Title: Little Women
Author: Louisa May Alcott
My thoughts:
Little Women was the first classic I remember reading, when my mother assigned it to me for a middle school book report. I’m not sure if it was just the idea of writing a book report or I didn’t quite understand all of the book, but regardless, I hated Little Women.
Several years later, after seeing (and adoring) the 1994 movie with Winona Ryder, I grudgingly picked it up again, wondering if a second chance would change my opinion. And it did. I look back at my harsh views the first time I read Little Women, and I wonder what in the world I was thinking. Last month, I happily read it once more to review it for The Classics Club.
Words that come to mind when describing Little Women are… Warmth. Love. Home. Family. There is such a homelike beauty to this novel. The obvious love amongst the March family is a touching thing to behold. Amid struggles, they grow closer, holding tight to one another. Their unbreakable bond reminds me of my own dear family, who treasure each other far above anything else. Reading Little Women... it’s like coming home.
Jo March and I are scarily similar. In fact, we could be sisters. If I had lived a hundred years ago. And if she were real. Jo has remained one of my favorite literary heroines, and for good reasons. She is remarkably real. With the exception of Emma Woodhouse, there is maybe not another heroine who is so very flawed as Jo is, and I love that. Jo is spirited, fiery, moody, and a writer. She acts on impulse, often regrets her hasty decisions, and treasures her family more than anything. While she can be rash, Jo is also very wise. She understands people and is sensitive to others’ needs. Despite her idiosyncrasies and irritability, Jo is really quite a lovable heroine. I often think that if certain circumstances were different (i.e., if I lived a hundred years ago and if she were real), Jo March and I would be best friends.
Call me crazy, but Laurie Laurence is one of my favorite literary heroes. And I know what you’re all thinking. Yes, he does sulk around a bit after Jo refuses him (but really, can ya blame him?), but he truly does reform his idle ways. And that’s a big part of why I like him so much. He eventually overcame his disappointment, grew up, and became a real man. And aside from all that, the guy knew which woman he wanted to marry, and by golly, he pursued her! That’s what I call a man, even if he didn’t exactly get the woman he originally wanted… Yeah, I’m one of those Jo-should-have-married-Laurie types, but there will be more on that in a sec.
I must say, there are three things about Little Women that have always irked me. I am irked. The first thing is Amy is never punished for burning Jo’s story. Am I the only one who sees this as a problem? All Amy is told is it was naughty to burn up Jo’s story and she needs to make up with her sister. Sometimes it seems Jo is blamed more than Amy is, when Jo was not to blame. Amy was a spoiled brat over the whole play ordeal, and she should have realized she had no business going. Amy needed someone firm like Jo in her life to snap her out of her selfishness. Honestly, that part of the story infuriates me every time. And don’t even speak to me of how it’s depicted in the movie: Amy’s half-hearted, half-whispered “I’m sorry, Jo” as she walks out of the room. Good grief. That’s it?
The second irking thing is… WHY DOESN’T JO MARRY LAURIE? I can imagine Louisa May Alcott, sitting at her writing desk one day, staring at her Little Women manuscript thinking, “Hmmm, this is getting too boring. How could I make it more interesting? Oh, I know! Let me crush all the hopes of both Laurie and my readers and make Jo refuse to marry Laurie! Marvelous.” Laurie Laurence was the perfect match for Jo March; the reasons she refused him were quite pitiful, indeed. By her own confession, Jo was moody and homely, and Laurie was lively and energetic: the perfect fit! They were alike in many ways, but their contrasting personalities complimented each other splendidly. Hence, why they were best friends. Isn’t it a general rule to marry someone who is your best friend? And I’m sorry, but no matter how many times I read Little Women, I can’t warm up to Professer Bhaer. As I’m usually drawn to the dark featured, scholarly, book-loving hero types, this surprises even me. But I just don’t like him (not even in the movie, really). He’s just… blah. Laurie is an infinitely better hero than Professor Bhaer. I honestly think Louisa May simply wanted her story to have a twist other than the usual heroine-marries-the-obvious-hero plotline, so she quickly invented the Professor and a few lame reasons for Jo to refuse Laurie. I’ve never been able to shake the feeling that Jo finally realized how much she did love Laurie and regretted her refusal, but after he married Amy she eventually just settled for the Professor, a man she did genuinely like. Alright, I can see the tomatoes in your hands. Go ahead and throw ‘em.
