Louisa May Alcott is My Passion
Begun in 2010, this blog offers analysis and reflection by Susan Bailey on the life, works and legacy of Louisa May Alcott and her family. Susan is an active member and supporter of the Louisa May Alcott Society, the Fruitlands Museum and Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House.
I have begun work on a biography of Elisabeth Sewall Alcott and will be sharing updates and thoughts the writing of this book through this special blog dedicated to Lizzie. I invite you to subscribe to the blog -- click "Subscribe" located on the menus at the top of the page.
From LW150 blog — wow, I had no idea Laurie was so complex! Fascinating read.
p.s. Check out Cathlin Davis’ comments about this chapter here — she brings it into the present day.
By Jan Alberghene
I was nine when I first read Little Women, but I still remember pausing over Hannahās calling Laurie the āāinterferingest chap,āā not because I disagreed with her opinion, but because it took me a few minutes to decode the unfamiliar word āinterferingest.ā I had to agree with Hannah. Laurie popped up in places where he had no business being: at a meeting of the Pickwick Club (where Jo was, to be fair, a co-conspirator), and later when the sisters climbed a nearby hill on a pleasant afternoon to āplay pilgrimsā in private as they sewed and talked. āYes,ā I thought, āLaurie was the āinterferingest,āā and I hadnāt even reached the chapter titled āLaurie Makes Mischief, and Jo Makes Peace.ā
After I finished reading chapter 21, the Laurie I liked no longer existed. Although Laurie is barely sixteen, he feels superior to his tutor Mr. Brooke, aā¦
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From the LW150 blog: What a wonderful post by NY Times best-selling author of the Penderwick family novels Jeanne Birdsall!
By Jeanne Birdsall
Louisa settled at her desk, preparing to slog through another chapter of Little Women, this book she was writing only for the money. It was meant to be read by girls, which meant she needed to stay away from high drama and thunder, her usual ways to advance a story. She rubbed her templesāa headache threatenedāunwittingly mussing her hair. Who was she to write for girls? A woman whoād never been a conventional girl, who barely knew what such girls talked about and wished for.
Stop fussing, she told herself, and get to work. Where was she in the story? The mother of the March family, Marmee, had just rushed home from Washington, where sheād been nursing the girlsā father, to find that Beth had miraculously escaped death from scarlet fever. The chapter needed to begin with quiet joy and gratitude. Louisa picked up her penā¦
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There is always room for another annotated version of Little Women as seen by this beautiful version published by Penguin Classics.Ā Featuring a modern cover that ought to appeal to younger readers,Ā Ā Little Women: 150th-Anniversary Annotated Edition is a physically appealing book; I was immediately attracted to it the moment I startedĀ thumbing through the pages. …
from the LW 150 blog: “Amy’s Will” – very interesting account of Amy’s Catholic moment.
By Monika Elbert
I am interested in Catholicism and the rosaryās presence within this very New England novel. In āAmyās Will,ā the Gothic momentarily intrudes in Aunt Marchās household, where poor Amy is a captive slave in her role as attendant to the old woman. Aunt Marchās maid, Esther, the āFrench womanā who is forced to change her name from the more Frenchified āEstelleāāāon condition that she was never asked to change her religionāābrings a sense of exoticism with āodd stories of her life in Franceā (192) and with her Catholic customs.Ā Amy goes through Aunt Marchās treasure trove of jewelry and chances upon a rosary, which she mistakes for a fine piece of jewelry.Ā Indeed, it is the piece she most desires:Ā she looks āwith great admiration at a string of gold and ebony beads, from which hung a heavy cross of the sameā (193).Ā Esther concedes that she ācovetsā it as wellā¦
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Father and daughter, polar opposites in temperament. Both brilliant (he metaphysical, philosophical; she practical, from the heart). Both spiritual (Communion with The Spirit vs. "practical Christianity"). Both prolific writers. Both bigger than life. The Alcotts loved celebrating birthdays. Abba wrote back in 1851, "I seldom omit these occasions for showing my children the joy I …
From the LW150 blog: When “no” means “no” and “yes” means “yes:” Jo’s directness teaches an important lesson.
By Marlowe Daly-Galeano
As an adult reader, I think the most important relationship in the āDark Daysā chapter is Jo and Bethās. The anguish that Jo experiences during Bethās illness stems from her awareness that she may lose the companionship of her dear sister. When Beth finally pulls through the threatening fever, Jo and Meg ā[rejoice] with hearts too full for words.ā Yet, when I was a young reader, the sistersā relationship in this chapter mattered far less to me than the relationship between Jo and Laurie. In fact, if you had asked my junior-high self what was significant about āDark Days,ā I would have rolled my eyes and answered, āThe most important part is the kissing.ā
For years, I thought of this as the chapter that revealed the chemistry between Jo and Laurie, the proof (in those few kisses) that they belong together. And, yes, I know youā¦
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In pulling together my research for my biography on Elizabeth Alcott, I found the need to comb through Richard Herrnstadtās enormous volume containing the vast majority of Bronson Alcottās letters.* It requires a great deal of time to go through anything related to Bronson not only because of the amount of pages but because of …
Continue reading "The rise and fall of Bronson Alcott, in his own words"
From the LW150 blog: “Little Faithful:” The cost of ambition; the cost of faithfulness
By Anindita Bhattacharya
Louisa May Alcott has immortalized American girlhood in her nineteenth century novel Little Women. The narrative reflects Louisaās own very ambivalent views on womanhood with a curious juxtaposition of didacticism, sentimentalism, and feminism. Whether it is Jack and Jill: A Village Story or Behind a Mask, her āwomenā are always struggling to strike a balance between fulfilling their womanly duties and nurturing their ambitions, and also being sufficiently punished for such predilections.
The seventeenth chapter of Little Women represents this conflict through the episode with Beth. It begins with the girls giving themselves a little āholidayā from all the household chores and responsibilities in the absence of Marmee. Meg promises to watch over her sisters, Jo agrees to help everyone and refrain from her brash manners, Beth avows complete faithfulness to the little duties at home, and Amy pledges obedience in Chapter Sixteen when Marmee leaves forā¦
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Remember that phrase from "Peanuts" by Charles Schulz - "Happiness is"? Happiness is ... spending the afternoon perusing in-depth articles on the Alcotts. Pages and pages of articles by the finest Alcott scholars covering a wide variety of topics. All of these can be found on jstor.org. You do not have to be affiliated with …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 