"My dear girls, I am ambitious for you, but not to have you make a dash in the world, marry rich men merely because they are rich, or have splendid houses, which are not homes because love is wanting. Money is a needful and precious thing, and when well used, a noble thing, but I never want you to think it is the first or only prize to strive for. I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace.”
"I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen"
I do not have any sisters, so perhaps that is one reason Little Women was, and remains, one of my "Best Books". I have many copies-some with broken spines and yellowed pages, others just sit so I know I have them on the shelf. I have watched and re-watched every film and screen adaptation countless times-my favorite wavers between the 1933 version with Katharine Hepburn as Jo and the 1994 with Susan Sarandon as Marmee and Winona Ryder as Jo. Tonight Masterpiece Theatre premiers a new adaption with Dame Angela Lansbury as Aunt March-I cannot wait!!
“I want to do something splendid… something heroic or wonderful that won’t be forgotten after I’m dead. I don’t know what, but I’m on the watch for it, and mean to astonish you all someday.”
Louisa May Alcott wrote her coming of age tale set during the Civil War and based on her own family stories, just up the road in Concord Ma. She was an abolitionist and an early feminist and was the first woman to register to vote in Concord when women were given limited suffrage in 1879. You can visit The Alcott's Orchard House ,"Home to Little Women".
"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship"
Like many readers, I saw myself in each of the March sisters. Amy, who loved her family but was impulsive, jealous, fluffy ambitious and artistic who wanted to be surrounded by beautiful things, and as the youngest, despite knowing better,could be a bit bratty. Meg, responsible, good natured, practical and there for all her sisters yet holding her own longings for her own life. Beth, painfully shy and so truly good, with a selfless tender heart that seemed always in need of sharing. Jo, like many of us it is Jo I identify with most-ambitious, dramatic, sharp witted, creative, imaginative, frustrated, willful, stubborn always with her nose in a book, fighting change but longing for it, and never at rest confined to the limitations of being a girl in 19thc New England. She would not marry the "boy next door" dear Laurie, though I know they would always love one another, Jo dreamed big and knew there was more for her than being the wife of a wealthy man.
For a book published in 1869 Little Women remains as relevant,and I would argue perhaps more so, than in the post Civil War age it was written. Not simply because of its tales of siblings love and jealousy dealing with all the messiness of growing up,coming of age and finding out who you are entails, but also because the characters remain real-they love, they scheme, they care, they hurt and they dream. From Jo we learn that being a girl, no matter where you grow, doesn't and shouldn't stop you in place. Marmee's girls may all be different but at their core is heart and Marmee raises them to be their best selves. On Mother's Day, and everyday, is there a better way to celebrate Moms and Daughters. Enjoy!!!
“My Jo, you may say anything to your mother, for it is my greatest happiness and pride to feel that my girls confide in me and know how much I love them.”
“Jo's breath gave out here, and wrapping her head in the paper, she bedewed her little story with a few natural tears, for to be independent and earn the praise of those she loved were the dearest wishes of her heart, and this seemed to be the first step toward that happy end.”
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