The final irking thing is I hate that Laurie marries Amy. Bring on the tomatoes if you wish, but I will stand here and take them like a woman. Amy? Really? The shallow, selfish, I-will-only-marry-a-rich-man type? Perhaps she reformed a tiny bit by the end, but still. Amy was spoiled when she was young, and she was spoiled when she was older. I have never been endeared to Amy March.
Does anyone else agree with me on any of the above points? Or am I just a literary radical who should be locked away in a book-less closet for heresy?
Nevertheless, for previously stated reasons, I will always count Little Women as a worthy classic. The warmth and love contained in its pages makes it a beautiful, heartwarming read. And I could never ever forsake my literary sister, Josephine March. Although, because of how much certain parts of the storyline irk me, I cannot say Little Women is a faultless, absolute favorite classic, but I do love the dear thing and will forever treasure it in my library.
My rating: 7 out of 10
Would I read it again: I never want to tire of it, so I greatly space out my readings.
country girl
(p.s. i promise, folks… the second part of my les miserables review is coming up next!)
Haha I totally agree with all the things that ”irked” you and woooooooopp!! LITTLE WOMEN FTW! I love Jo.
She’s the most like me too…thank you for sharing! x
http://a-beautiful-chaos.blogspot.co.uk/
I love Little Women. Jo March is seriously just like me, too. She’s brilliant.
She should’ve had married Laurie, but I read the author said that she would never have Jo marry Laurie because she herself based Jo on herself and she never married. So she made up her dream guy and made Jo marry him instead. It stinks.
Great review!
I agree!! No tomato throwing from me! All three of those things drive me nuts, and the fact that Laurie marries Amy is worse, in my opinion, than him not marrying Jo. I don’t think the loss of Jo and Laurie would bug me as much if Laurie wound up with some new character, or was just out of the picture all together. I never could like Amy, and pairing the two of them up is just… wrong. And Amy should have been slapped silly for destroying the story, what a wicked and awful thing to do!
YES. I think I could have gotten over Jo not marrying Laurie a little better if he HADN’T married Amy. Like you said, it was just wrong.
My sister was really into this book several years ago and read it over and over and told me the whole plot and made we watch all the movies and listen to the audio books so I never really felt any desire to read it because I already knew the whole story forward and backwards. People’s mouths always drop open when I tell them I haven’t read it…I still may have to give it a go someday.
Oh and ditto to Jo marrying Laurie…they were so perfect for each other. I was heartbroken when she turned him down
I completely agree with your first point! Yes, Jo’s temper might have gone too far…but Amy should have been punished! It’s things like this that make her a spoiled brat. In regards to Jo’s temper (the thing Alcott focuses on here), I think she handled it rather well! If someone burned my pet project….I don’t know what I would do! As much as I’d like to think otherwise, in Jo’s place I might have in a rage of fury thrown a favorite drawing or clothing item (anything of Amy’s on hand) into the fire. Amy got off light, and Jo showed good self-control.
I agree that it seems Jo should have married Laurie, but at the same time, if she didn’t believe it was the right thing, how can I argue? “No, Jo, we will force you into an arranged marriage with Laurie!”
Yes, I have troubles with the fact that he married Amy. I can’t help but think he married her for Jo’s sake because he couldn’t marry Jo and they all wanted to take care of the spoiled little sister. In Amy’s defense, her family didn’t help her to grow up good (see objection one) and she was trying to change her ways. She did turn down a nice guy who had more money than Laurie. But yes, I disapprove of this marriage.
Well, I agree that Jo shouldn’t have married Laurie if she really truly didn’t love him, but that’s just the thing… I think Jo really DID love Laurie, but for whatever reason, she just somehow convinced herself that it shouldn’t or couldn’t work. Like Rachel Olivia said in a comment below, Laurie and Jo remained close friends in the next books. Hello? Seems pretty obvious to me.
