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.
A great interview by Trix Wilkins of the Much Ado about Little Women blog with Merry Gordon and Marnae Kelly of Pink Umbrella Books and their newest release, "Alcott's Imaginary Heroes: The Little Women Legacy."
Back in July at the Summer Conversational Series at Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House, I had the privilege of conversing with author and Alcott scholar Anne Boyd Rioux about her new book, Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters.Ā You can listen in as I fashioned it into a …
From the new Little Women 150 blog reflecting each week on a chapter in Alcottās classic, here is chapter four: Little Women 150 By Sandra Harbert Petrulionis The central concerns of āBurdensā may be character development and self-education, but within its domestic lessons, this chapter also foregrounds the inequities of Civil War- era America. It …
From the new Little Women 150 blog reflecting each week on a chapter in Alcott’s classic, here is chapter three:
We are going to experiment this week by offering two different perspectives on the same chapter, both by distinguished Alcott scholars. The ways they complement each other, intersect, and diverge areĀ fascinating. Enjoy!
Take One
ByĀ Eve LaPlante
In the gender-bending world of Little Women, the Laurence boy plays an important role. A lovely, compassionate, accommodating young man with a girlās name, Laurie serves as a mirror to our heroine, Jo, a daring and ambitious young woman with a āgentlemanly demeanorā and a male-sounding name. Itās clear from the start that Laurie and Jo are a pair, two cross-gendered friends who seem more typical of the modern era than a century and a half in the past.
It seems fair to ask ā given that Jo and her sisters were inspired by the four Alcott girls and that no Alcott boy existed (much to the dismay of Louisaās father, Bronson) āā¦
View original post 735 more words
From the new Little Women 150 blog reflecting each week on a chapter in Alcott’s classic, here is chapter two:
ByĀ Katherine Paterson
Of course I wanted to be Jo. Thereās nothing unusual about that. Is there a single womanās writer of my generation that didnāt identify with her? Meg was dutiful and a bit prim, Amy was self-centered and a flibberty-gibbit. And Beth, well, of course we cried when she died, but, honestly, just between us, wasnāt she a bit tediously angelic? But Jo! She actually did things.
I remember coming into the house one day after a bout of street football with the neighborhood boys. In the living room my mother was entertaining at tea. As I listened to the cacophony of soprano voices I was struck with a sudden horror. I might have to grow up and be a woman. And all they did was talk.
In addition to her Tomboy ways, Jo was a great reader, which I certainly was, and a writer, which I didnāt thinkā¦
View original post 385 more words
From the new Little Women 150 blog reflecting each week on a chapter in Alcott’s classic, here is chapter one:
By Jan Turnquist
I love the opening lines of Little Women. āChristmas wonāt be Christmas without any presents,ā may not be on a list of āBest Opening Lines,ā but it is on my personal list of favorites.Ā From the very start, this chapter offers a feeling of optimism and life even while introducing the four sisters in the midst of a difficult moment.Ā Ā This first chapter, āPlaying Pilgrims,ā establishes the personalities of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy as refreshingly real and imperfect.Ā They tease and squabble as siblings do. But they are also warm companions in a home that is a safe refuge from a cold and dangerous world set against the backdrop of the Civil War.Ā Right from the beginning the reader can experience that Little WomenĀ is a story based on love.
My experience at Orchard House has blended inexorably with my experience of the book itself.Ā Because
View original post 418 more words
The recent article in the Atlantic titled āThe Lie of Little Womenā by Sophie Gilbert (September 2018 issue) got me to thinking: when will someone step up and make a film about the real-life Jo March, Louisa May Alcott? I am not talking about another documentary; the American Masters film made by Nancy Porter and …
Continue reading "Enough Little Women reboots — how about a full-length movie about the author?"
The concluding talk of the series was by Gabrielle Donnelly who gave a most informative and entertaining presentation on literary aunts, beginning with Aunt March from Little Women. Not often talked about, Gabrielle was inspired to examine Aunt March after Angela Lansburyās iconic portrayal in the Little Women Masterpiece series. Aunt March Gabrielle maintained that …
It's coming up fast! In less than 2 months we will celebrate the anniversary of a classic; a book that has profoundly influenced women around the world since 1868. That book? Little Women of course! Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House is throwing a bash and you're invited - Sunday, September 30 from 1:30-4. Stay tuned …
Cyrisse Jaffee, Editorial Manager for the Educational Department for WGBH--TV presented on the materials developed for teachers for the recent Little Women series for Masterpiece. Jaffee, who had always had a passion for reading and history, loved Little Women as a child and has visited Orchard House with her family many times. She studied literature …
Louisa May Alcott is My Passion 