Marmee is an idealized quasi-divine mother figure whose words of wisdom bring each episode to neat closure, especially in the first half of the book, which explicitly takes its theme and direction from the Christian precepts of The Pilgrim’s Progress. Yet the undogmatic, sensible nature of most of these lessons saves them from being only examples of that dreaded “female piety.” The underlying message is to be true to one’s inner core, and to find value in the lasting treasures of life: integrity, self-knowledge, human connections. Though the trappings of time and culture may change, this moral journey is universally valid, and surely a key to the book’s continuing relevance.
Meanwhile, the marvelously unconventional character of Jo, Alcott’s own alter ego, also plays a large part in its enduring appeal. With her exuberant speech and behavior, disregard of propriety, and literary creativity, she points toward a later time when women would be able to more fully express themselves and their potentialities. For modern readers, it can be disappointing when Jo’s youthful urges and artistic ambitions, along with those of her sisters, are partly squashed in favor of the ultimate female consummation of marriage and motherhood. But her spirit remains unquenched for readers and writers who have found in her a soul-sister, an inspiration and a companion when “genius burns.”
Opposite to Jo is gentle Beth, whose death is one of the other indelible experiences of reading Little Women in childhood. Saccharine Victorian death scenes are notorious, but Alcott’s sincere depth of feeling born of her own sorrow and loss gives this one a poignant simplicity, and I still cannot read it without sobbing. “Love is the only thing we can carry with us when we go,” Beth says. For me, this “belief in the immortality of love” is the gift and the legacy of Little Women, one for which I am forever grateful.
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What a wonderful review of a wonderful book!
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I'm so glad I reread it this year. For me, it never grows old.
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A great review, Lory! Marmie's "lessons" and the reality of life that Alcott portrays speaks to us all. I'm going to be reading Little Women in March and I can't wait!
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Wonderful! I look forward to reading your thoughts.
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It's been so long since I read this book, but your review brings to my mind all the things I loved about it. It's such a beautiful story – I had no idea that Alcott was reluctant about writing it! This is a lovely piece on Little Women!
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I don't think she was exactly reluctant, but she had no idea it would be so successful — showing how hard it is to judge your own work.
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What a great review! I sometimes think it's harder to review books that you've read so many times, but you did a wonderful job of it!
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Thank you! I find it fascinating to return to a much-loved book after many years and see what it still speaks to me.
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I don't even like Beth as a character!, and I've never made it through her death without tears dripping down my nose. Well done, Louisa May Alcott.
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I don't know how anyone could not be moved by that scene.
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I'm rereading this one sometime in the next five years, for The Classics Club. I just love this novel. 🙂
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I discover something new every time I read it. Maybe that should be my definition of a classic.
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Marvelous review Lory. I especially liked “the undogmatic, sensible nature of most of these lessons…” That’s a very astute way of putting it, and I think you are correct…largely responsible for the enduring appeal, that and of course, the love. My review: https://tinyurl.com/yb9gq6h2
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Thanks Joseph. I’m glad you visited.
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I just read Little Women for the first time recently – I was honestly expecting not to think that much of it, but I *absolutely loved* it! All the more for having some insight/context into how it came to be written – Alcott was so clever in surreptitiously communicating her true intent (not to mention her disdain for the moralistic storytelling demanded by the publishers). It saddens me that this one is so easily written off as “sentimental” or “silly girl’s stuff” – a lot of writers, male and female, could learn a thing or two. Thank you for sharing your thoughts! ❤
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Agreed, Alcott doesn’t get enough respect. The introduction to the Penguin edition by Elaine Showalter is quite good at pointing this out. So glad you had a good reading experience!
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