Loved your comment, Kristin!
Oh, what an interesting review:)
I’m also very much like Jo….we were recently watching the movie and my mom commented on that fact
Actually, I always feel like the loner because I think I’m the only girl out there who is actually glad that Laurie and Jo didn’t marry. Granted, I didn’t like it the first time I read the book -I was pretty darn angry, actually- but now I actually really agree with LMA’s decision. I don’t think Laurie and Jo were suited: First of all, because Jo didn’t love him in that way, which above is the perfect reason to turn him down. But also, they were both fiery, somewhat temperamental people- I think Jo needed the professor’s steadiness. The two of them together would have been a disaster. But here I admit it took me about three years to come to terms with this plot twist, and when all is said and done, who can NOT like Laurie? Jo still likes him, after all. Just as a brother. I don’t think she ever regretted her decision; I just think she regretted hurting Laurie. Also, she WAS single and a little lonely, and regretted it at first not because she loved him any more, but because she didn’t want to be alone. So…I don’t think she “settled” when it came to the professor.
Anyway, I DO agree about Amy not being punished. Seriously….if my sister burned my story I would seriously be in a dangerous frame of mind. All that work -! Amy needed a spanking. Dearly. And maybe, like, to be grounded until she was thirty.
but, ahem.
It used to bother me that Laurie married Amy, but not anymore…I don’t know why. I used to think that he just married her because he couldn’t have Jo, but I’ve read the book several times and over the years my feelings have just changed. I still understand why most people are upset about it, though.
Yes, yes yes. Thank you for putting it so well. She totally should’ve married Laurie! Those two are a lot like Anne and Gilbert, (sooo perfect for each other and best friends) and they get married and it’s perfect! Why can’t it be the same in Little Women?
And Professor Bhaer. Don’t get me started. First of all, and most importantly in my book, HE’S OLD!!! I don’t my heroine marrying the old guy! That would be like Anne marrying that old guy who proposed to her in Anne of Avonlea! (I see the differences in the two guys, but still, no.) His temperament and personality just isn’t right for Jo. (But I know whose is!
And it definitely irks me that Laurie marries Amy. (And that he basically had crushes on most of the March girls. His “I hate John for marrying Meg, I hate the professor for liking Jo, and if Beth had a lover I’d hate him too” in the movie comment totally bothers me. It seems more like a bunch of middle school crushes than true love if he likes all of them!) It just feels weird that he marries the younger sister of the woman he claimed to love so much. Haha how awkward would those family gatherings be?
Loved this post!
I agree totally with all three points!! I’ve read the book over and over, and it still makes me angry to reach the part about the story.
And I won’t repeat what everyone else has already stated beautifully in their comments, but I will say that Jo should have married Laurie. the end.
They were perfect and amazing together, and the Professor is old and dull. 
His proposal wasn’t even great! Seriously.
DO I AGREE?!!! Thank you, thank you sooo much. I HATE that Jo does not marry Laurie. Yes, writers write stories, but I believe that a good story also just IS. And Jo and Laurie together is just a reality. The author actually admitted that she was going to be contrary. Your imagined scene was actually something of a reality. The author was something of a feminist and did not want to write the book period. She wrote it in two parts-the first part ends with Meg’s engagement. She declared that she would not marry people off like the readers thought they would be. It was pure spit-so see anyway who disagrees…friends of mine included, the Professor Bhaer part was CONTRIVED and not natural. How can anyone like such a filler character-especially since he is rather old and unattractive. I have read Little Men and Jo’s Boys and Laurie and Jo are still best friends. You can see that they are not that way with their spouse-Alcott could not help herself-they were meant to be together.
I strongly dislike Amy and I hate that Meg always takes her side and that Amy always gets what she want even when she is an adult. I hate that she marries Laurie. She is the only sister who ends up rich…and she was always the snobbiest! Amy’s daughter Bess is worse though. I HATE that everyone acknowledges that she is better than them. How is she better. I hate that Dan loved such a brat and that everyone acted liked she was an angel and he, a demon.
Laurie and Jo really did marry. The End.
AMEN. They did marry. They did. Maybe if we keep repeating it to ourselves, it will be true.
Oh, and Jo DID love Laurie more than anyone else-you can see that in her actions and words. She should have read the end of the Anne of Avonlea book about maybe friendship turning into love. She was only 18ish for crying out loud.
Yes. yes. yes. and YES. Jo was a dolt not to marry Laurie. And Amy marrying him…that put me over the edge. Over. the. EDGE. But, alas…I must move on.
The professor….[shudders] he’s just too….old. And old. And….to use your word, “Blah”. Haha. I usually love characters like that too, but noooooo. Not him.
Lovely post, Petie!
You and me.. and (hey why not) Jess.. Let’s be the “tall women”? We’re all tall right?
..We’ll sing Christmas carols, and wear hoopskirts and you and I can fake accents as we shop. DEAL??
You and *I?
Ugg YES! The frustration from the first time I read the book is still as vivid now. Laurie and Jo should have married, in my oh-so-expert-opinion, and Louisa May Alcott lost her reader for quite some time (:
Then I saw the musical.
Changed my entire perspective, and if Jo just COULDN’T marry Laurie, Professor Bhaer was positively wonderful. Granted, in the book, I was bored to death by him, and couldn’t for the life of me understand why that had to be – especially after my darling Laurie was refused!
But. The musical changed it all, and I have become reconciled to the fact that Jo and Laurie did not, in fact, marry, and have moved on with my life. I think. XD
{oh, and thank-you-so-much for recognizing Amy as the spoiled little girl who should have been punished for destroying Jo’s prize…and definitely shouldn’t have gotten Laurie}
-mattie (:
For years I’ve struggled with the fact that Jo refused Laurie. I still have very mixed feelings about it…Part of me says, “AGGGGHHH!!! Alcott are you crazy?!??!! They’re perfect for each other, COME ON!” And the other part of me says “They’re too much alike in the wrong areas and not enough alike where they need to be.” I think we struggle so much with this because we fall in love with Laurie and want our favorite heroine to get him. But I as much as it’s painful to say, I think Alcott was correct in not over romancing the story and allowing the more sensible and realistic to play out in the end. Because sometimes best friends need to stay brother and sister and not become husband and wife.
And this is where I turn to L.M. Montgomery’s Anne and Gil to cope with this painful conclusion.
Having said that, I still have trouble with the Professor. *sigh* His age bothers me -_-
AND AMY DOES NOT DESERVE LAURIE!!!!! ‘Nuff said.
No tomatoes thrown
Great review!
Haha, I’ve always compared Jo and Laurie to Anne and Gilbert. Except Anne came to her senses… and Jo didn’t.
Whew. Yay. Safe from tomatoes!
Thanks for the comment, Elyssa!
Hi! A lurker here, with a brief comment that Louisa also didn’t marry Jo to Laurie partly out of spite, according to sources. People were so passionate about that pairing after the release of Little Women, that she decided while writing Good Wives that “I won’t marry Jo to Laurie to please any one.”
I loved Laurie, but I’m also a minority in Little Women readership: I am very fond of Professor Bhaer (particularly the version played by Gabriel Byrne, hooof). The fact that Louisa–the model for Jo–modeled him on someone for whom she had a special affinity also makes that pairing more believable for me.
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I can tell you why LMA made Jo marry the Professor… She just wanted to be contrary. Seriously. I just finished a research paper on her and the hints of feminism in some of her books (eg Jo’s Boys), and she said herself in her diary that she “went and made a funny match for her”. She “expected vials of wrath to be poured on her head”, but “rather enjoyed the prospect.” Of course, there were multiple complicated reasons in her past why she produced Professor Baher, but I am with all of you. I never liked him very much either.
Amy always ticked me off. She was just so bratty. She always got what she wanted, even the rich husband!
Rachel Laird